[News Terms] Why Is the Jackson Hole Meeting Called ‘Jackson Hole’?

The "Jackson Hole Meeting" is an annual conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, one of the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks in the United States. It is held every August in Jackson Hole, a resort area in Wyoming. Jerome Powell, Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), along with central bank governors from major countries around the world and leading economists, gather to assess and discuss the global economic situation. This year, the meeting will take place from the 22nd to the 24th of this month.

Why is the Jackson Hole Meeting called "Jackson Hole"? It is easy to think of it as "person + building," like Carnegie Hall, the famous theater in Manhattan, New York. Jackson is indeed a person's name. However, Hole refers to a "geographical feature." It is not the "hall" meaning auditorium or assembly hall, but "hole" meaning a hollow or cavity. In the American West, the term "hole" often refers to a wide, flat valley surrounded by mountains.

Jackson village surrounded by the Teton and Gros Ventre mountain ranges
[Photo by Jackson Hole Chamber]

Jackson Hole collectively refers to the valley located between the Teton and Gros Ventre mountain ranges in western Wyoming and the mountain village of Jackson in that area. One common question from tourists visiting here is "What is the difference between Jackson and Jackson Hole?" In the past, the village itself was also called "Jackson Hole." But now, the village is called the Town of Jackson, while the valley is called Jackson Hole. The village is surrounded by steep mountains, and from a distance, it looks like a hole. The slope of the valley descending gives the impression of entering a hole.

Jackson Hole, with its rugged mountains and lakes, is famous as a resort area. It is located not far from Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Additionally, it is a good habitat for fur-bearing animals such as beavers. Thanks to this environment, fur trading was once very active here.

"Jackson" is derived from David Edward Jackson, a figure from the early 19th century. He was an American pioneer, explorer, trader, and fur trapper. Born in 1788 into a prominent family in Buckhannon, Virginia (now West Virginia), he was known to be a cousin of Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States. He is recognized as one of the Oregon Trail pioneers who explored many valleys while living as a fur trapper during the American Westward expansion. The Oregon Trail refers to the approximately 3,490 km route from Independence, Missouri in the eastern U.S. to the Columbia River in Oregon on the west coast.

Photo of David Jackson and his tombstone [Photo by Find a grave]

From 1826, David Jackson operated a fur trading company called "Smith, Jackson, and Sublette" with his colleagues William Sublette and Jedediah Smith. Jackson explored the valleys of the Teton mountain range to trap beavers for their fur and set many traps in the area. His colleague Sublette reportedly called the area "Jackson’s hole." This is known as the origin of the village name "Jackson Hole" today. Over time, the village name dropped the "Hole" and became simply "Jackson," while the valley retained the name "Jackson Hole."

After selling the fur company in 1830, Jackson invested in mining and metal businesses. He later reunited with his son, from whom he had been separated for a long time, but never met his wife and other children again. In 1837, while on a business trip to Paris, Tennessee, he contracted typhoid fever and died at the age of 49.