Utah , state, United States: Mountain Men and Wagon Trains

In the 1820s the mountain men, in search of rich beaver streams, made their way over the difficult terrain, thoroughly exploring the region. The discovery of Great Salt Lake is generally credited to James Bridger, but Étienne Provot, Jedediah S. Smith, and others also have claims. The Canadian fur trader Peter Skene Ogden led four expeditions into the Snake River area; he and his explorations are commemorated in the name of one of Utah's leading cities. Between 1824 and 1830 the riches in furs were exhausted, and a decade was to pass before the arrival of the next transients—westward-bound emigrants.

In 1841 the first California-bound group of emigrants, usually called the Bidwell party, left the Oregon Trail and made its way across the Great Salt Lake Desert. Several years later Miles Goodyear became Utah's first settler when he set up a trading post at the site of present-day Ogden, naming it Fort Buenaventura. The ill-fated Donner Party broke trail over the difficult mountains E of Great Salt Lake in 1846 and proceeded in their tragic journey westward across the desert.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Twentieth-Century Developments
• Statehood and the End of Isolation
• Friction with Native Americans and the U.S. Government
• Mormon Settlement and Territorial Status
• Mountain Men and Wagon Trains
• Spanish Exploration and Possession
• Government and Higher Education
• Economy
• Geography
• Facts and Figures
• Bibliography

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