• 1842-57 Bear Lake's first resident, Thomas "Peg Leg" Smith establishes a trading post on the Bear River.

• 1850 On Sept. 9th 1850, the Utah Territory is established.

• 1850 The Organic Act establishes the 42nd Parallel as the northern boundary of Utah Territory.

• 1862 The Homestead Act offers settlers 160 acres of land in exchange for a minor filing fee and a promise to reside on the land and improve it.
  
  
• 1863 On March 3rd the Idaho Territory is created.
  
  

  In September, Charles C. Rich leads Mormon settlers into the Bear Lake Valley. The first settlement is Paris. They thought they were settling within the Utah Territory. Charles C. Rich and Chief Washakie of the Shoshoni Indians reach a cooperative, peaceful agreement that the settlers would be allowed in all parts of the valley except the Southern end of the lake.

• 1864 During the Spring, an additional 700 Mormon settlers establish the towns of Bloomington, Fish Haven, Liberty, Montpelier, Ovid, and St. Charles. By the Summer of 1864, businesses in Montpelier were trading with travelers traversing the Oregon Trail.

• 1871 The survey done by the US Geological Survey reestablishes that Bear Lake is half in Utah and half in Idaho.