The Bear River Region

Beginning high in the Uinta Mountains south of Evanston, the Bear River meanders more than 500 miles through Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, ending in the Great Salt Lake, less than 100 miles from it’s origin. This route makes the Bear River the Northern Hemisphere’s longest river that does not flow into an ocean.

During the late 17th and 18th century, before the white man’s arrival, this region was widely used by Shoshone, Arapaho, and Uintah Indians who camped here while hunting the abundant wildlife and gathering berries. They called the river “quee-yaw-pah” for a tobacco root growing along it’s bank. Trappers called it the “Bear River” because of the many bears that frequented the area, Indians and trappers sometimes held rendezvous in this region. The Burnfork Rendezvous held in 1825, just 50 miles southeast of here, was the first rendezvous of traders and trappers to be held in the Rocky Moutains.

Between 1840 and 1870, more than 500,000 emigrants traveled through this area bound for opportunity in the Oregon Territory, the Great Basin, and the California gold fields. in 1843 famed mountain man, Jim Bridger, and his partner, Louis Vasquez, established a trading post that soon became Fort Bridger. Located just 35 miles east of here, it became a welcome spot to rest, resupply, trade animals, and get necessary blacksmith work done.

During the development of America’s Transcontinental Railroad, tie hacks cut railroad ties in Uinta Mountains to the south. The Bear River’s spring runoff was used to float them to the railway to construct and maintain the railroad you see on the west bank of the river. The Union Paific Railroad depended on this river as a source of water for their steam engines and for ice that was cut, stored in nearby ice houses and used to protect perishables before the advent of refrigerator cars.

Geologically, this region is part of the Overthrust Belt, a series of folds and faults that formed over a vast period as two enormous land masses compressed together. These land mass movements caused the crust of the earth to overlap by as much as 60 miles, burying petroleum source rocks deep beneath the surface where high tempertures stimulated the generation of oil and gas. Oil, gas and minerals play a major role in southwestern Wyoming as evidenced by the presence of many energy and mineral related companies. The world’s laargest deposits of trona are located just east of here. Mines in this region produce two thirds of the world’s supply of soda ash (a trona derivative).

Today the Bear River is used for recreation, agriculture and municipal water. Many species of wildlife use the river habitat. Visitors enjoy viewing antelope, deer, an occasional moose or elk, and many small animals. Bird watchers enjoy Eagles, Great Blue Herons, Sand Hill Cranes, several species of ducks, Canada Geese, and many song birds.

Bear River State Park, established lin 1991, provides visitors with the opportunity to hike the trails following in the footsteps of Jim Bridger, Cut Face Sublette, Hugh Glass, and Chief Washakie, or enjoy viewing the bison and elk herds. Visitors can fish for Bear River Cutthroat Trout or just relax under a large cottonwood tree and imagine what it might have been like to confront a 600 lb Grizzly along the river’s edge. Winter provides unique viewing opportunities from numerous cross country ski trails.

Reprinted from State Park brochure