--- title: See Breathtaking Photos of Jackson Hole in its Dude Ranch Days description: Long before the skiers arrived, the peaceful valley was home to cowboys, cowgirls and stunning views of the Teton Mountain Range. canonical: https://time.com/3906380/jackson-hole-1940s/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-10T12:00:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:28.999Z og:title: See Breathtaking Photos of Jackson Hole in its Dude Ranch Days og:description: Long before the skiers arrived, the peaceful valley was home to cowboys, cowgirls and stunning views of the Teton Mountain Range. og:url: https://time.com/3906380/jackson-hole-1940s/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65f0d0fb670b9fd8/698852ade20a870c2ca8ba59/150602-jackson-hole-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jackson Hole 1948 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Breathtaking Photos of Jackson Hole in its Dude Ranch Days twitter:description: Long before the skiers arrived, the peaceful valley was home to cowboys, cowgirls and stunning views of the Teton Mountain Range. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65f0d0fb670b9fd8/698852ade20a870c2ca8ba59/150602-jackson-hole-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Breathtaking Photos of Jackson Hole in its Dude Ranch Days  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 10, 2015 12:00 PM CUT  Snake River with the Grand Tetons in the background, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Snake River with the Grand Tetons in the background, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 10, 2015 12:00 PM CUT The Jackson Hole valley today is a major hub of tourism in the American West: skiers in the winter, national park-goers in the summer and mountain lovers all year round. But its primary tourism draw—long before the word “resort” became associated with the peaceful Wyoming locale—was once its dude ranches. Back then, its cowboy bars served actual cowboys, its main street was paved with dirt and its vast expanses were more populated with bison than with people. In 1948, LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt captured the region’s quiet yet dramatic beauty in vivid Technicolor, preserving it—at least on film—for posterity. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Snake River with the Grand Tetons in the background, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Young cowgirl Esther Allen trout fishing in String Lake. Teton Mountains behind. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Exterior of The Cowboy Bar with patrons hanging out outside. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests sitting around fireplace and listening to live music at Bearpaw Dude Ranch. Jack Huyler, son of owner, is playing guitar. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Room full of patrons gambling at The Cowboy Bar. Gambling permitted during tourist season. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Broadway, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Highway 189 entering Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Lake and Grand Teton Mountain Range seen from the Ranch owned by Mr. and Mrs. Berol. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Moose feeding in stream, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Entering Jackson Hole from the east along the Blackrock Creek with the Grand Tetons in the background. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 1948. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3906380/jackson-hole-1940s/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3906380/jackson-hole-1940s/"},"headline":"See Breathtaking Photos of Jackson Hole in its Dude Ranch Days","datePublished":"2015-07-10T12:00:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:28.999Z","description":"Long before the skiers arrived, the peaceful valley was home to cowboys, cowgirls and stunning views of the Teton Mountain Range","url":"https://time.com/3906380/jackson-hole-1940s/","keywords":["Great Places","Newsfeed","photography","alfred eisenstaedt","1948"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65f0d0fb670b9fd8/698852ade20a870c2ca8ba59/150602-jackson-hole-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65f0d0fb670b9fd8/698852ade20a870c2ca8ba59/150602-jackson-hole-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jackson Hole 1948","caption":"Jackson Hole 1948","creditText":"Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/great-places/","name":"Great Places"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3906380/jackson-hole-1940s/","name":"See Breathtaking Photos of Jackson Hole in its Dude Ranch Days"}}]}] ```