Edward Jay Allen (April 27, 1830 – December 26, 1915) was an entrepreneur and prominent businessman based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Edward Jay Allen traveled west over the Oregon Trail in 1852 and made his way to Puget Sound, arriving in December of that year.

Allen played a significant role in the early history of Washington Territory and left a detailed account of his years in the west (1852–1855).

Upon returning to Pittsburgh, he married, raised a family, served with distinction in the Civil War as a colonel in the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry.

He was a member of the exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club that gained notoriety for contributing to the disastrous 1889 Johnstown Flood.

After nearly three years in New York City, the Allen family moved to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, a bustling coal center that supplied Philadelphia’s fuel needs via a newly constructed canal.

Suffering from a severe long-term lung ailment, Allen found respite in the summer of 1851 wandering the hills of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania with friends.

He hoped, in addition to securing property under the Donation Land Claim Act, that the trip west would improve his health.

He decided to turn his wagon bed into a boat and float down the Snake River, soon learning why so few emigrants chose this method of travel.

After days of running rapids and portaging around waterfalls, Allen and his waterborne companions arrived at Fort Boise.

He left behind accounts of the ferry business and of the comings and goings at Fort Boise of Native Americans, Hudson's Bay Company employees, fur traders and travelers.

He paused briefly before heading north over the Cowlitz Trail to the small village of Olympia at the south end of Puget Sound.

In December 1852, finally reaching his destination, Allen built a cabin on his Donation Land Claim three miles up Budd Inlet from Olympia.

In June 1853 he surveyed the Indian trail over Naches Pass in the Cascade Mountains as a potential route for a wagon road to divert incoming emigrants from the Willamette Valley to Puget Sound.

That winter he explored Puget Sound to its northern reaches by whaleboat, ran for a position in the territorial senate (he lost), and shared his cabin with Captain George B. McClellan and George Gibbs (geologist), both on assignment to conduct various government surveys of the newly created Washington Territory.

About 1880 they organized an exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, to develop and enjoy a summer retreat in the mountains outside Pittsburgh.