White Grass Ranch: Cultural Landscape Report, Grand Teton National Park, National Park Service

Caywood, Janene; McDonald, James

The Cultural Landscape/Historic Structures Report for White Grass Ranch is composed of two parts. Besides this introduction, Part I includes the Site History (with accompanying period plans), Existing Conditions, (with accompanying plans and graphics) and the Analysis and Evaluation of cultural landscape characteristics pertinent to the site. Part II includes general and specific recommendations for treatment of various contributing cultural landscape resources and features within the historic ranch. Cultural landscape character areas and management zones are identified, as well as the general management philosophy that will guide treatment decisions during the five-year rehabilitation period and beyond. As part of the planning associated with the proposed rehabilitation effort, GTNP contracted with A&E Architects to conduct a use feasibility study of the extant buildings at the site, and to prepare a Historic Structures Report (HSR). During the planning process, it became clear that the proposal to rehabilitate the site could result in effects to landscape resources besides the buildings, that is to say, resources typically considered during a cultural landscape inventory. Completed in 1988, when cultural landscape studies were only just being integrated into the National Park Service’s methodology for inventorying properties, the original National Register of Historic Places nomination considered only the buildings, not all of the improvements originally associated with the ranch. The resulting National Register property boundary was drawn arbitrarily to enclose the remaining buildings that dated to the period of significance, as defined in the nomination, 1919 to 1938. The need for further consideration of the cultural landscape values of the site was emphasized by the fact that the park has not completed a detailed Level II Cultural Landscape Inventory of the property. As a result, one of the goals of the current study was to determine if the boundary and the period of significance identified in the 1988 nomination are appropriate. In order to address the treatment of other types of cultural landscape features (besides buildings), the park requested that the content of the treatment document be expanded to include information usually contained in a CLR. This approach required additional fieldwork in order to document the landscape characteristics and associated features that potentially contribute to the historical significance of the property. This inventory did not include detailed documentation of the extant historical buildings, which had already been completed by A&E Architects as part of its feasibility study. Project personnel conducted further background research in the holdings of the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum, and the Teton County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, both located in Jackson, Wyoming. They also conducted oral interviews with several individuals, the principal being Frank and Inge Galey’s daughter, Cynthia Galey Peck. The object of this research was to identify additional information about the physical development of ranch improvements, and how the history of the ranch might be reflected in the built environment. No attempts were made to refine the historical context of dude ranching in Jackson Hole, already prepared as part of the amended Grand Teton National Park Multiple Property Submission, completed in 1997. It should be noted that American Indian land use in the vicinity of White Grass Ranch is not addressed in this document.

White Grass Ranch: Cultural Landscape Report, Grand Teton National Park, National Park Service

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