The town of Jackson was named in late 1893 by Margaret Simpson, who at the time was receiving mail at her home as there was no post office. She named the town in order for easterners to be able to forward mail west. Jackson, which became incorporated in 1914, was named after David Edward "Davey" Jackson who trapped beaver in the area in the late 1820s while a partner in the firm of Smith, Jackson & Sublette.[1] Davy Jackson was one of the first white men to spend an entire winter in the Valley of the Teton Mountains.[2] Though used by Native Americans for hunting and ceremonial purposes, the valley was not known to harbour year-round human settlement prior to the 1870s. Descriptions of the valley and its features were recorded in the journals of John Colter, who had been a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. After returning to the Rocky Mountains, Colter entered the region in 1807 in the vicinity of Togwotee Pass and became the first white American to see the valley. His reports of the valley, the Teton Range and the Yellowstone region to the north were viewed by people of the day with skepticism.

The first people to settle the region were Native Americans, then fur trappers, and then homesteaders. Because the soil is not ideal for raising crops, the valley was used for cattle. Tourism quickly became popular with the establishment of dude ranches.