Benjamin Bonneville Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville ( April 14 , 1796 – June 12 , 1878 ) was a French - born officer in the United States Army , fur trapper , and explorer in the American West . He is noted for his expeditions to the Oregon Country and the Great Basin , and in particular for blazing portions of the Oregon Trail . During his lifetime , Bonneville was made famous by an account of his explorations in the west written by Washington Irving . Early life . Benjamin was born in or near Paris , France , the son of the French publisher Nicolas Bonneville and his wife Marguerite Brazier . When he was seven , his family moved to the United States in 1803 ; their passage was paid by Thomas Paine . Paine had lodged with the Bonnevilles in France and was godfather to Benjamin and his two brothers , Louis and Thomas . In his will , Paine left the bulk of his estate to Marguerite who had cared for him until he died in 1809 . The inheritance included one hundred acres ( 40 . 5 ha ) of his New Rochelle , New York farm where they had been living , so she could maintain and educate her sons . Early career . In 1813 the young Bonneville received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York . He graduated after only two years , receiving a commission as brevet second lieutenant of light artillery . In his early career , he served at posts in New England , Mississippi , and at Fort Smith in the Arkansas Territory . In 1824 , he was transferred to Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory and promoted to Captain . While traveling to France , he was a guest of General Lafayette . After returning from France , he was transferred in 1828 to Jefferson Barracks in Missouri . While in Missouri , Bonneville was inspired by the writing of Hall J . Kelley , as well as editorials in the " St . Louis Enquirer " ( edited at the time by Thomas Hart Benton ) to join in the 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 Oregon Country ; it was scheduled to leave in early 1832 . The lack of volunteers for the expedition forced the delay and eventual cancellation of the expedition , leaving Bonneville unrequited in his ambitions . To pursue his desire to explore the west , he petitioned General Alexander Macomb for a leave of absence from the military , arguing that he would be able to perform valuable reconnaissance among the Native Americans in the Oregon Country , which at the time was under a precarious joint occupation of the U . S . and Britain . It was largely controlled by the Hudson ' s Bay Company . Macomb granted his request , a 26 - month leave running from August 1831 to October 1833 , and instructed him to gather all information that might be useful to the government . In particular , he was to pose as a fur trader and find out the natural history of the region , its climates , soils , geography , topography , mineral production , geology , and the character of the local tribes . Expenses for his exploration were paid by private donors , including Astorian Alfred Seton and possibly John Jacob Astor . Marriage and family . Bonneville married and had a daughter with his wife . After they both died , he did not remarry until after retiring from the military in 1866 , when he settled in Fort Smith , Arkansas . There he married Sue Neis . Expedition of 1832 . The expedition that would be known as the most notable accomplishment of his life began in May 1832 , when Bonneville left Missouri with 110 men , including Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth and field lieutenants Michael Cerre and Joseph Walker . The voyage was financed by John Jacob Astor , a rival of the Hudson ' s Bay Company . The expedition proceeded from Fort Osage on the Missouri River , up to the Platte River , and across present - day Wyoming . They reached the Green River in August and built a fur trading post , which they named Fort Bonneville . The mountain men called it " Fort Nonsense " and it was never used for trading . In the spring of 1833 , Bonneville explored along the Snake River in present - day Idaho , drifting into the head of the Salmon River and eventually into Fort Nez Perce . During this trip he engaged a guide , John Enos ( Enos ) , a 10 - year - old Shoshone nephew of Gourd Rattler ( " Washakie " ) and " Pahdasherwahundah " ( Iron Wristbands ) ; Enos later served as a scout for the Fremont expedition . He also sent a party of men under Joe Walker to explore the Great Salt Lake and to find an overland route to California . Walker discovered a route along the Humboldt River across present - day Nevada , as well as Walker Pass across the Sierra Nevada . The path later became known as the California Trail , the primary route for the immigrants to the gold fields during the California Gold Rush . Much speculation has surrounded Bonneville ' s motivation for sending Walker to California . Some historians have speculated that Bonneville was attempting to lay the groundwork for an eventual invasion of California , then part of Mexico , by the United States Army . John McLoughlin , the director of the Columbia operations of the Hudson ' s Bay Company at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River , heard of Bonneville ' s mission . He forbade his traders from doing business with Bonneville and his men . Bonneville reported that many of the Native Americans he encountered in the Snake River were also reluctant to displease the Hudson ' s Bay Company by trading with the Americans . In the summer of 1833 , Bonneville ventured into the Wind River Range in present - day Wyoming to trade with the Shoshone . By this time , he realized that he would not be able to return east by October as planned . He wrote a lengthy letter to Gen . Macomb summarizing some of his findings and requesting more time , specifically to survey the Columbia River and parts of the Southwest before his return . Trying to reach Oregon . After spending the early winter at Fort Bonneville , he set out westward in January 1834 with the goal of reaching the Willamette Valley . He and his men traveled up the Snake River , through Hells Canyon , and into the Wallowa Mountains , where they found a hospitable welcome by the Nez Perces along the Imnaha River . On March 4 , 1834 , they reached Fort Nez Perces , the outpost of the Hudson ' s Bay Company at the confluence of the Walla Walla River with the Columbia . Pierre C . Pambrun , the HBC commander of the fort , welcomed him but refused to do business with him . Empty handed , Bonneville and men retraced their course back to southeast Idaho and made camp on the Portneuf River . In July he made a second trip west , determined to trade with the Hudson ' s Bay Company . He followed an easier route across the Blue Mountains , where he met Nathaniel Wyeth once again and camped along the Grande Ronde River . By this time he and his men had become desperate for food and supplies . At Fort Nez Perces , they found the same rejection from Pambrun . Instead of returning immediately east , Bonneville and men journeyed down the Columbia towards Fort Vancouver . Along the river , he attempted to trade with Sahaptins but without success . He came to realize that he would probably receive the same rejection from McLoughlin at Fort Vancouver and decided to turn back east . He spent the winter of 1834 – 35 with the Shoshone along the upper Bear River , and in April 1835 began the voyage back to Missouri . He reached Independence by August and discovered that although his letter requesting an extension had arrived , it had not been delivered to Macomb . In the meantime , his commission had been revoked . Washington Irving . Bonneville journeyed east hoping to be able to recover his commission . On the way to Washington , D . C . , he stopped in New York City where he was received by his patron John Jacob Astor . While staying with Astor , Bonneville met Washington Irving . Bonneville regaled Irving with tales of his adventures , tales that Bonneville planned to include in a book he was working on . A month or two later , Irving visited Bonneville again , at the D . C . barracks where the latter was staying . Bonneville was having difficulties writing his adventures . The two of them agreed that for the sum of $ 1000 , Bonneville would turn over his maps and notes so that Irving could use them as the basis for his third " Western " book . The result was " The Adventures of Captain Bonneville " , published in 1837 . More military service . In Washington , Bonneville petitioned tirelessly to Secretary of War Lewis Cass to have his commission re - instated . In early 1836 he was successful . In subsequent years , he was given assignments on the western frontier at Fort Kearny in the Nebraska Territory and in the New Mexico Territory at Fort Fillmore , where he became the commander of the third infantry regiment on February 3 , 1855 , after the death of Colonel Thomas Staniford . He also served in the Mexican - American War , taking part in the Veracruz campaign of Winfield Scott . He was part of the occupation of Mexico City . He was promoted to Colonel of the 3rd Infantry Regiment in 1855 , and twice commanded the Department of New Mexico . Bonneville retired from the military in 1861 but was soon recalled to duty during the Civil War , reaching the rank of brevet Brigadier General . From 1861 to 1863 Bonneville served as superintendent of recruiting in Missouri with a brief stint in 1862 as commander of Benton Barracks in St . Louis . He retired a second time in 1866 and moved to Fort Smith , Arkansas , where he married a second time , to Sue Neis . He died at age 82 in 1878 . He is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery , St . Louis , Missouri . Namesakes . Bonneville ' s namesake s include :