Wilson Price Hunt (March 20, 1783 – April 13, 1842) was an early pioneer and explorer of the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest of North America.

Astor, as part of his plan to gain a foothold on the Northwest coast and enable the development and prosecution of a more profitable trade with the Chinese, formed the Pacific Fur Company.

[3] The company sent two simultaneous expeditions: one by sea directly to the mouth of the Columbia to establish the post, and one over the land in order to demonstrate the practicability of the route as a supply line.

Knowing that they were now on the headwaters of the Columbia, the party anticipated the majority of their struggles to be over, and Hunt yielded to the desires of his men to abandon the horses and embark downstream by canoe.

[8] This was a fateful decision as the course of the Snake River later proved to be completely unnavigable by canoe, forcing the party to travel by foot and causing the men to endure severe hardship.

[11] A return expedition overland was led by Robert Stuart, who discovered South Pass, a key feature of the soon-to-be-established Oregon Trail.

Hunt remained absent from Astoria longer than intended, forced to wait for payment at New Archangel and then detouring to the Hawaiian Islands to repair damage to the Beaver sustained in a storm.

While in the Hawaiian Islands, Hunt purchased the brig the Pedlar, which he provisioned and sailed to Astoria in order to conduct business related to the transfer of the fort to the British.

[12] The Pedlar then traveled again to New Archangel and then to Kamchatka before being captured in August 1814 by the Spanish on smuggling charges and held on the coast of California at San Louis Obispo for two months.