Though the valley was used by Native Americans for hunting and ceremonial purposes, it was not known to harbor year-round human settlement prior to the 1870s. Descriptions of the valley and its features were recorded in the journals of John Colter, who had been a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. After returning to the Rocky Mountains, Colter entered the region in 1807 in the vicinity of Togwotee Pass and became the first European-American to see the valley. His reports of the valley, the Teton Range, and the Yellowstone region to the north were viewed by people of the day with skepticism. The first people to settle the region were Native Americans, then fur trappers, and then homesteaders. Because the soil is not ideal for raising crops, the valley was used for cattle, and tourism quickly became popular with the establishment of dude ranches.