In the late autumn or early winter of 1824, while trappers were holding their first winter rendezvous in Cache Valley, James Bridger settled a wager by floating alone in a bull boat down Bear River to its outlet to determine the river's course, making the original discovery of Great Salt Lake. Believing instead that he had found a salty arm of the Pacific Ocean, he halted at viewpoints such as this one along the way to reconnoitre.