The fate of Jim Bridger was not an uncommon one in the early days. A number of white men deserted their own kind to become the adopted members of Indian tribes. They took to themselves Indian wives, and dressed, spoke and lived as Indians. But their fate was nearly always the same. Sooner or later they were usually killed by the people of their adoption.
Two American expeditions visited this country in 1832, one headed by Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., and the other by Captain Wyeth.
Already some of the names in this narrative must have struck the reader’s ears as locally familiar—Clark, Lewis, Bonneville and Wyeth. All the cross streets in Pocatello, except Center, which divides the city into north and south, are named after early explorers, Indian fighters, hunters or men who otherwise distinguished themselves in daring during the early days. Hence, Wyeth street, Bonneville street, etc. The streets parallel with the railway on the east side of the city are numbered, while those on the west are named for the various presidents, as Arthur, Garfield and Hayes.
In this way Pocatello has linked to herself the names and therefore the history and adventures of the daring and hardy pioneers of the great northwest. The history of her street names would be one of romance and adventure, of daring and hardship, suffering and triumph, such as it would be hard to equal. For this heritage of nomenclature, the city is indebted to Daniel Church, former mayor of Pocatello, to the Tribune, and others who selected this system of names.
Captain Bonneville’s expedition was one of exploration only. Captain Wyeth came to trade with the Indians, but in this he met with small success. The Hudson Bay Company, a wealthy English corporation, had entered the territory and was most ably represented by Doctor—sometimes called Captain—McLoughlin. He was an honorable, kind and brave man, but far-seeing and shrewd. He covered the country with a network of English, Canadians, French and Indians, and met American competition everywhere by offering higher prices for furs than his rivals could afford. Consequently Captain Wyeth’s expedition was not a business success, but he deserves more than passing notice, not only because his name is now a household word in Pocatello, but more especially because he established Fort Hall, which he named after a member of the firm for whom he had come west.
Captain Nathaniel Wyeth, having heard of the profits to be made in fur-trading, led an expedition overland from Boston, arriving at Fort Vancouver in the fall of 1832. Here he was to meet a vessel laden with supplies and sent by a Boston company with which he was associated. But the ship never came. After waiting all winter Wyeth decided that she had been lost, and returned to Boston.
In 1834, Captain Wyeth returned to the northwest and this time a ship containing supplies did come to meet him. In his party were three Methodist ministers—Rev. Jason Lee, Rev. Cyrus Shepherd and Rev. T. L. Edwards, who were the first missionaries to land in Oregon. It was on this second trip that Captain Wyeth built Fort Hall, on the banks of the Snake river, as a trading post, and here, on July 27, 1834, Rev. Jason Lee conducted the first Christian service held in Idaho.
Competition with the Hudson Bay Company and the loss of many men by desertion and death, finally forced the captain to sell out and return to the east.
Two women deserve notice here as being the first white women to pass through what is now Bannock county. They are Mrs. Whitman, wife of the Rev. Dr. Marcus Whitman, afterward killed by the Indians, and after whom Whitman College in Oregon, and Whitman street in Pocatello, are named, and Mrs. Spalding, wife of the Rev. Spalding. They came to the Northwest in 1836, and settled in Oregon.
Another expedition, under Captain John C. Fremont, after whom Fremont street, Pocatello, is named, was sent to survey parts of this territory in 1843.