Recipes
“Cakes and cookies were often the “conversation openers” on the frontier. A housewife always kept a cake handy if a neighbor dropped in, and a cookie jar filled to the brim just in case any kids were hanging around on bake day. Cakes came in handy for ice cream socials, Sunday picnics, house raising and […]
Cabin Construction
Each family built a two-room cabin, with a fireplace in one room and a cook stove in the other. The logs were cut out of a nearby canyon and hauled to the flat valley they called South Park. A pit saw was used to plane lumber, since it would be nearly a decade before a […]
Second Generation
Melvina Edna Wilson was 3 years old in 1889 when she accompanied her parents, Sylvester and Mary Wilson on their move to Jackson Hole. She loved to ride, fish, and owned a .32 rifle. She was a talented piano player, and earned commendations in school. She helped her mother care for sick neighbors and deliver […]
Hospital & Medicine
When the Wilsons fell sick, they were without any formal medical care. Especially in isolated Jackson Hole, the families had to rely on their own knowledge and any training one might get. Mary Wilson (Sylvester’s wife) and Matilda Wilson (Nick’s wife) were known in the South Park area for being health care providers. Mary had […]
Cemetery
In 1891, tragedy struck the Wilson family. Sylvester’s son John had traveled to Eagle Rock, Idaho (now Osgood) to meet his sister Rebecca, who had been married and living in Utah. When unexpected circumstances prevented her from making the trip, John decided to continue on to Sugar City, Idaho to visit with his cousins and […]
Post Office
In 1893, Nick Wilson moved back to the South Park area with his large family. His children attended the local school, the only one operating in the valley. Nick surveyed the area before settling on a homestead along Fish Creek, a few miles northwest from the South Park community. Here he built the second Post […]
School
After the first winter of 1889 was over, while Nick Wilson was scouting for a homestead location, the women in the Wilson party were becoming unsure of their new home. In such a newly-settled, and isolated area, there were no schools. The women banded together and told their husbands they were not going to live anywhere […]
Church
On July 30, 1893, the South Park branch of the Mormon Church was officially organized. Due to his role in organizing the branch, Sylvester Wilson was named a presiding elder. He opened his newly built home to his neighbors, and church services were held in a large room that also served as a schoolroom. The services […]
Community Growth
From 1890 to 1900, the population of Jackson Hole increased exponentially. From an initial rough count of 28 individuals in 1889 when the Wilsons first arrived, the population had risen to 638 individuals by 1900. Of these, over 25% were Mormon. It would be no accident that the Wilsons, being the first Mormon residents, had […]
Clothing
Until 1900, when the first general store opened in Jackson, if early homesteaders needed clothing they had to travel two weeks over the Teton Pass to Idaho, or make it themselves. Most chose to make their own clothing, and it was a point of pride for many women. Lengths of fabric would need to be […]
Cooking & Nutrition
Cooking For many early homesteaders, the cook stove was their most prized possession. It was the centerpiece of the cabin, of the family, and of survival. To brave a burning building to rescue the stove was worth the risk. Meals were served on dishes made from heavy china, and flatware was made from steel that […]
Cabin Interiors
With the convenience of linen sheets to keep the sod roof from trickling in, a secondary benefit was that the white linen considerably brightened the dark cabin interior. This provided a bright surface for candles to reflect from, which greatly aided the long night hours of winter. Luxuries like interior illumination were still in their […]
The First Winter
When the Wilson families moved into Jackson Hole in the late fall of 1889, it was too late in the year to construct their own cabins. Trees needed to the cut, and left to dry in the area where they could be shaped into logs for a cabin. Winter in Jackson Hole fell swift and […]
Utah to Wyoming
Sylvester Wilson was born on January 30, 1840 in Nauvoo, Illinois. He was one of thirteen siblings, and traveled with the family to settle in Grantsville, Utah in 1852. Sylvester’s father worked as a cattle herder and suffered an early death in 1861. Sylvester was now the head of the family, and after several disagreements […]
First Families of Jackson Hole
First Families is a unique exhibit dedicated to the first families who made Jackson Hole their permanent home. The entirety of the research and family photos have been collected by direct descendants of these families. Authored by Melvina Wilson Robertson, the story was an account of Sylvester Wilson and his family’s decision to move from […]