The decision to attempt the Snake River canyon by canoe — against the advice of men who had seen the river — led directly to the deaths of several men and the loss of significant supplies.

The decisions about route and timing through the winter mountains were similarly characterized by optimism that exceeded the available evidence.

The academic literature on the Hunt expedition is not particularly kind to Hunt.

He is generally described as a capable organizer and recruiter, and as a man of genuine courage, who was nonetheless out of his depth in the field leadership of an expedition through terrain he did not know.

Marie Dorion, traveling in this enterprise, was in a position that was simultaneously protected by the expedition’s resources and exposed to its failings.