In addition to the 11 major peaks there are an even larger number of lesser prominence and altitude, such as Cloudveil Dome, 12,026 feet; Eagle Rest, 11,257; Prospectors Mountain, 11,231; Mount Rockchuck, 11,150; Table Mountain, 11,075; Bivouac Peak, 11,045; Rendezvous Peak, 10,924; Fossil Mountain, 10,912; Rolling Thunder, 10,902; Mount Hunt, 10,775; Symmetry Spire, 10,546; and Storm Point, 10,040, as well as a host of nameless pinnacles and crags which serve still further to make the Teton skyline the most jagged of any on the continent. The larger lakes of the park--Leigh, String, Jenny, Bradley, Taggart, and Phelps--all lie close to the foot of the range and, like beads, are linked together by the sparkling, tumbling waters of Cottonwood Creek and neighboring streams. Nestled in dense forests outside the mouths of canyons, these lakes mirror in their quiet depths nearby peaks whose pointed summits rise with sheer slopes a mile or more above their level. [Illustration: Grand Teton National Park Map] HISTORY OF THE REGION Many of our national parks have been carved from wilderness areas previously little known to man and but seldom visited. The Tetons, on the contrary, are remarkably rich in historic associations. The Grand Teton itself has been referred to by an eminent historian as "the most noted historic summit of the West." Up to the beginning of the last century Indians held undisputed sway over the country dominated by the Three Tetons. Then, as now, Jackson Hole was literally a happy hunting ground, and, while the severe winters precluded permanent habitation, during the milder seasons, bands of Indians frequently came into the basin on hunting or warring expeditions. They represented many tribes, usually hostile to each other. The dreaded Blackfeet, the Crows, the Nez Perce, the Flatheads, the Shoshoni, and others. There is little reason to believe that these Indians ever invaded the more rugged portions of the Tetons, but it is certain they regularly crossed the range, utilizing the several passes. The Tetons probably first became known to white men in 1807-8, when the intrepid John Colter crossed the range, presumably near Teton Pass on the memorable journey which also made him discoverer of the Yellowstone country. In 1811 the Astorians, under Wilson Price Hunt, entered Jackson Hole by the Hoback Canyon and, failing in an attempt to navigate the Snake River, likewise crossed the Teton Range in the vicinity of Teton Pass, continuing thence to the mouth of the Columbia, where the trading post, Astoria, was founded. The Tetons also figure in the adventures of the returning Astorians in 1812. In Washington Irving's classic account of the Astorian expedition (Astoria, published in 1836) the name "Tetons" first appears in literature.