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Jedediah Smith and South Pass
Jedediah was known to carry a Bible wherever he went. In fact, the two big inspirations of his adventurous life were the Bible and the Lewis and Clark expedition. By all accounts, he was a fine, upstanding man. He never drank whiskey or used tobacco, and some even say that he never even boasted or bragged
Head of School Message: Jedediah Smith – Monday, October 3, 2016
Did you know that Sublette County, Jackson Hole, and the Teton-Bridger wilderness are all named after explorers? William Sublette, Davey Jackson, and Jim Bridger were early explorers of the area in the early 1800’s.
Why did these men risk their lives to explore the wilderness? They were trappers seeking beaver pelts. A pelt is the skin with the fur still on it. These were great for making warm and luxurious clothing. Beaver fur holds up a long time; it is very soft and very warm. When you remove the fur from the skin you have supple leather that great for making shoes.
Davey Jackson, William Sublette, and Jim Bridger were partners in The Rocky Mountain Fur Company. They had another friend who trapped with them and became a renowned explorer. His name was Jedediah Strong Smith, and the Jedediah Smith Wilderness here is named after him. He was born January 5, 1799. When he was just twenty-two, he joined an expedition to go up the Missouri River with Jackson, Sublette, and Bridger.
Jedediah was known to carry a Bible wherever he went. In fact, the two big inspirations of his adventurous life were the Bible and the Lewis and Clark expedition. By all accounts, he was a fine, upstanding man. He never drank whiskey or used tobacco, and some even say that he never even boasted or bragged.
Besides being an upstanding man, Jedediah and his comrades were very successful fur traders. In 1827, Smith, Jackson, and Sublette sold over 1,500 pounds of beaver pelts in Salt Lake at once. While he was on expeditions trapping beavers, Jedediah Smith charted the South Pass for many later settlers coming west through Wyoming towards Salt Lake.
During Jedediah Smith’s 1823 expedition, a grizzly bear attacked him. Jim Clyman later wrote of the incident: “The grizzly did not hesitate a moment but sprang on the captain, taking him by the head first, pitching and rolling on the earth, breaking several of his ribs and cutting his head badly. The bear had taken nearly all his head in his capacious mouth close to his left eye and one side and close to his right ear on the other.” Jedediah had Jim sew his scalp back on and insisted that he also attach the ear. After just two weeks of rest, Smith rejoined the expedition!
Trapping remained a dangerous business. One letter from Jedediah to his brother reads, "Many hostile tribes of Indians [are in these parts.] In August 1827, 10 men who were in company with me lost their lives… My brother, I have need of your prayers to bear me up before the throne of grace.” In 1830, Jedediah sold his shares in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and settled in a townhouse in St. Louis. After retiring, he started a merchant business in the West.
On May 27, 1831 while looking for water along the Santa Fe Trail, Jedediah Smith was ambushed by Comanche warriors and killed. An 1832 eulogy in the Illinois Monthly called Jedediah Smith “a man none could approach without respect and whom none could know without esteem.”
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