town, seat (1921) of Teton county, northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The town lies at the southern end of the Teton Range, just north of the Snake River, and is the centre of an important recreation and tourist industry. Explored by the fur trapper John Colter in 1807, Jackson takes its name from another trapper, David Jackson, who worked in the area in the 1820s and who organized summer rendezvous of the mountain men who trapped throughout the Rocky Mountain region. The area surrounding Jackson was later the site of several large ranches, for which the town served as a supply centre. Many of those ranches have given way to large vacation-home developments, and Jackson's economy is now based on service and tourism. Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole (also called Jackson Lake), and the National Elk Refuge are nearby. Inc. 1897. Pop. (1990) 4,472; (2000) 8,647.