Roku has what you need to make your college home away from home feel more like your own. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV or bring a Roku streaming stick to easily access all your favorite free and premium content like iHeartRadio. Stream your favorite playlist with the Roku vibe setting smart light strips to sync your music to millions of colors and make your dorm feel more like you. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV, streaming players and smart lights.
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See att.com slash Samsung or visit an AT&T store for details. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. Just decades following the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, trailblazers called mountain men headed west. Here to tell the story is Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen and Vigilantes, Violence on the Frontier.
Take it away, McGrath. By 1821, 24 U.S. states have been established. The population is something around 9.6 billion. The country's border expands to the Missouri River and beyond that border lies a vast western territory of brutal wilderness shrouded in myth. Conquering it requires extraordinary men. One of the greatest of these is Jedediah Smith. He was the first to come over land into California. He's the first known person to cross the Sierra Nevada. The first man to recognize the significance of the South Pass. Smith's discoveries beyond the Missouri surpassed those of even Lewis and Clark.
Here's Jim Hardy, director of the Fur Trade Research Center. Without men like Jedediah Smith and particularly his trails, we wouldn't have had an Oregon trail. We wouldn't have had a gold rush because the roots to California and Oregon wouldn't be there yet. Smith embodies the character of America, frontier grit, Oregon individualism, survival. Jedediah Strong Smith is born the fourth of 12 children on January 6, 1799 in South Central New York State to parents who descend from the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts. Following the expanding frontier, the family moves westward in 1810 to Erie, Pennsylvania and two years later Jedediah, now 13 years old, goes to work as a clerk on a freighter that sails the waters of Lake Erie. The young teenager becomes familiar with not only shipping and trading but also the adventurous life of those who live farther to the west. Then in 1814, a family friend gives Jedediah a copy of the Journals of Lewis and Clark and he devours the book. Here's astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Lewis and Clark want to see what's on the other side. Given a mountain, we want to climb it.
We hold those ventures of the past in great admiration. Then in the spring of 1822, the 23-year-old is off on his own to the edge of western civilization in St. Louis, Missouri. The city is the center of America's fastest growing industry, the fur trade. Here's Barton Barber, author of Jedediah Smith, No Ordinary Mountain Man. Jedediah's primary reason for going to St. Louis and then into the far west as a beaver hunter was motivated by his ambition, a word that he uses often, his ambition to make good at a time when the nation was in terrible economic condition after the panic of 1819 and closures of banks and rural mortgage failures. So he's driven by the urge to make good. That means he wants to make money. A scalpel writer, Smith details his life in his journal.
I intend to follow my strong inclination to visit this unexplored country and unfold those hidden resources of wealth and bring to light those wonders which I readily imagine a country so extensive might contain. Jedediah Smith becomes a regular reader of the Missouri Gazette and Public Advertiser, the town's leading newspaper. One day an advertisement on page three catches his eye. Wednesday morning, February 13, 1822. To enterprising young men, the subscriber wishes to engage 100 men to ascend the river Missouri to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years. For particulars, inquire of Major Andrew Henry near the lead lines or the subscriber at St. Louis, signed by one General William H. Ashley.
It was almost as if his life was was lined up for that particular moment to be able to read that article. Next. Smith gets to William Ashley as fast as he can.
Thomas Mitchell, next. What do you do? I'm a trapper. Name? Jedediah Smith. Welcome Mr. Smith to the Ashley Henry Firth Company.
Gotta go things men, let's go. It is from these beaver trapping expeditions that the new mountain man emerges. But there's something about Smith's character that sets him apart from these other young adventurers. Smith is a devout Christian, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't chase women. He is long on courage and clear thinking in a tight spot.
His bible and gun are his closest companions. As Phil Anschutz writes of Smith in Out Where the West Begins, Volume 2. Smith was hardly a stereotypical mountain man, yet few mountain men earned greater respect from their peers. Here's fur trade historian, Rex Norman and Jim Hardy.
There was something about his nature that seemed to exude to people confidence, trustworthiness, and boldness. He had read Lewis and Clark's journals. Lewis and Clark takes this expedition all the way out to the Pacific Ocean and back over a period of a little more than two and a half years. And you read that and you can get caught up in the romance. You can get caught up in the wonder of what's out there.
And I think Jed was suffering from a little wanderlust. I want to be the first to view a country on which the eyes of a white man have never gazed and to follow the course of rivers that run through a new land. And you've been listening to the story of Jedidiah Smith and it's so interesting to hear from Buzz Aldrin, one of the great 20th century explorers, who is a great writer and one of the great 20th century explorers, talking about one of the greatest 19th century explorers. When we come back, more of Jedidiah Smith's story here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, the host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from across this great country.
Stories from our big cities and small towns. But we truly can't do the show without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make. If you love what you hear, go to our American stories.com and click the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go to our American stories.com and give.
Hi, this is Lee Habib here. Do you wake up every morning dreading that first step out of bed because of foot pain? I know I used to. Living with plantar fasciitis felt like a constant battle. Then I tried PowerStep, the number one podiatrist recommended in soles clinically proven to relieve pain. I was skeptical at first, but from the moment I put them in my shoes and sneakers, I felt the difference. Support and comfort exactly where I needed it and when I needed it, especially those really long walks I take each day with my wife. My foot pain vanished and even my back and knee pain was eased. Now I can go through my day pain-free. Go to PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order. That's PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order.
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So yeah, I really feel like the music I'm making right now feels like a holiday, so I want to look like it soon. Check out Bose.com for more. Roku has what you need to make your college home away from home feel more like your own. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV or bring a Roku streaming stick to easily access all your favorite free and premium content like iHeartRadio. Stream your favorite playlist with the Roku vibe setting smart light strips to sync your music to millions of colors and make your dorm feel more like you. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV, streaming players and smart lights.
Head to roku.com or your favorite retailer to deck out your dorm. Hey gorgeous, it's Paris Hilton. Get the party started with my new album Infinite Icon out now and stream the new single Bad B**** Academy. I wanted this album to be an escape, to take people to a happy place where they can heal and party in equal measure and most of all, be your own unapologetic icon.
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Subscription required for NFL Plus Premium. Terms and conditions apply. And we continue with our American stories and the story of Jedidiah Smith as being told by Roger McGrath.
Let's pick up where we last left off. The Ashley Henry Expedition ascends the Missouri River in two keel boats during the spring of 1822. For 22 weeks the men travel nearly 1400 miles covering some 5 to 20 miles a day. When spring arrives in 1823 the 24 year old Jedidiah Smith has spent his first winter trapping beaver at the Muscle Shell River in central Montana. But the pelts come with a price.
The local Indians have stolen almost all of the mountain men's horses. Because of this Andrew Henry looked for someone to carry a message to William Ashley asking him to buy horses from the Arikara Indians at their village on the Missouri River. Here's historian Mike Moore. To me Jedidiah is the epitome of a man's man in the west. He's mentally and physically tough. He's brave.
He doesn't say I cannot do that. He just says let's go. They soon reach the Arikara Indian village near present-day Mowbridge, South Dakota. Ashley approaches the village cautiously with some 40 men to negotiate with chief gray eyes.
Who met Lewis and Clark in 1806 and earned a reputation as an iron will negotiator. We need horses, but many blankets, many other things to trade for. Smith is left in command left in command of the shore party, positioned on the sandbar. Ashley manages to conclude a deal trading kettles, blankets, knives, and supplies of all kinds for horses.
All seems fine. The Arikara deliver the horses to the sandbar, but before Ashley's men can swim them to the opposite bank of the Missouri, a violent storm sweeps down upon them. The shore party now has to remain with the horses on the sandbar overnight. This gives the Arikara plenty of time to think about the situation. There are six or seven hundred Arikara warriors and a mere 40 Ashley men down below on the sandbar.
Why not annihilate them and capture the keel boats with all the cargo and weapons aboard. At the break of day on June 2nd, 1823, Smith and the others on the sandbar hear the crack of rifles and lend balls begin ripping into their position. Horses start toppling over and men die behind them for cover. Within minutes, most of the horses and several of the men are dead. The Arikara's unleashed a fusillade of hundreds of flintlock guns.
Arikara archers were also launching clouds of arrows as best they could. With this massed firepower, these guys on the exposed sandbar were in deep deep trouble. By the twos and threes men dive into the river and are swept downstream. Smith makes it into the river unscathed and later is hauled aboard a keel boat. As Jed's leaving he's looking at a beach that's strewn with the bodies of a dozen or so of his comrades and all these dead horses they just traded for and there's nothing that he can do.
But my thoughts I kept to myself knowing that a few words from me would discourage my men. 13 men are killed at the battle site and two others later die of their wounds. Arikara evidently suffer few casualties.
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. The battle is one of the deadliest in the history of the western fur trade. survivors of the attack head downstream and reach Colonel Henry Leavenworth at Fort Atkinson about 15 miles north at present day Omaha Nebraska. Leavenworth organizes what one fur trader called the Missouri Legion some 350 soldiers another 75 or 80 mountain men and trappers and then Sioux warriors who saw a great opportunity here to have Uncle Sam help destroy their inveterate enemies the Arikara. On August 9th 1823 six weeks after the Arikara battle the mountain men are organized into two companies and Jedediah Smith is made captain of one of the companies. When the force reaches the Arikara villages a Lakota Sioux wastes no time and immediately begin pouring fire into the Arikara's without any plan of attack. Jedediah Smith and Colonel Leavenworth's forces have no choice but to join in. 50 Arikara are dead and Sioux managed to kill Chief Greyeyes.
The Missouri Legion suffers no losses. The Arikara signal they want to parlay. The Arikara subsequently agree to all of Colonel Leavenworth's demands and Leavenworth calls off further attack. The Lakota Sioux are outraged. The Lakota people thought it was stupid and disgusting that the whites didn't carry through this fight against the Arikara's that boosted the Lakota's contempt for white soldiers and their power. Jedediah Smith and the other mountain men are also outraged knowing it is simply an Arikara toy to gain time. The mountain men are right.
That night the Arikara slip out of their village and disappear. Smith heads west and spends the next three years leading trapping parties through the Rocky Mountains. It's the beginning of expeditions that will earn him five historic firsts. The first of these is pioneering a trail through South Pass. Together with some Crow Indians, friend James Kleiman and Tom Fitzpatrick, Smith establishes a trail through a 20-mile-wide valley, the one opening through the Rockies. It is the door to Oregon and California.
The route will be taken by pioneers on the Oregon Trail, the Stagecoach, the Pony Express and the Union Pacific Railroad. That fall Jed and his crew blaze through grizzly country in present-day South Dakota. The grizzly bear is the most deadly frontier beast, up to 10 feet tall and a thousand pounds with claws six inches long.
Grizzlies don't fear anything on earth, including man. The grizzly was the largest, most powerful animal in North America at the time. It had nothing above it in the food chain.
It looked at everything as a potential source of food. It stood up, it towered over you, you could pump bullets into the thing and it would still come at you. It was literally a monster. Suddenly they hear this thrashing in the underbrush nearby. Grizzly. Sure enough, a grizzly bear bursts out of the thickets, get those horses back, smashes into the line of march and Jed is in the front and he runs up into this clearing and I think that Jed running drew that bear to him. Bear attacks. The bear immediately grabbed him in a vicious and deadly bear hug and seized Jedediah's head in his jaws.
And as he pulls his head away, pulls his jaws off, he just rips the scalp. And you've been listening to Roger McGrath, author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes, Violence on the Frontier, and the U.S. Marine and former history professor at UCLA, UCLA, a regular contributor here, tell the story of Jedediah Smith, and what a story. It's unimaginable what these men did, these mountain men. Lewis and Clark forged the path, but these guys created the pathways, and many and multiple ones, including the Oregon Trail, Jedediah Smith responsible for that, and the South Pass, and what they had to deal with in the interim.
Warring Indian tribes, nature itself, storms, and yet they prevailed. The ambition, by the way, is such a big part of this, and Jedediah Smith had it in spades. He wanted to do good.
He also had that ambition that fuels so much of the move west, and that is money and freedom. And when we come back, more of Jedediah Smith's story here on Our American Stories. Hi this is Lee Habib here. Do you wake up every morning dreading that first step out of bed because of foot pain? I know I used to. Living with plantar fasciitis felt like a constant battle. Then I tried PowerStep, the number one podiatrist recommended in soles clinically proven to relieve pain. I was skeptical at first, but from the moment I put them in my shoes and sneakers, I felt the difference. Support and comfort exactly where I needed it and when I needed it, especially those really long walks I take each day with my wife. My foot pain vanished, and even my back and knee pain was eased. Now I can go through my day pain free. Go to PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order. That's PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order. What's up?
It's me Don Toliver. If I could describe the open hair, but I would describe it since it's very seamless. It's like you clip it onto your ear and then sometimes you can forget it's there, but it's not going anywhere because it's like clipped, it's kind of crazy. If I could bring my music with me wherever I go and just make life easier and seamless without interruption, to be able to have the music on hand without any interruptions would be great. Check out Bose.com for more. Roku has what you need to make your college home away from home feel more like your own. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV or bring a Roku streaming stick to easily access all your favorite free and premium content like iHeartRadio. Stream your favorite playlist with the Roku vibe setting smart light strips to sync your music to millions of colors and make your dorm feel more like you. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV, streaming players and smart lights.
Head to Roku.com or your favorite retailer to deck out your dorm. Hey gorgeous, it's Paris Hilton. Get the party started with my new album, Infinite Icon, out now and stream the new single, Bad B**** Academy. I wanted this album to be an escape, to take people to a happy place where they can heal and party in equal measure, and most of all, be your own unapologetic icon.
Listen on iHeartRadio and visit InfiniteIcon.com to order the album. Sponsored by 11-11 Media. Get more of the NFL with NFL Plus Premium and start streaming more touchdowns, more hurdles, more action. NFL Plus Premium has your game day covered with NFL Red Zone, game replays, live local and prime time games on mobile, and more. The action doesn't stop there. Also, stream NFL Network 24-7, including seven exclusive live games this season.
Sign up today at Plus.NFL.com, subscription required for NFL Plus Premium. Terms and conditions apply. And we continue with our American stories and the story of Jedediah Smith. Telling that story is Roger McGrath.
Let's pick up where Roger last left off. Tara laid Jedediah in a bloody heat, his men are panic-stricken, there's no surgeons there, they don't know what the heck to do, and nobody wants to lay their hands on this guy's mangled face. You gonna sit around and watch me bleed to death?
Captain, what's best to do? Give me a blanket. Somebody get some water. And the only one who's not panicking is Jedediah Smith. And he's saying, alright guys, you need to work on me.
Jedediah's friend, James Clyman, describes the incredible ordeal in his journal. Get some water. Captain said, send one or two men for water, and if you have a needle and thread, get it out and sew up my wounds around my head. Clyman, you got a needle and thread, you gotta get it out now. I got no thread, I got some fine sinew.
It'll have to do, you're gonna have to work on me right here. I got a pair of scissors and cut off his hair and then began my first job of dressing wounds. Upon examination, the bear had taken nearly all his head in its capacious mouth and torn his face from his left eye to his right ear and laid the skull bear near the crown of his head.
I need to go up tight, Clyman, I don't need to bleed to death right here. One of his ears was torn from his head out to the outer rim. After stitching all the other wounds in the best way I was capable, the ear was last.
Then I put in my needle, stitching it through and through, and over and over, laying the parts together as nice as I could. Miraculously, the stitching job is successful, although Smith is left with a frightful scar. He grows his hair long and styles it with a distinct comb-over to hide the vivid red scar, missing eyebrow and displaced ear.
It becomes his signature look. Just ten days after the attack, Jed Smith is back on his horse and heads west to high beaver country, 600 miles away. Smith's trapping skills earn him the record for beaver pelts taken in one season. He arrives at the annual rendezvous with 668 pelts, which sell for $6 apiece, earning him some $4,000.
That's more than $400,000 in today's money. Smith is so successful as a mountain man that in 1826, at 27 years of age and five years of experience already as a trapper, he organizes his own fur trading company and brings in David Jackson and William Sublette as partners. Over the next five years, Smith's company dominates the American fur trade. The 1826 mountain man rendezvous is held at the Great Salt Lake in Utah. When it concludes, Smith assembles a party of 20 men, having talked them in to an audacious plan to blaze a trail through the Mexican province of California. Now, the map behind the Great Salt Lake is a blank.
The Indians are unable to help. They can't answer Smith's questions about this unmapped region. All anyone knows is somewhere, maybe a thousand miles to the west, is this place called California. Smith and party leave the Great Salt Lake in August 1826, and he becomes the first to travel the length and breadth of the Great Basin. Jedediah's greatest accomplishment was probably getting across the Great Basin virtually on foot and they basically walked across the deserts of Nevada. When he got ready to go to California, there were guys ready to follow him into lands that nobody had been to before. They didn't know what they would find, but they were willing to follow Jedediah Smith. They travel southwest and by November, after a little more than three months on the trail, Smith and his party reach Mission San Gabriel, some 10 miles east of the small Pueblo of Los Angeles.
Today, a city of four and a half million people, Los Angeles then had but 1,500 residents. Jed Smith and his men are the first Americans to cross overland to California. Most of the route of Smith's expedition is followed today by Interstate 15. Smith and his men spend the winter at a cap on the Stanislaus River in the San Joaquin Valley.
When spring arrives, Smith attempts another first. He and two of his trappers head for the 1827 Mountain Man Rendezvous at Bear Lake on the border of Utah and Idaho, but to do so, they have to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Despite encountering snow fields up to eight feet deep, the men struggle across the mountain mountains in eight days. Theirs is the first recorded crossing of the rugged mountain range.
And ironically for Americans, the direction of travel in this first recorded crossing of the Sierra Nevada is from west to east. When Smith and the two others arrive at the rendezvous early in July 1827, cheers erupt and a small cannon is fired in salute. The Mountain Man had given up Smith and his party for dead. No one believed that he could still be alive.
No one could believe that he did what he did. The thing that stands out to me when I think about Jed Smith and his accomplishments is the really remarkable amount of terrain that he covered, the extraordinary trips that he made through territory which was uncharted, unmapped, unknown, with such ease that he traveled across the landscape. After spending a week at the rendezvous, the 28-year-old Smith heads for California again. This time he has a party of 19 Mountain Men with him. Traveling by the route of the previous year, Smith arrives at the Mojave Indian Settlement on the Kalarana River in August of 1827.
Smith has met the tribe before and traded with them and doesn't expect any trouble. His medicine was considered strong amongst a lot of the native nations that had dealt with him. They understood that there were special things about him that put him over and above other men and they respected that. They brought him pumpkins and squash. He got good information, he got guides that took him across the desert, showed him water holes, got him all the way over to Mission San Gabriel.
But something was different on the second trip. Men set up camp for the night and prepare for departure in the morning. At daybreak, Smith and the Mountain Men must first cross the Kalarana River. That leaves 10 of his men on the eastern shore while he and eight others transport themselves and part of their supplies on small rafts across the Colorado.
Just as they are nearing the California shore, several hundred Mojave warriors attack the Mountain Men left behind. And you've been listening to Roger McGrath tell one heck of a story as our whole crew is listening to that mauling scene by the Grizzly. And then the triage, the medical operation performed by his buddy stitching together with let's just say not first grade medical materials, re-stitching his face and his ear, reassembling this man's actual head. And then him growing the hair long and making these scars a part of his persona. When we come back, more of the remarkable story of Jedediah Smith, who also put together the preeminent fur trading outfit in the country. More of this remarkable story of courage, ambition and commerce here on Our American Stories.
Hi this is Lee Habib here. Do you wake up every morning dreading that first step out of bed because of foot pain? I know I used to. Living with plantar fasciitis felt like a constant battle. Then I tried Power Step. The number one podiatrist recommended in soles clinically proven to relieve pain. I was skeptical at first, but from the moment I put them in my shoes and sneakers, I felt the difference. Support and comfort exactly where I needed it and when I needed it, especially those really long walks I take each day with my wife. My foot pain vanished and even my back and knee pain was eased. Now I can go through my day pain free. Go to PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order. That's PowerStep.com slash OAS and use code OAS for 15% off your first order. What's up?
It's me Don Toliver. If I could describe the open earbud, I would describe it as very seamless. It's like you clip it onto your ear and then sometimes you can forget it's there, but it's not going anywhere because it's clipped.
It's kind of crazy. If I could bring my music with me wherever I go and just make life easier and seamless without interruption, to be able to have the music on hand without any interruptions would be great. Check out Bose.com for more. Roku has what you need to make your college home away from home feel more like your own. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV or bring a Roku streaming stick to easily access all your favorite free and premium content like iHeartRadio. Stream your favorite playlist with the Roku vibe setting smart light strips to sync your music to millions of colors and make your dorm feel more like you. Make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV's streaming players and smart lights.
Head to Roku.com or your favorite retailer to deck out your dorm. Hi loves, it's me, Paris Hilton. I'm already excited for you to listen to my new album, Infinite Icon, and I'm even more excited for you to listen to it on vinyl. Every vinyl collection needs a crown jewel and no jewel sparkles brighter than an autographed baby pink edition of Infinite Icon.
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Subscription required for NFL Plus. And we continue with our American stories and with the story of Jedediah Smith. Here for the final portion, the final segment, here's Roger McGrath. Just as they are nearing the California shore, several hundred Mojave warriors attack the mountain men left behind. They look back on the bank and all of a sudden these eight or ten guys that are with the party that are still there are just surrounded by Mojave's.
This incredible shout goes up. They're looking back at their party and they're just being annihilated. They're being clubbed and beaten and spears, knives, tomahawks, right before their eyes. They're being killed. Here's Smith looking through the willows, seeing his men being slaughtered.
You can only imagine what might have been going through his head at that particular time. I thought it most prudent to go to the bank of the river and select the spot on which we might sell our lives at the dearest rate. They fall back into this little grove of trees. They begin to ford up. They use their knives to chop down some smaller branches and make them like spears. They tie their knives under the end of the spears and they pile up some logs to make sort of a fort there. Some of the men asked if I thought we would be able to defend ourselves.
I told them I thought we would, but that was not my opinion. Thus poorly prepared, we weighted the approach of our unmerciful enemies. On one side, the river prevented them from approaching us, but in every other direction, the Indians were closing in upon us. As the Mojave's approach, Jed has his two best marksmen shoot and kill two of the Mojave's.
That was just enough to make the Mojave's think twice about attacking. That nightfall, Smith and the survivors, many of them wounded, slip westward into the desert. He then blazes a trail through the mountains and forests of Northern California to the Pacific Coast and then up the coast into Oregon. Smith's trailblazing takes him through the coast redwoods and the mountain men gaze upon the tallest trees on earth, some of them nearly 400 feet high.
The area today is Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park. Once in Oregon, now mid-July 1828, Smith leads his men up the coast to the Umpqua River and then up the river a short distance to a large village of Killawatsett Indians, part of the Umpqua tribe. The Killawatsett seem friendly and gladly trade with the mountain men. While its men trade with the Indians, the Killawatsett guide helps Smith scout the area ahead for the best route to Fort Vancouver. Upon returning to the village though, Smith senses something's wrong, he stealthily creeps closer and sees the Killawatsett have killed, scalped, and mutilated his men.
The Killawatsetts used axes, knives, and whatever came to hand to murder these Americans as quickly as they possibly could. Well, Smith could do nothing but creep back up the trail and begin what became a three-week, 200-mile journey north to Fort Vancouver, the Great Hudson Bay Company Post, located on the north bank of the Columbia River in today's state of Washington. He's the first individual known to have gone from California to the Columbia River, so he explored the west coast of the United States. Smith remains in the Oregon country, trading and trapping, until March 1829. The seven years of incomprehensibly hard living has taken a toll on both his physical and spiritual being. Here's Jedidiah Smith's scholar, James Ohl. He does write a letter home, the famous letter on Christmas Eve 1829, and he really pours his heart out, and he really lets it all go about how much he misses his spiritual life and how much he wants people to pray for him out here. And here's a chance for him to let loose and get personal knowing that this letter is going to be read by his family. I find myself one of the most ungrateful, unthankful creatures imaginable.
I have need of your prayers. During his stay, Smith gains an intimate knowledge of the Oregon country and notes there are almost no British settled there. Earlier, Smith saw that Mexican troll of California is tenuous, and the population of Mexicans is no more than seven or eight thousand.
Moreover, almost none of them have settled north of San Francisco Bay or in the interior valleys. Both the Oregon country and California are ripe for the taking. Smith feels it's his duty as an American to make his observations known to officials in Washington in particular, Secretary of War John Eaton. Smith sends a long, detailed letter to Secretary Eaton that reveals not only Smith's writing skills in command of the language, but also his comprehensive understanding of geopolitical strategy. Smith also sends precise descriptions of his trailblazing and copies of his maps. In effect, Smith becomes an explorer and strategist for the U.S. government. Yet Smith is a buckskin-clad mountain man, and he continues to lead trapping parties until August 1830, when he retires to St. Louis. Smith has made and saved enough money to live comfortably as a gentleman at just 31 years of age, his most experienced man in the West.
Time to call it quits. However, Smith is intrigued by the large profits St. Louis traders are making on the Santa Fe Trail. Early in 1831, Smith leads a trade caravan he has organized from St. Louis en route to Santa Fe.
By late May, the caravan has moved into the dreaded Cimarron Desert. For three days, the traders push on and no water. Smith scouts far out of the wagons. Several miles out, he comes upon a waterhole. Too late, he realizes that lying in wait at the waterhole is a hunting party of some 20 people, including a chief. They're waiting for Buffalo, but Smith will do just fine. Smith knows that a bold approach is now his only hope, and he rides directly up to the Comanche, tries to communicate with them in the sign language of the plains.
But they ignore his peaceful gestures and begin to circle through his rear. Suddenly, Smith's nervous horse wheels about, exposing Smith back to the Comanche. Instantly, Comanche fire and a musket ball rips into Smith and gasps at the impact, but is able to turn his horse about and lets his rifle roar. Smith's single shot drills the Comanche chief in the chest, and he drops to the ground dead. Smith kills two more Comanche with his pistols before other Comanches close in. They thrust their long lances and repeatedly stab Smith. At just 32 years of age, Jedediah Smith's legendary luck finally runs out. The Comanche regard Smith as such a great warrior.
They do not mutilate and dismember his body, but give him the same funeral rights they give their chief. Jed Smith has passed from life into history at a waterhole in the Cimarron Desert. And a terrific job by the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And a special thanks to Roger McGrath. He's the author of Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes, Violence on the Frontier. He's a US Marine and former history professor at UCLA. Dr. McGrath has appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries.
You probably recognize his voice. He's a regular contributor here at Our American Stories. And my goodness, this may be one of my favorites about any of the stories about the West. Imagine seeing the grizzly in real life. The things these men saw that no one else saw, and then these encounters with Indian tribes across the Pacific Northwest and across America were just brutal and vicious. And the idea that there's just one side to that story, well, these stories show that it was complicated. And he dies in battle and dies at the hands of the Comanches who buried Jedediah Smith with the same rights and respect that they buried their own chief.
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