Union Pass

Union Pass, named in 1860 by Captain William F. Raynolds during the Hayden Surveys of Wyoming, provides access across the Continental Divide in the Northern Wind River Mountains. Ancient peoples used this pass for centuries, and fur trappers began using it in the early 1800’s. In 1811, Wilson Price Hunt, an Astorian, crossed Union Pass while seeking buffalo to feed his party on the way to the mouth of the Columbia River. Jedediah Smith camped with the Mountain Crow during the winter of 1823-24 near Dubois, Wyoming, learned of Union Pass, and failed in an attempt to cross because of deep snows. The Crow then told him of another pass, later named South Pass, which became the route through the mountains for the Oregon, Mormon, and California Trails. Mountain men Jedediah Smith, William Sublette, Robert Campbell, Jim Bridger, and David Jackson also crossed while trapping for beaver. Union Pass is the source of three major rivers in the American West: to the north, the waters of the Wind River flow to the Gulf of Mexico; to the south, the waters of the Green River flow to the Gulf of California; and to the northwest, the waters of the Gros Ventre flow to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Union Pass also offers views of the Rocky Mountains, including the Wind River Range, the Absaroka Mountains, the Gros Ventre Mountains, the Teton Range, and the Wyoming Range, and at an elevation of 9,210 feet it has abundant wildlife and alpine vegetation visible year round.

Dubois, Wyoming · United States