Humboldt River - Nevada Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

When Peter Ogden discovered the Humboldt River in 1828 he called it "Unknown River". It bore many names in succeeding years until Fremont's 1848 map identified it as the Humboldt. This was a major emigrant route across the Great Basin.

Marker Title (required): Humboldt River Marker Number (If official State Marker from NV SHPO website above, otherwise leave blank): 22 Marker Text (required): First discovered November 9, 1828, by Peter Skene Ogden on his fifth Snake Country expedition. Entering Nevada near present Denio, Ogden came southward along Quinn River and the Little Humboldt River, emerging on the Humboldt main stem near this site. Ogden explored hundreds of square miles of the Humboldt's course, left records of his trailblazing in his journal and first map of the area. Ogden gave the name "Unknown River" to the Humboldt at this time, as he was unsure where it went. Later, after the death of his trapper Joseph Paul, Ogden renamed the stream Paul's River, then Swampy River, finally Mary's River, from the legendary Indian wife of one of his trappers. In 1833 the Bonneville-Walker fur party named it Barren River. Ogden's or Mary's River were commonly used names for the Humboldt prior to the publication of John C. Fremont's map in 1848. The Humboldt was the only natural arterial across the Great Basin. It funneled thousands of emigrants along its valley en route to the Pacific Coast during the period of 1841-1870. County (required): Humboldt Marker Type (required): Full Size (with blue painted mesh) Is Marker Damaged? (required): No URL - Website (optional): [Web Link] Other Marker Type (optional): Not listed Other Damage Type (optional): Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/24/2016 Volcanoguy visited it 08/16/2011 brwhiz visited it

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