Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West

Jedediah Strong Smith is a true American hero, though few people have ever heard of him. After Lewis and Clark, he probably explored and mapped more territory in the West than any other man. In the field of exploration he accomplished a series of "firsts" that is truly astounding. Dale Morgan, the premier modern historian on the fur trade period, has written a detailed and exciting biography of this great man. Smith, born in New York state in 1798, came to St. Louis and answered William Ashley's call for "enterprising young men" to make a fur trapping excursion up the Missouri River in 1822. He helped Andrew Henry construct his fort on the Yellowstone and wintered in the mountains. Returning east, he participated in the fight with the Arikaras who were attacking Ashley's second expedition on the Missouri, and then returned to the mountains overland. It was on this trip that Smith re-discovered South Pass, the easiest grade over the continental divide. It was also around this time that Smith joined the long list of trappers who were mauled by grizzly bears; he survived the attack but had to have his ear sewn back on by Jim Clyman who was also there (Smith wore his hair long over his ears from then on to avoid the stares). In 1824 he accompanied Alexander Ross of the Hudson's Bay Company on a tour of the country in the northern Rockies. He became a partner of Ashley, and at the Cache Valley rendezvous of 1826, he, along with David E. Jackson and William Sublette, bought out Ashley. Later that year he began his most famous exploring expedition across the Southwest to California (the first American to do so), continuing north through the San Joaquin Valley to the American River. Then Smith and two others trekked across the Great Basin (the first whites to do so), almost dying of thirst, and reached the Bear Lake rendezvous in July 1827, which "caused a considerable bustle in camp, for myself and party had been given up as lost." At the breakup of the rendezvous, Smith returned to California to rescue the members of his party he had left there. He found his men in the Sierras and then headed north to Oregon. Here disaster struck. On the Umpqua River, Kalawatset Indians attacked Smith's men, killing all but Smith and three others. They made their way to Ft. Vancouver, where they wintered. In 1829 Smith trapped the northern Rockies and then with Jim Bridger in the Blackfoot country. At the Popo Agie rendezvous of 1830, Smith et.al. sold their fur company to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He returned to St. Louis and hoped to settle down, but was talked into taking a trading party and goods to Santa Fe. While searching for water on the dry plains of the Cimmaron, Smith was attacked by Comanches and killed. He was only 32 years old. Not only was Smith an important explorer, but he was a literate man who kept journal notes of his exploits. (His valuable report on his California expedition of 1826-27 was later published.) His reputation was beyond repr

Jedediah Smith's life in the west is a truly amazing tale of adventure, endurance, violence, devotion, and courage. Jedediah Smith was a very interesting man, perhaps an enigma. Well educated and deeply religious, he chose to spend much of his life in a lawless, bookless society. No doubt the irresistable call of adventure as well as the curiosity as to what lies on the other side of that hill called the young man to this life. Most amazing is the stoic response to incredible hardships these men showed. Being attacked by indians, scalped by a bear, lost in the mountains and walking across vast, unknown deserts did not deter this man. Remarkable! Jedediah Smith's journal is one of the few sources of information about the lives and travels of the mountain men of the early 1800s. Imagine the stories that would be available to us had more of the mountain men been able to document their adventures.

I first read this book in graduate school in the late 1970s and despite its age--it was first published in 1953--it greatly impressed me with its depth of research, elegance of writing, and power of interpretation. I recently reread the book and although it is now more than fifty years old it remains the critical work of history on the subject. Dale Morgan should have been proud to produce such an ageless classic. "Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West" remains essential reading on the subject.This book captures the critical elements of Smith's career. He went to the Rockies in 1822 to become a fur trapper and trader and over the next decade his efforts in that commercial activity lead to explorations that opened the region to U.S. expansion. Smith's explorations of the Rockies and Far West in the 1820s rank as some of the most significant expeditions of the nineteenth century. His skill as a frontiersman, as well as his undeniable ambition to develop a preeminent position for his company in the fur trade, combined with these expeditions to establish Smith as a heroic figure in the American West. In addition, his stoical persona and religious countenance became a role model for his fellow traders.Well told in this important book is Smith's 1824 expedition that effectively discovered South Pass, in present-day Wyoming, opening a much easier route for trappers to cross the Rockies into the Great Basin without using the Missouri River. It also meant that settlers using wagons could take an easier route along the Platte and Sweetwater Rivers, then over the mountains using South Pass, and on to Oregon or California. It made possible the great overland migrations along the Oregon Trail beginning in the 1840s.Most important, Morgan tells the story of Jedediah Smith's 1826-1827 expedition that traveled overland from the Great Basin to California and back. Undertaken to locate new trapping grounds, the expedition explored in a bull boat the Great Salt Lake and moved southward onto the Colorado Plateau. Pioneering along the Colorado River, Smith journeyed to the Mohave Desert and visited San Gabriel, California, there making contact with Spanish officials. He explored northward through the San Joaquin Valley and then turned eastward across the Sierra Mountains, the first people recorded to have crossed eastward, via the American River. By the time of Smith's return to the trappers' rendezvous the next summer, he had acquired more geographical knowledge about the Far West than any other American.Smith's last great expedition took place in 1827-1828 when he retraced his route to southern California. There he renewed contacts with officials of New Spain. He then moved northward along the American west coast, travelling by ship from San Gabriel to San Francisco, and eventually reached Fort Vancouver, the Hudson's Bay Company outpost in the Oregon territory under the command of Dr. John McLoughlin. In the summer of 1828 he returned to the Great Basin trap

The saga of Jedediah Smith began at age 23, and ended ten years later, in 1831, when, on the Santa Fe trail, he was killed by indians when he stopped for a drink from a stream. He was one of the first true mountain men and trappers whose life story, during those ten years, introduces the reader to others whose names are more familiar now than his own. He died before the western movement began that relied so heavily upon the knowledge of such persons. Yet it is doubtful that any, except perhaps Kit Carson, came close to exploring so much country, much of it alone, or nearly so. The book is a scholarly presentation of his incredible feats each, for the most part, intended to discover the elusive beaver. Jedediah's territory covered the then unknown expanse ranging from the confluence of the Yellowstone and the Missouri Rivers, current site of Fort Union where I purchased my book, to Oregon, California as far south as LA, east along the Old Spanish Trial and the Gila River as well as into NM and everywhere in between. His knowledge of so vast a country was invaluable and, in spite of his untimely death, contributed mightily to what eventually would become known as Manifest Destiny. Some are destined to contribute whether intended or not. The book deserves a place in the library of every serious student of the west. As a CA resident, I have the advantage of having traveled by car, and know well, the land this man walked. It is amazing. Highly recommended.

This is a definite must read for early American West enthusiasts. Jed Smith's accomplishments, hardships and endeavors were in my opinion, unmatched by any others of his time. He was "the" mountain man! During the early days of exploration and expansion of the American West, Smith's courage and determination were beyond belief. The man was everywhere west of the Mississippi...it's unbelievable how much territory he covered! He was also the first white man to see and observe many of the places we all now take for granted. If you read only one book about the early American West...this should be the one.