Sunday, August 05, 2012

Mormon Row


The Tetons sure are grand but in overwhelming way.  Then there’s the knotty problem of getting a shot that’s not a hackneyed piece of eye candy.  Add my penchant for pasture and prairie and you get photographs that don’t include the jagged teeth of Mount Moran, Teewinot and Middle Grand at all.  They're behind me for what it's worth.

Anyway a couple miles north of Moose Junction and a hard right onto Antelope Flats Road takes you to the remains of an 1890’s settlement once called Grovont and now dubbed Mormon Row for Mormon families from Idaho who settled the lush alluvial plain beneath the Tetons.  A mile long stretch of cabins, barns and corrals stretches north to south along a well tended dirt road.  Once there were six family homesteads on Mormon Row replete with a community ditch system, a granary, a post office, a church and a swimming hole.  Apparently the community existed till the 1950s and I have found no explanation for its demise.  I do know that the National Parks Service intended to raise the complex until a group of right minded citizens saw a nugget of history worth preserving.

4 comments:

John Farnsworth said...

An excellent post, Steve. Fine photos, of course.

Jim Rogers Photography said...

With those glorious blue skies and towering cumulus clouds framing the sprawling fields, lush greenery and rustic remains of Mormon Row, who needs The Grand Tetons You obviously didn't. Nice work, as always.

Daryl A. Black said...

These images are the essence of the American Rockies. The second photograph with the cabin, fence, and massive cloud development tells a huge story in itself.

Steve Immel said...

Thanks everybody.