Aside from his Bible, which he usually carried wherever he went, Jed had also read about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He dreamed about blazing new trails and exploring the unmapped lands in the West. William Ashley was hiring one hundred men to go up the Missouri River to trap beaver in the new territory. Jed set out for St.
Experienced in frontier skills, this 6 foot-3 inch, powerfully built twenty-three year old was just what Ashley needed. He hired Jed on the spot to be a hunter for his party. On the morning of May 8, , Jed and the rest of the men loaded supplies on the keelboat, named the Enterprise and started their journey up the Missouri River.
Three hundred miles up the river, the boat sank, and the men had to wait several weeks for another boat to arrive before they could continue their trip. The men walked on the bank, waded along the shore, all the time dragging the boat. Sometimes oars or poles could also be used to move the boat along. Or if the wind was strong enough, a sail could be raised that would help provide power.
It was hard work, and the progress was slow. The only advantage was that they did not have to fight with Indians as the tribes along the river let them pass without interference, in peace. Because of his skill as a hunter, Jed spent most of his time ashore bringing fresh meat to the camp to feed the hungry men.
It was October when they finally arrived at their small fort on the Yellowstone River above the Missouri. Ashley separated the men into small groups to trap the valuable beaver pelts. He then returned to St. Louis for more supplies. During this first winter in the Rockies, the need for additional horses arose after several of their scattered trapping parties were attacked by unfriendly Blackfoot Indians.
In June, Jed was sent downriver to find Ashley and tell him about the missing horses. He met Ashley near the Arikara Indian village, which was a fortunate meeting place to acquire horses, but due to recent hostilities of this tribe, Ashley and his men had to take special precautions. These Indians had extra horses and were willing to trade. Jed and a few men spent the night on the riverbank to keep a close watch on the newly purchased horses.
However, just before dawn the Indians began shooting at the trappers from inside the walled village. Soon the only cover Jed and the men had, were their dead horses. To escape this dangerous situation Jed and the men dove into the river and swam to safety. In the battle, twelve men had been killed and ten were wounded. When Ashley asked for a volunteer to go to the fort on the Yellowstone for help, Jed went and soon returned with reinforcements.
While he was gone, Ashley had rounded up a party of Sioux warriors and a U. Army troop. Together, they formed a force large enough to defeat the Arikaras. The Indians agreed to repay Ashley for the horses and supplies the trappers had lost.
Instead, during the night the Indians left their village and escaped without paying anything. Before Ashley returned to St.
Louis to obtain more supplies, he appointed Jed to be Captain as a reward for his leadership and bravery in the conflict with the Arikaras. Jed had proven his skill and trustworthiness. The new Captain led his men deeper into the Rockies in search of the wealth that the beaver pelts would bring to the company. Along the Cheyenne River, as the men were pushing their way through the thick brush, a huge Grizzly bear attacked the party.
It was on Jed in an instant. The trappers watched in horror as their Captain fought the bear. Before Jed could fire his gun, the animal clawed him. He followed the Colorado south to the villages of Mojave Indians, then turned his band westward across the Mojave Desert. When he and his band arrived at San Gabriel Mission near present-day Los Angeles, they became the first Americans to cross overland to California, entering from the east.
Blocked by the suspicious Mexican governor of California, Jedediah changed his plans to explore Oregon and journeyed to the American River near Sacramento instead. In the spring of , he left his party on the Stanislaus River, and taking two trappers, traversed the Sierra Nevada Mountains over Border Ruffian Pass. By the time they arrived at the Mountain Man Rendezvous at present-day Laketown, they had become the first Americans to return from California by an overland route.
But this time, Mojave Indians attacked his party while crossing the Colorado River, killing 10 men and capturing all the horses.
The remainder made their way to California and into the clutches of Mexican officials waiting to incarcerate them. Heading home Two years later, Smith and his partners sold their business and returned to St. Smith adapted to a more-ordinary existence. He had, however, promised to make one last trek to the Southwest.
Smith left Missouri in and followed the Santa Fe Trail. His remains were never recovered. His life was short, but eventful. In May , Smith established a camp near the Stanislaus River, in the vicinity of present-day Modesto. While the bulk of his men remained to trap and hunt, Smith with two other men departed in May for the fur trade rendezvous near Bear Lake in present-day Idaho, where he was to re-supply and prepare to return to the Stanislaus.
They arrived in early July, having completed the first documented transit of the Great Basin and the first eastward crossing of the Sierra Nevada.
On July 13, , Smith departed the rendezvous with another brigade to collect the men he had left in northern California in May. Staggering destitute into California, Smith and his men were again detained. When Smith left California in January , he once more determined to go his own way and returned to the Stanislaus River camp.
There he gathered the trappers he had left behind in and set off on a Northwest Expedition toward the Columbia River, the first documented overland trek from San Francisco to the Columbia.
Escalating mistrust and violence precipitated the Umpqua Massacre on July 13, , when aggrieved Coquille Na-so-mah tribesmen murdered all but four trappers in a dawn attack on the debilitated brigade. McLoughlin dispatched a party under the command of Alexander R. Morgan and cartographer Carl I. Wheat in , and published a year later. Burr , and U.
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