Pilot Peak became a crucial landmark in crossing the desert after the Bidwell-Bartleson wagon train, the first emigrant party to see it, reached it in 1841. Four years later, Captain John C. Fremont saw the peak from the Cedar Range in Utah, about 75 miles away, while seeking to establish a trail from the Great Salt Lake to the existing California Trail along the Humboldt River. He sent Kit Carson ahead toward the peak to scout a safe passage across the salt flats, and Carson's smoke signals assured him of a safe route with food for livestock and water for travelers. Recognizing the mountain's importance in desert travel, Fremont named it Pilot Peak. In 1846 the Reed-Donner Party crossed this valley on the Hastings Cutoff toward the main California Trail, but the salt flats just east of here proved extremely difficult: stock animals died, wagons broke down, and the emigrants barely reached the springs at the base of Pilot Peak. The shortcut slowed their progress and helped set the stage for the disaster that awaited them 400 miles ahead in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Travelers along Interstate 80 now follow the same route once used by these early explorers and emigrants, who on a good day managed only 10 to 15 miles across this harsh landscape.