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Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (1796-1878) - A French-born army
officer, frontiersman and explorer of the
American
West, Bonneville was born on April 14, 1796 in Paris, France. His family moved
to the United States in 1803. Benjamin was well educated and graduated from West
Point in 1815. He then received a commission as a Brevet Second Lieutenant of Light Artillery and in his early career, served
at posts in New England, Mississippi, and at Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 1824, he was transferred to Fort Gibson,
Oklahoma and promoted to
Captain. After briefly returning to France, Bonneville was then transferred to Jefferson Barracks in
Missouri in 1828.
While in
Missouri, Bonneville was inspired by the writings of Hall J.
Kelley, as well as editorials in the St. Louis Enquirer, which were
edited by Thomas Hart Benton, that promoted exploration of the
American
West.
Bonneville met with Kelley, who was impressed by him and appointed him to
lead one of the expeditions to the
OregonCountry that were to leave in early 1832. However, the lack
of volunteers for the expedition forced the delay and eventual
cancellation of the expedition, leaving Bonneville still anxiously wanting
to explore the west.
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Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (1796-1878)
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Determined, Bonneville petitioned for a leave
of absence arguing that he
could perform valuable reconnaissance among the
Native Americans, especially in the Pacific Northwest, which at the time was
under a precarious joint occupation of the U.S. and Britain
and largely controlled by the Hudson's Bay
Company.
His leave of absence was granted with the stipulation that he
gather as much information as he could to provide to the
federal government.
In 1832, Bonneville took a leave from the military and led 110 men,
including explorer and trader, Nathaniel
Jarvis Wyeth, on an expedition into Wyoming Territory. The
expedition was financed by John
Jacob Astor,
the owner of the
American Fur
Company.
Proceeding up the
Missouri
River
then to the Platte River, they reached the Green River in
Wyoming
in August and built a winter fort, which they named
Fort Bonneville.
The following spring, the expedition explored
along the Snake River in present-day
Idaho,
and another party, under the leadership of Joseph Walker,
was sent to explore the Great Salt Lake and
to try to find an overland route to California. Walker was successful, blazing a
trail along the Humboldt River across Nevada and discovering a
pass across the Sierra Nevada Mountains that would be named
for him. Walker Pass and the path he had blazed later became
known as the
California
Trail
and was much used during the
California Gold
Rush.
He and his men spent the summer
and fall of 1833 in
Wyoming
trading with the
Shoshone Indians.
In January, 1834, they left
Fort Bonneville, with
the objective of reaching
Oregon. In
March, 1834, they reached Fort Nez Perce, an outpost of the Hudson's Bay
Company, who refused to trade with them.
They then backtracked to
Idaho. At
this time, the Hudson's Bay
Company held a monopoly in the Pacific Northwest, and even many of the Indian tribes refused to trade with the expedition, even when they
became desperate for food. Finally, the expedition began the
trek back in April, 1835. The reached
Missouri in August.
He soon
returned to active duty, and fought n both the Mexican War and the Civil War. He
retired from the military in 1866 and moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he died at
the age 82 on June 12, 1878. He was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis,
Missouri.
During his lifetime, his explorations were made famous by writer, Washington
Irving, who published the book,
The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, in 1837.
©
Kathy Weiser/Legends
of America, January, 2010.
Artist's rendition of
Fort Bonneville,
Wyoming.
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