John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway

In 1972 Congress dedicated a 24,000-acre parcel of land as John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway to recognize his generosity and foresight. Congress also named the highway from the south boundary of Grand Teton to West Thumb in Yellowstone in honor of Rockefeller.

 The graphic above shows the key location of the JDR Jr. memorial Parkway.

 John D. Rockefeller is shown here on Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park with his wife Abbey.  To tell the story of how John D. Rockefeller singlehandedly created Grand Teton National Park would take a book.  Indeed, there are books written about that very topic!  Let's put it this way--John D. ruled The Three R's.  He was Rich, Ruthless and Righteous.  And he needed to be all three in order to pull off one of the long-running ruse that acquired the land which became Grand Teton National Park.  One of these days we will try to tell a short version of that story. It's amazing.

In the very center of the group above, Laurance S. Rockefeller and his wife, Mary, are shown with their feet on the centerline at the dedication of the memorial parkway in honor of his father.  Laurance himself would go on to make a historic donation when he gifted the Rockefeller's Family Ranch to the Grand Teton National Park as special preserve.  Laurance said at the dedication: "Father's greatest gift was not his generous donation of land, but rather his vision that people could live in harmony with nature."

Indeed, a Memorial Parkway is the very least that the US government could do to honor John D. Rockefeller.  It's highly unlikely there will ever be anybody like him again.  His contributions to the National Park Service will remain forever epic and timeless.