Bear Lake County, Idaho: History
Peg-Leg Smith established a trading post on the Oregon Trail from 1848 to 1850 near Dingle.
The first settlement in the Bear Lake Valley was Paris, settled by Mormon pioneers led by Charles Rich on September 26, 1863; thirty families comprised the original settlement. In the spring of 1864, Montpelier was settled on the other side of the valley on the Oregon Trail. Bear Lake County was established in 1875, and the railroad was extended through Montpelier in 1892.