Elisha Stevens
Martin Murphy Sr.
Dr. John Townsend

The Plains Across / John D. Unruh Jr. U. Ill. Press Urbana Chicago London
p110 - The famous 1843 emigration, by far the largest to that date,
contracted with experienced fur trader John Gantt to
 guide them to Fort Hall for $1 per person. Since Gantt's knowledge
of the country ended there, Dr. Marcus Whitman was also given at
least $80 to guide the group beyond Fort Hall. Moses "Black" Harris"
was hired as guide by Nathaniel Ford's Oregon-bound party in
1844, one of the largest of the year; Andrew Sublette was
apparently similarly employed by the Cornelius Gilliam
party; and Caleb Greenwood was employed to pilot the
Stevens-Murphy party of that year as far toward California
as he knew the trail, at least to South Pass but
presumably to Fort Hall.

By 1845 the felt need for pilots was beginning to diminish.

P156 - It was quite natural, for example, for overlanders to shift
route into motion from Indians, especially during the
 early 1840s and in the initial gold rush period. When the Stevens-
Murphy party blazed a trail beyond the Humboldt Sink with
their wagons in 1844, they were following the exact directions
of a Paiute Indian chief who told them of the route and went
ahead with the leaders to show the way. Named in the Indian's honor,
The Truckee River became one of the most frequently traveled overland trails into
 California and still serves as a modern transportation route.