Accounts of Peter Skene Ogden's 1824-25 Expedition into Utah
Introduction
In 1824-25, The Hudson's Bay Company conducted a trapping expedition in
the "Snake Country", including the region now known as northern Utah.
This expedition was led by one Peter Skene Ogden.
Both Ogden and his chief clerk, William Kittson, kept daily journals
of this fur brigade's travels. Both journals are important
historical documents, for they constitute the earliest written
descriptions of the area traversed - Cache, Ogden, and Weber
valleys - and the daily operations of a large company of trappers
plying their trade in the streams of the region.
They are to northern Utah what Escalante's journal is to central and southern
Utah - the earliest written account by eyewitnesses.
Both journals should be read in conjunction.
Kittson's journal makes several important contributions omitted
by Ogden's account. One of the most significant of these is in
the field of geography. He not only kept a daily journal but
also prepared a remarkably accurate map of the region traversed
showing rivers, lakes and mountain ranges. On this map he marked
the actual route and camp sites of the Ogden company.
Bibliographical Information
This web site provides links to two articles originally published in the Utah Historical Quarterly.
These articles are made available on-line courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society.
Peter Skene Ogden's Journal of His Expeditions to Utah, 1825 David E. Miller, ed.
volume 20, page 159
William Kittson's Journal Covering Peter Skene Ogden's 1824-1825 Snake Country
Expedition David E. Miller, ed. volume 22, page 125
These article were, in turn, based on:
Peter Skene Ogden's Snake Country Journals, 1824-1825 and 1825-26. Edited by E. E. Rich. The Publications of the Hudson's Bay Record Society, XIII [London 1950].
Links
- Peter Skene Ogden's Journal
- William Kittson's Journal
- William Kittson's Map