Jedediah Smith
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Jedediah Strong Smith (born January 6, 1799 - presumed date of death May 27, 1831) was a hunter, trapper, fur trader and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the American West Coast and the Southwest during the nineteenth century. Jedediah Smith's explorations were significant in opening the American West to expansion by white settlers. According to Maurice Sullivan:
Smith was the first white man to cross the future state of Nevada, the first to traverse Utah from north to south and from west to east; the first American to enter California by the overland route, and so herald its change of masters; the first white man to scale the High Sierras, and the first to explore the Pacific hinterland from San Diego to the banks of the Columbia River.
Prospectors and settlers later poured in to the areas that "Old Jed" Smith had trail-blazed as a trapper and fur trader, during the subsequent Gold Rush.
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[edit] Birth and accomplishments
Smith was born in Jericho, New York, (now known as Bainbridge) on January 6, 1799. His early New England ancestors include Colin Mandigo, constable of Northampton, Massachusetts, who came to America in 1634. Thomas Bascom was of Huguenot and French Basque ancestry.
Smith is best known for leading the party of explorers who rediscovered South Pass (to which the Crow Indians showed him the direction),[citation needed] which shortened the time needed to get to the west slope of the Rocky Mountains from St. Louis, Missouri. Smith also explored northwestern California, which is commemorated in the naming of the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and the Smith River. He was the first explorer to reach Oregon by traveling up the California coast.[1]
Smith was often recognized by significant facial scarring due to a grizzly bear attack along the Cheyenne River. Members of his party witnessed Smith fighting the bear, which ripped open his side with its claws and took his head in its mouth. The bear suddenly retreated and the men ran to help Smith. The trappers fetched water, bound up his broken ribs, cleaned his wounds and loosely sewed up the cuts on his head and ear.
Smith was also a devout Christian from a Methodist background. His Bible and his rifle were said to be his closest companions. In his lifetime, Smith traveled more extensively in unknown territory than any other single mountain man. Most of the western slope of Wyoming's famous Teton Range is named the Jedediah Smith Wilderness after him. And the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail runs between Folsom and Sacramento, California, through the former gold-dredging fields that are now the American River Parkway.
In the Frontiersman Camping Fellowship of Royal Rangers, New Mexico is designated the Jedidiah Smith Chapter.
[edit] Death
Later in his career, Smith became involved in the fur trade in Santa Fe. Smith was leading a trading party on the Santa Fe Trail in May, 1831 when he left the group to scout for water.[1][2] He never returned to the group. The remainder of the party proceeded on to Santa Fe hoping Smith would meet them there, but he never arrived. A short time later members of the trading party discovered a Mexican merchant at the Santa Fe market offering several of Smith's personal belongings for sale. When questioned about the items, the merchant indicated that he had acquired them from a band of Comanche hunters.[1] [2] The Comanches told the merchant they had taken the items from a white man they had killed near the Cimarron River[1][2] Smith's body was never found.
A further account in Give Your Heart to the Hawks: A Tribute to the Mountain Men by Win Blevins, cites details of Smith's encounter with the Comanches in a box canyon. By their account, four braves trapped Smith in the canyon. Seeing he was in trouble he turned to face them with his rifle leveled over the saddle. As one brave moved to flank him, Smith fired his weapon, killing one of the Comanches. At that point he was overwhelmed and killed. It is said that offers at retribution were rebuffed by his brother, knowing that Jedediah would have forbidden it.
[edit] References in popular culture
- He was featured in the movie Night At The Museum, portrayed by Owen Wilson.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
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This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations. |
- Morgan, Dale L. Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the American West. Bison Books, University of Nebraska Press, 1964. ISBN: 0803251386
- Maurice S. Sullivan, The Travels of Jedediah Smith (Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 1992), 13.
- Maurice S. Sullivan, "Jedediah Smith, Trader and Trail Breaker", New York Press of the Pioneers, 1936.
[edit] External links
