Grand Tetons - Menor's Cabin and Store

This part of the Jackson Hole valley once belonged to William D. Menor. He took up a homestead on the Snake River in 1894. The Snake river neatly and inconveniently bisects the valley and made travel difficult for early settlers. Menor constructed a vital ferry crossing and thriving business in this difficult climate, isolated by the surrounding mountains.



This is the original homestead cabin that Bill Menor built. The rough, horizontal, whole-logged section on the left is the one room crib he constructed quickly in 1894 to shelter him from that first winter. The following year he added the centre section for storage space. This section is constructed from rough-sawn boards produced at a new local sawmill. Storage space was particularly important to see the inhabitants through the long, brutal winter when travel was always difficult and often impossible. Large food stores were the only way to survive the season. The larger right hand wing was added in about 1905 to use as a general store.


Early settlers like Menor had a tough life, in tough circumstances. They also needed a wide variety of skills to survive. Menor not only needed to be able to cut down and cure timber, then assemble it in a sturdy cabin shape, but he also needed to be able to build his own furniture.

A heavy reliance on readily available materials is evident from the "period" furniture on display in Menor's cabin.

I particularly like the antler-mounted table.

This is a corner situated wardrobe. Behind it, invisible to you, is a chipmunk that was rattling around the room too quickly to be photographed. They're nimble little critters.

This is Jaime, a retired schoolteacher who works summers at the park. Here she demonstrates the use of an unpowered, totally manual cash register. In case you're interested, it involves a lot of manual cranking. Shortly afterwards she demonstrated how to chase a chipmunk out of a log cabin with a broom. She didn't want him to eat her ginger cookies, which are delicious and were baked in an antique wood fired stove.