The Oregon Trail passed over the ridge east of Devil's Gate, where good grass, water, and the shelter of the hills made a popular campsite. In 1842, explorer Brevet-Captain John C. Fremont wrote that after about three miles he reached the entrance of the canyon where the Sweet Water issues upon the more open valley already crossed, that the usual road passed to the right of this place, and that wilderness and disorder characterized the scenery. Oregon emigrant James Mathers stopped here on July 8, 1846, and wrote that his party encamped above the pass of the river between high rocks and that it was the most interesting sight they had met with on their journey. Later, the Mormon Pioneer Trail and the California and Pony Express Trails crossed this same ridge, and some 500,000 emigrants followed the Trail west; many travelers called it the Emigrant Road.