William Ashley - 1825

William Ashley - 1825. . Leaving Missouri in 1824, William Ashley led a large group of men west in search of riches - beaver. Ashley and his crew arrived on the banks of the Green River (or Seeds-ke-dee as it was called then) on April 9th, 1825 near the mouth of the Big Sandy River north of here. The men divided into four groups to explore the area for beaver. , Ashley supervised the building of "bull boats" - clumsy crafts of buffalo hides stretched over a willow frame and then led 7 men down the Green River. His was the first recorded river trip on the Green. , The voyagers passed by Expedition Island on Sunday, April 25, 1825. They walked around many rapids including Ashley Falls, now under Flaming Gorge Reservoir. , They continued downriver through the Green's canyons until they arrived in the Uinta Basin (now Utah) on June 16th. From there, Ashley left the river and made his way back to this area for the first of the great annual rendezvous held on Henry's Fork in July 1825. , Though not widespread, word of Ashley's decent (sic) of the river gradually spread in the "States" letting others know that river travel down the Green was possible. Later mountain men used dugout canoes made from cottonwood logs to float the Green.