Wyoming Stories: Dail Barbour's Indestructible Skirt And Other Jackson Hole Memories

Dail Barbour was twenty-four-years-old when she moved to Jackson Hole. She worked at the Wort Hotel, a historic inn in the heart of the city, where she was issued a remarkable uniform. 

Dail Barbour arrived in Wyoming the summer she graduated from high school, 1964. She and a few friends bicycled across the country. They spent a week in Yellowstone and Barbour swore she would return. Six years later, she moved to Teton County permanently, settling for some time in Wilson where she spent many days and nights at the legendary Stagecoach Bar.

During the years Dail Barbour served as Teton County commissioner, she kept her day job at the Stagecoach Grill, which was eventually purchased by local entrepreneur Nora Tygum. When Nora moved her business across the street to open the Fish Creek Inn—now a James Beard Award-winning restaurant—Barbour followed her. In this story, she recalls the difficulty in being both a politician and a townie.