California Trail - Fort Hall

At the Junction of the California and Oregon Trails

Fort Hall was built in 1834 by fur-trapper Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth and as many as seventy other men as a point along the Snake River in which they could sell supplies to mountain men and trappers. In 1837, Wyeth sold the fort to the Hudson Bay Company of England. Despite the company's attempts to discourage westward-bound travelers from stopping at the fort, wagon travel dramatically increased in the vicinity in the 1840's, as it was located at the junction of the Oregon and California Trails. Fort Hall became a popular resting point for thousands of trail travelers, as well as an important trading post for the Shoshone Indians. By 1863, however, the fort was completely abandoned. Today, the site of the original fort is now a Shoshone reservation.

Next Stop: Great Basin