Nathaniel Wyeth

One of the earliest explorers and fur trappers to enter the Central Oregon region was Nathaniel Wyeth. Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 29, 1802. He began his career in the 1820’s as a foreman for a company that harvested ice from ponds. The ice was packed in sawdust and sold to shippers to preserve perishable cargoes. Nathaniel invented many ice cutting and storage tools. When he was 30 years old he became infatuated with the potential commercial prospects in the Oregon country. He thought he could become wealthy in the fur industry and develop farms and a salmon industry in the region. In 1832 he outfitted an overland party to head west. He wintered at Ft. Vancouver on the Columbia River. He returned East in the spring.

He again came West in 1834 with a newly outfitted expedition. On the way he founded Fort Hall and built Fort William on the Columbia River. He had grand plans for establishing fur-trading posts, a salmon fishery, a colony and other developments. Upon arrival in the Oregon country he established a base of operations on an island in the Columbia near the mouth of the Willamette River. During the winter of 1834-35 he led a small expedition into central Oregon trapping up the Des chutes River. Along the way he had extensive contact with Northern Paiute and Western Sahaptin groups living in the area. The weather was extremely cold and his band of explorers suffered intensely and relied on Native American villagers for survival. Wyeth’s party stopped at some hot springs near the present Warm Springs Indian Reservation and is believed to have continued up the Deschutes to near present LaPine. The extreme conditions and limited results from trapping led to his retreat back downstream along the Deschutes River and back down the Columbia River.

He ultimately met with several difficulties including poor planning and intense competition from the Hudson Bay Company. This led to his disillusionment with the fur-trapping industry and his other endeavors. He sold most of his enterprise to the Hudson Bay Company, including his base at Fort Hall and returned East in 1836. He continued on with his ice operations and remained financially secure. Although his two ventures westward had proved a failure he continued to support occupation of the Oregon country by American settlers although he never again went west of the Mississippi. He had kept a journal of his travels which were published and record his hardship traveling though the Deschutes country. Nathaniel died on August 31, 1856.

Contributed by Steve Lent, Historian