In August 1849 Captain Howard Stansbury of the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers passed through Ogden Valley, coming by way of South Fork Canyon. He was impressed with the beauty of the area. In September 1856, cattle were brought into Ogden Valley. Also after three years of hacking away at the brush and timber, Isaac Goodall completed a narrow toll road through Ogden Canyon in November 1860.

In the fall of 1860 seven families went into the valley to cut hay with the view of making a permanent settlement. The settlers consisted of Jefferson Hunt (for whom the town is named), two of his sons, Joseph and Hyrum, Joseph Wood, Charles Wood and his mother, Nathan Coffin and his mother Abigail, Edward Rishton, James Earl, and their families. Others soon followed; however, they found the upper part of the valley occupied by Little Soldier and other Shoshone Indians who soon began to steal stock and otherwise harass the whites. In order to avoid trouble, the settlers followed the advice of Brigham Young to "feed rather than fight the Indians." In order to maintain peace, the whites paid the Indians an annual tax of beeves, flour, and vegetables.

The first settlement was established in 1860 by a hillside spring and by a grove of cottonwood trees near the South Fork River, afterward known as "Hawkin's Grove." There were seven crude log houses with dirt roofs, all facing an inner courtyard. The first crops of oats, barley, and hay were planted in the spring of 1861, and a fine harvest followed. The women cultivated vegetable gardens near the cabins.