Peter Skene Ogden, born in 1794, was an experienced trapper and mountain man who remained with the Hudson's Bay Company after its 1821 merger with the Northwest Fur Company. In November 1824 Ogden was appointed leader of the Snake River Country Expeditions by John McLoughlin, and he was instructed to continue the British policy of creating a "fur desert" between American territory and the southern Columbia River drainage to discourage American trappers from coming into the area.
Ogden, with a brigade of 131, pushed south from Flathead House toward Utah in December 1824. Accompanying the British was a small group of Americans directed by Jedediah Smith. By April the expedition had reached the Bear River, where the two outfits parted company. Ogden continued south along the Bear River to Cub Creek in present Cache Valley, where he learned from Snake Indians that Americans (John H. Weber's brigade) had already trapped the area. The British continued south through present-day Smithfield, Logan,…show more content… This journey brought Ogden south from Fort Nez Perce to what trappers called "Ogden's" or "Mary's" River, later named the Humbolt by John C. Fremont. Pushing east, Ogden's brigade proceeded to present-day Lucin, Utah, then north along the east side of the Grouse Creek Range. The expedition then proceeded eastward across Park Valley and camped near Ten Mile Spring. Ogden indicates that at this spring he had his first view of the Great Salt Lake; whether this meant his first view during this expedition or his first time ever is uncertain. After observing the lake, Ogden continued north toward Soda Springs, then south along the Bear River through Cache Valley to where the Malad River joins the Bear. After trapping the area, Ogden's brigade returned to Ten Mile Spring, skirting the north end of the Great Salt Lake and retracing their route out of
