EDEN — The group organizing 200th anniversary activities surrounding the arrival of explorer Peter Skene Ogden to what is now Weber County is sponsoring a talk on Thursday as a precursor to bicentennial activities in 2025.

Mary Meyer, leader of the Timpanogos Shoshone Nation, and Darren Parry of the Northwest Band of the Shoshone Nation are the featured speakers at the event, “Stories of the Shoshone.” Thursday’s event is free to the public and will be held at Hearthside Event Center at 5612 E. 2200 North in Eden starting at 7 p.m.

Dave Martin, chairman of Ogden Valley 200, or OV200, the committee organizing bicentennial activities, said the speakers will offer insights into the area before the arrival of Ogden, the first white European to explore the area when he traveled through in 1825.

“That’s usually not a big perspective most of us get,” Martin said.

OV200 has been sponsoring an annual lecture series for the past several years building up to planned activities in 2025 surrounding Ogden’s travels here. The fur trader and explorer — the namesake for the city of Ogden — reached what is now known as the Ogden Valley in May 1825 with a group of trappers from the Hudson Bay Co.

According to Martin, the aim of the events is to celebrate the rich history of the area. “We think it is really marvelous. It’s significant history,” he said.

Plans are moving forward in anticipation of bicentennial events in 2025, including creation of a local history museum in Eden. The Weber County Heritage Foundation is also teaming up in the efforts, planning to place markers where Ogden’s group camped in the Ogden Valley in 1825.

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