W. Price Hunt

Deceased Person

1783 – 1842

 Credit ยป
106

Who was W. Price Hunt?

William or Wilson Price Hunt was an early pioneer of the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest of North America. An American and an employee of John Jacob Astor, Hunt used information supplied by the Lewis and Clark Expedition to lead the portion of the Astor Expedition that traveled to Oregon by land. The party reached the mouth of the Columbia River in February 1812, joining the portion of the expedition that had traveled by sea at Fort Astoria, which the latter party had just completed.

Hunt had difficulty finding quality men at Mackinaw and St. Louis, finding most to be "drinking in the morning, drunk at noon and dead drunk at night." Having finally assembled a party, Hunt arrived at Nodaway, Missouri on November 16, 1810, and settled into winter quarters. They departed April 22, 1811.

When the party encountered the Snake River, they abandoned their horses and attempted to travel downstream. After nine days of successful travel they lost a man and two canoes in the rapids, and reconsidered their plan. They divided into four parties, and took different routes to approach the mouth of the Columbia.

The trip from Missouri to the future site of Astoria, Oregon took 340 days. According to his own account, Hunt traveled 2,073 miles from a village of the Aricaras, in present-day South Dakota, to the end of the journey.

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Born
Mar 20, 1783
New Jersey
Lived in
  • St. Louis
Died
Apr 13, 1842

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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