The Laketown area was originally inhabited by members of the Shoshone, Ute, and Sioux Indian Tribes, who fished and hunted around the southern end of Bear Lake. During the winter of 1811, the first known non-native American visitors were five men trapping beaver. Between 1825 and 1840, fur traders took part in the many Mountain Men/Indian rendezvouses held on the south end of Bear Lake, including Jim Bridger, Jedediah Smith, and Peter Skene Ogden. In the spring of 1867, men from the settlements of Round Valley and Meadowville moved to the present site of Laketown without consent of proper authority and in violation of the Indian Treaty, and they began to build shelters and clear land. After the Indians protested to President Brigham Young of The LDS Church, he sent Charles C. Rich to settle the dispute. A new treaty allowed the settlers to remain in the south end of the valley, but required them to supply the Indians with food upon demand. By 1868, The LDS Church, which was sponsoring the development of the valley, moved to establish the permanent settlement of Laketown. The first meeting and school house were built in 1868 for church services and school classes, followed by a post office in 1871 and a store in 1874. Among the original settlers with descendants still in Laketown are the Kearls, Westons, Willises, Johnsons, Robinsons, Lamborns, Earleys, Cheneys, Prices, Wahlstroms, and Webbs, who continue to operate family farms and ranches and take pride in a legacy passed down through generations.