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Lewis and Clark West to the Pacific by Frank R. "Bob"

Davenport.  Photo and Copyright held by:

Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc

Many of these explorers and frontiersmen were the first non-Indians to see the vast regions of the American West. Leaving civilization behind and following rivers, crossing great plains, and scaling mountains, these explorers paved the way for the many pioneers and fortune seekers who followed in their footsteps.

Find an Explorer

• Davy Crockett (1786-1836) - Frontiersman, explorer, and American folk hero, Crockett a represented Tennessee in the U.S. Congress, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the age of 49 at the Battle of the Alamo.

• John Charles Fremont (1813-1890) - Was an explorer, military officer, and politician who led multiple surveying expeditions through the western territory of the United States.

• John W. Gunnison (1812-1853) - After serving in the Florida War of 1837-1839, Gunnison spent the next ten years surveying the lakes and harbors of the great northwestern United States.

• Hudson's Bay Company (1670-present) - Chartered on May 2, 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. It's trappers and traders were some of the first explorers of the North American continent.

• Manuel Lisa (1772-1820) - Frontiersman, explorer, and fur trader, Lisa founded the Missouri Fur Company.

• Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) - Explorer, soldier, and public administrator, Lewis was best known for his role as the leader of the Corps of Discovery, whose mission was to explore the territory of the Louisiana Purchase.

• Benjamin "Ben" Vernon Lilly (1856-1936) - Often called the “last of the mountain men,” Ben Lilly was known as the greatest lion and bear hunter in the southwest.

• Joseph Lafayette Meek (1810-1875) - Meek went westward from Virginia at an early age signing on with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Later he settled in Oregon where he was appointed the territory's federal marshal, a post he held for the next five years. In 1855, he played a leading part in the Yakima War, organizing the Oregon Volunteers and winning the rank of major for his service.

• Zebulon Montgomery Pike (1779-1813) - A soldier and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named, Pike mapped much of the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase.

• Rocky Mountain Fur Company (1822-1833) - Sometimes referred to as Ashley's Hundred, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was organized in St. Louis, Missouri in 1822 by General William Henry Ashley and Major Andrew Henry.

• Sacagawea (1790?-1812?) ­ A Shoshone Indian woman, she was captured by an enemy tribe who eventually sold her to a French Canadian trapper she later married. In 1804, Lewis and Clark, her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, was hired by the expedition as an interpreter. Sacagawea became an integral part of the expedition. More ...

• Jedediah Strong Smith (1799-1831) - A hunter, trapper, fur trader and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the west coast, and the southwest during the nineteenth century.

• William Sublette (1799-1845) - An explorer, fur trapper, trader, and and mountain man, Sublette was part of William Henry Ashley's trapping group referred to as Ashley's Hundred. he went on to acquire part of the business.

• Pierre Louis Vasquez (1798-1868) - A trapper, trader, and mountain man, Vasquez founded one of the first trading posts in the American West.

• William Sherley "Old Bill" Williams (1787-1849) - A Mountain Man, explorer, army scout, and frontiersman, Williams explored present day Arizona. He was also sometimes an outlaw horse thief.

Continued Next Page

Also See:

Trading Posts and Their Stories

One of the many mountain men of the Old West

This image available for photographic prints and downloads HERE!