William Miles Goodyear: A Mountain Man

He was born February 24, 1817 in Hamden, Connecticut. His middle name is Morris. At the age of four he became an orphan. 1836 he was nineteen and joined Whitman-Spaulding missionary party. He then told them he wanted to be his own man. He was a mountain man during the very last years of fur trade who built Fort Buenaventura. In 1839 he married Pomona who is the daughter of the Ute chief Pe-teet-neet. By 1842 Miles and Pomona had two children. They named them William Miles and Mary Eliza. He ranged widely across the Rocky
Mountains. He met this one man with the name of James Brown. They both agreed on a price of $1,950 for Fort Buenaventura. He then decided to build an enclosed fort. The fort began in
1845. They wanted it done fast. So, it was completed by the end of 1846. The fort was big …show more content…
In late 1846 and very early 1847 Miles Goodyear traveled to Fort Sutter. When he traveled there he was the first to view the devastating desolation that winter brought to the Donner-Reed party.
Goodyear used their tracks to the Wasatch Mountains. Even though he left a missionary party, in July of 1847 he decided to visit with the first Mormon Company that were traveling west. He convinced them to settle on the Weber River. Miles than became really engaged in horse- trading and gold mining in California. Goodyear bought some land at Beneia. He then went to
Yuba River. That was a good choice because there he made a rich discovery of gold as he panned. We all know Ogden, well back than it was called Fort Benecia. After that it was named
Brownsville. Later it was named what we all know it as Ogden. He then became ill and died November 12, 1849 at the age of 32 in Sierra Nevada. He was then buried at Benecia,