Before grizzly bears were protected as an endangered species in 1975, they’d been completely extirpated from Grand Teton National Park. In neighboring Yellowstone National Park, fewer than 150 remained.

Deeply disheartening.

It would be 30-odd years after the bears were listed as threatened before word began to spread that a mama bear with three cubs had not only been observed in the Tetons, but was living there, too. At long last, grizzlies were returning.

That sow with three youngsters in tow was Grizzly 399. She would soon become the most famous bear in the world.

Unbeknownst to most everyone but park biologists, 399 had been in Grand Teton National Park for a while: she was born in a remote wilderness area above the Pilgrim Creek drainage in 1996. (She returned to that den each winter for the rest of her life.)

In 2003, 399 was collared for research purposes, given her identifying number, and tracked in real time for the next two years. When she was spotted near Oxbow Bend in 2006 with her first litter, that was the beginning of her “public life.”

The first grizzly bear to be observed in the Tetons on a regular basis, 399 went on to set records and steal countless hearts. Among the milestones: she is the oldest known wild grizzly in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to give birth to and emerge with a cub, her 18th, in May 2023. Along the way, she became an ambassador for her species, inspiring millions of people to care about grizzlies - as well as wildlife in general - and the wild places they call home.

Willing to put up with throngs of people, 399 proved to be remarkably tolerant. She was a very good mother: people witnessed how she taught, protected, and nurtured her offspring. Her visible grief upon losing one of her cubs to a hit-and-run car strike in 2016 proved that grizzlies are sentient and emotional beings.

Surrounded by dangers, 399 defied the odds for years. That run of luck ended on October 22, 2024 when she was killed by a car strike in the Snake River Canyon south of Jackson, where she and her cub had been foraging in preparation for hibernation. Still dependent on its mother (whether the yearling was a male or female had not been confirmed), the cub was traumatized, now suddenly alone, and a very long way - roughly 50 miles - from the den. It's unknown whether the youngster survived; no official statement has ever confirmed a verified sighting or identification.

Just a few weeks more and they would have been safely tucked away above Pilgrim Creek for the winter.

399’s sudden death was tragic, and as reporter Billy Arnold aptly noted in Jackson Hole News & Guide at the time, it closed a portal to the animal world. I doubt there will ever be another such bridge between humans and grizzlies.

399 was one-of-a-kind.

Fittingly, a lasting tribute to our Queen of the Tetons - a spectacular larger-than-life bronze monument of 399 with her quads (born in 2020) - was unveiled and dedicated yesterday afternoon at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. Created under the artistic leadership of distinguished wildlife sculptor Jocelyn Russell, this privately funded piece stands near the museum’s front entrance.

The date chosen for this event (9/9) was symbolic.

Museum Executive Director Steve Seamons: "Grizzly 399 captured hearts far beyond Wyoming, and this monument gives visitors a place to reflect on what she represented - resilience, wildness, and the fragile balance between people and the animals we share this landscape with."

I was happy to be there to help welcome 399 back to her home range. Scroll down for some photographs from the dedication.

Our Queen deserves this lasting tribute. Bravo to the talented team of artists who made it happen.

Against All Odds - Grizzly 399, 2026, Bronze
National Museum of Wildlife Art - Jackson, Wyoming
Jocelyn Russell (United States, b. 1961) with cubs by Kristen Douglas-Seitz (United States, b. 1990) and Colleen Moore (United States, b. 1977).

The piece was cast at Adonis Bronze Foundry in Alpine, Utah.

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Foreshadows of Splendor