Benjamin de Bonneville

Benjamin de Bonneville (1796-1878), American explorer and soldier. Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was born in Paris, and brought to the United States by his parents. He graduated from the US Military Academy in 1815 and entered the army. After gaining experience with the fur trade while serving at frontier posts, Bonneville obtained a leave of absence from the army and in 1832 led an expedition into the Rocky Mountains. Making his base on the Green River in Wyoming, he spent the next four years in fur trading and exploring. Having overstayed his leave from the army, he was dismissed.

Soon after his return from the expedition in 1836 his journals were edited by the American author Washington Irving and published as The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A., in the Rocky Mountains and the Far West (2 vols., 1837). He was reinstated in the army in 1836 and served in the Mexican-American War. Bonneville retired in 1861 but re-entered the army during the American Civil War and in 1865 was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He retired again in 1866. Lake Bonneville, in Utah, is named in his honour.