Bob Woodall photo
The John Moulton Barn sits at the north end of Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park. I take people there. Some people recognize the name and ask, ‘Do you have anything to do with the barns?’ I go, ‘Yeaaaah.’” Jim’s grandfather sold the ranch to the park in the late ‘50s but had retained a lifetime lease. After his grandfather’s death in 1991—at nearly 104—Jim and his family moved out in 1996, capping nearly a century of Moultons living on Mormon Row. “My family, my children, are the last kids, the last family, the last kids that lived there, the last kids that got out of the bus. The last kids that started their life there are my children,” Jim added proudly. Two are still living in the valley and are very much part of the Jackson Hole culture. “They are making it happen here, they are making their Jackson Hole dream—not unlike we did then,” said Jim. “Making a living here they are a continuing story of the generations, this continuation of family in the valley.” The Moulton Barns are still a gold mine—for photographers. For Jim? “If I had anything I wish I could change,” he joked, “it would be that I had a camera fee or a penny for every picture taken—then I could live the lifestyle I want to.” For more history and photographs of the Moulton Barns go to: bestofthetetons.com/2014/04/08/the-moulton-barns-1963-1965/
digging for dollars The Moulton Barns and homesite still lie comfortably close to another of the valley’s icons, the Snake River. Today the Snake, parts of it Blue Ribbon waters, attract boatloads of fly fishers, especially within park boundaries. Years ago, the Snake’s prized cutthroats and whitefish often yielded to something more organic than artificial flies, though: worms. The Moultons, ever enterprising in the valley’s struggle to make ends meet, took notice. Jim revealed a family venture that, quite naturally, made sense. “One of the ways we made extra money,” he revealed, “we also became a worm farm—the worm providers for the fishermen, primarly in Grand Teton. Dad would spread the cow manure along the irrigation ditches and the worms flourished. Every other night we were digging two hundred to three hundred dozen worms, that were sold over at Moose tackle shop. “We dug worms for years and years and years. It bought us our first color TV. It bought a camper, it bought a movie camera, it bought all the little things that the ranch didn’t have money for. If you were a guest, you dug worms, everybody dug worms.”
2 0 1 7 G r a n d T e To n & Ye l lo w s To n e a d v e n T u r e G u i d e
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