Names Hill

Names Hill is a sandstone cliff along the Green River near LaBarge, with its surface covered by thousands of carved signatures and inscriptions. These engravings primarily date from the 19th century and were made by westbound travelers who wanted to mark their passage through the area.

The cliff gained importance during the Oregon Trail era, with the earliest American inscriptions left by mountain men starting around 1822. The site documents intensive use of this route over several decades as settlers and traders moved westward across the continent.

Native American pictographs on the cliff surface predate European settlement and show this location served as a gathering and communication point for indigenous peoples. The layers of carved names that followed reflect how later travelers transformed the site into a record of passage.

The cliff sits a few miles south of LaBarge and is easily reached via US Route 189, with the nearby Green River providing a natural stopping point. Best visited on foot, you can walk along paths that let you view the carvings from different angles and read the inscriptions at close range.

Among the countless inscriptions on the rock is the signature of Jim Bridger, a famous mountain man and frontier explorer. Questions persist about whether he actually carved his own name, since historical records indicate he was illiterate.