Pierre's Hole
Pierre’s Hole is a shallow valley in eastern Idaho, just west of the Teton Range. It sits more than 6,000 feet above sea level and is where the Teton River begins. In the early days of the fur trade, Pierre’s Hole was a major gathering place for trappers and traders in the northern Rocky Mountains. The valley is part of what locals call the Teton Basin or Teton Valley along State Highway 33.
The area was named for Pierre Tivanitagon, a Hudson’s Bay Company trader who was said to have died in a battle with the Blackfeet in 1827. Pierre’s Hole became famous for the Rendezvous of 1832, a large summer meeting where hundreds of mountain men, Indigenous people, and fur traders met to trade furs and resupply. Prominent trappers from the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and the American Fur Company gathered there, and notable figures such as Jean Baptiste Charbonneau attended.
Around July 17, 1832, as the rendezvous began to break up, a violent clash occurred. A Flathead hunter and Antoine Godin killed a Gros Ventre chief, provoking a battle between about 250 Gros Ventre warriors and the trapped-and-armed group supported by Nez Perce and Flatheads. William Sublette helped lead the defense; his brother Milton Sublette was wounded and later died. The fighting lasted most of the day, and by morning the Gros Ventre fortifications had been abandoned. At least 26 Gros Ventre and several trappers and Flatheads were killed. Some accounts mention Blackfeet reinforcements approaching, but the main attack did not reach the rendezvous itself.
Today, a 400-acre area at the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (added in 1984). The battle and the rendezvous are a key part of the history of the area, which later saw exploration and settlement by trappers and explorers in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone regions.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:14 (CET).