Wilson Price Hunt

Wilson Price Hunt (March 20, 1783 – April 13, 1842) was an early pioneer and explorer of the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest of North America. Employed as an agent in the fur trade under John Jacob Astor, Hunt organized and led the greater part of a group of about 60 men on an overland expedition to establish a fur trading outpost at the mouth of the Columbia River. The Astorians, as they have become known, were the first major party to cross to the Pacific after the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Biography Historical records refer to Hunt both as "William" and as "Wilson." Son of Abraham Hunt and originally from Trenton, New Jersey, Hunt moved to St. Louis in 1804 and worked selling various merchandise for several years. acting as his personal representative in his absence.

On July 5, 1810, In addition, he faced a steady competition for recruits amongst the more established Northwest and Mackinaw companies in Michilimackinac and the Missouri Fur Company in St. Louis. Having finally assembled a party, Hunt arrived at Nodaway, Missouri, on November 16, 1810, and settled into winter quarters. They departed April 22, 1811.

In the course of traveling up the Missouri River, Hunt recruited several former Missouri Fur Company men returning from the interior. His original plan had been to ascend the Missouri and then the Yellowstone River, but information provided by these men regarding the hostility of the Blackfoot on the upper Missouri caused him to change course and cross to the Columbia by land. A return expedition overland was led by Robert Stuart, who discovered South Pass, a key feature of the soon-to-be-established Oregon Trail. The Pedlar then traveled again to New Archangel and then to Kamchatka before being captured in August 1814 by the Spanish on smuggling charges and held on the coast of California at San Louis Obispo for two months. After being released, the Pedlar made its way back to the Hawaiian Islands then ultimately onto China to procure a cargo of Chinese goods for trade in New York. Hunt arrived in New York with his cargo in October 1816. and his name is inscribed in a frieze in the Oregon State Senate chamber of the Oregon State Capitol.