Mead spoke in strikingly personal terms about the importance of completing the sale. The governor recalled driving cattle from the family ranch to a grazing allotment in the park as a boy growing up in Teton County. He didn’t always appreciate those early mornings, but even then, Mead recalled, he grasped the uniqueness of the place.

The governor’s grandfather, the former U.S. senator and governor, Clifford Hansen, had opposed the creation of the park, Mead said.

“I think about years after that. My grandfather made clear that he was on the wrong side of that. How he recognized that and how glad he was he lost that battle,” Mead said. “Not only did he recognize what it meant to him and his family, but the pride he felt being able to say people from all over the world come to Grand Teton.”

It is the rare person, the governor added, who comes to the park and doesn’t develop a special connection with the place.

Mead and Jewell expressed hope that in completing the deal for the property in Antelope Flats, they would be able to buy more time from the Wyoming Legislature to complete Washington’s purchase of a second state parcel bordering the Gros Ventre River.