John Henry Weber

The Weber River and Weber County carry the name of a Danish sailor's son. Born in Denmark in 1779, John Henry Weber came to America young, and at the Missouri lead mines fell in with William Ashley and Andrew Henry just as they organized the first American trapping expedition to the Rockies in 1822. Weber went along, and in 1823 led a party up the Yellowstone that became the first American trappers to cross the Continental Divide. Working south into the Great Basin, his men trapped the river that has borne his name ever since.

What the plaque says

Weber River and Weber County bear the name of John Henry Weber who was born in Denmark in 1779 and came to America about 1807. Weber was hired by the U. S. army ordnance department to keep the records at the government owned lead mines at Ste Genevieve, Missouri where he met William Henry Ashley and Andrew Henry who in 1822 organized the first party of American trappers to go to the Rocky Mountains to hunt for beaver. Weber went with them. In 1823 they sent a party of trappers up the Yellowstone river with Weber at its head. This became the first party of American trappers to cross the continental divide. By a circuitous route Weber led his party into the great basin and in the fall of 1824 his party trapped the river which now bears his name. After trapping for 5 years Weber returned to Ste Genevieve where, because of his earlier excellent performance, he was rehired as recorder within 2 weeks. By 1833 Weber was assistant superintendent of the government mines in Galena, Illinois. Later he became superintendent for a short time. He retired in 1840 and moved to Bellevue, Iowa where he died in 1859. The name Weber County was made official on January 26, 1851 by the Utah Territorial Legislature. There is in Bellevue, lowa each summer a mountain men rendezvous, called John Henry Weber Rendezvous. Erected by Ogden Pioneer chapter Sons Utah Pioneers, Weber County commissioners, Weber State University and alumnae, Weber School District, Weber Historical Society, Ogden City Council. William W. Terry Historian

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ogden Union Station — 0.3 mi
  A grand 1924 train depot turned museum complex
• Snowbasin — 5.9 mi
  One of the country's oldest ski areas and a 2002 Olympic downhill venue — world-class terrain that somehow still skis uncrowded.
• Hill Aerospace Museum — 7.1 mi
  Over 90 military aircraft displayed indoors and on the tarmac
• Powder Mountain — 15 mi
  The largest ski resort in the United States by acreage — a famously uncrowded "PowMow" now remaking itself under Netflix's Reed Hastings.

More markers nearby

• Jedediah Strong Smith - Ogden — steps away
• Captain James Brown — steps away
• Lorin Farr - Washington Blvd — steps away
• Lorin Farr (2) Markers — steps away