Bear's "Ploughed Field"

The quotation comes from The Fur Hunters of the Far West, which Ross published in London in 1855, three decades after the trip; his 1824 journal survives only in part. An Idaho State Historical Society reference note found pages of that book describing country his brigade never crossed, but it places this scene: Ross's Bear River is Valley Creek, and the turned ground lay near present Stanley. George Simpson judged Ross unequal to trapping out the Snake country and gave the next brigade to Peter Skene Ogden.

What the plaque says

Bear's "Ploughed Field" Long before miners and ranchers settled Stanley Basin, bears dominated this area. When Alexander Ross and his Hudson's Bay Company trappers stopped here, September 20, 1824, they "observed at some distance the appearance of a ploughed field, and riding up towards it, found a large piece of ground more than four acres in extent, dug up and turned over. On getting to the spot, we observed no less than nine black and grizzly bears at work, rooting away," eating camas, onions, and wild celery. 328 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Yankee Fork Gold Dredge — 15 mi
  A 988-ton floating gold dredge worked five miles of valley for twelve years, and spent more than it found.
• Galena Summit Overlook — 26 mi
  The Salmon River's first miles, seen from an overlook named for the couple who helped keep a mine out of the view.

More markers nearby

• Stanley Ranger Station — steps away
• Yankee Fork Mines — 10 mi
• Emile Grandjean — 16 mi
• Sawtooth City — 22 mi