- This topic has 2 voices and 1 reply.
-
Posts
-
Jedediah Strong Smith was born in Bainbridge, New York, on January 16, 1799. He tutored under a medical doctor so got above average education. He hooked up with his first expedition with William H. Ashley in 1822. In 1826, he founded his own fur trading company with partners David S. Jackson and William Sublette. Smith really wanted to open up the untrapped areas of the Southwest. In 1826, he led 18 men on an expedition through the Great Salt Lake Valley and through southwest Utah, southeast Nevada, to Needles, California area, and west across California. For awhile he was under arrest by Mexican authorities, who were mistrustful of his fur trading deals. Once released, he explored the San Joaquin Valley of California, crossed the Sierra Nevada in winter, crossed through north central Nevada, and met up with his partners in the Salt Lake area at the agreed rendezvous spot in 1827.
http://members.aol.com/Gibson0817/smith.htmQuite a legacy in only 32 years.
It's good to read stories of leaders of the past, even if they're not well-known in our day and age. Sometimes we may think that we cannot get anywhere or become successful because of all that we lack, or because the risk is too great, or because of fear of failure. But then we read about people of the past who did so much with so little and it really puts things into perspective.
I am reading a book by Robert Utley called “A life wild and perilous” about the mountain man era. Good book. He says that smith, had he not died so young would probably have done more to open up the west then Lewis and Clark. And looking at the maps of his several crossings of the continent, I think he was right.
