Fort Hall was a fur trading post in Idaho located 80 kilometers northeast of where
the Oregon-California Trail fork. It was founded by Nathaniel J. Wyeth and built in
1832-33. In 1837, the Hudson's Bay Company purchased the fort from Wyeth and continued to run it until the mid 1850s.1
In 1842-43, Fort Hall became a major station and supply point for emigrants and travelers such
as Dr. Marcus Whitman and Reverend Henry Spalding. In 1848, George Simpson described Fort Hall as a defenseless state and ordered it to be temporarily abandoned.2 Although the fort was later a hub for trade and supplies, by 1856 the Hudson's Bay decided to discontinue operations due to the decline in trade and increasing hostilities
with Indigenous Peoples.3 Fort Hall is now a heritage site, although it has been and was often confused with
Cantonment Loring, another post not far from the original fort.