Comanche Attack

Jedediah Smith, while most people didn’t know it, was one of the nation’s most important trapper-explorers. Smith’s contributions to exploring the Far West weren’t fully appreciated until modern scholars studied the records of his extensive travels. Like other mountain men, he headed west as a practical businessman for eastern fur companies, aiming to discover new areas rich in beaver and otter and to establish trade with Native American communities. It could have been a lucrative business, since the Native Americans depended on furs for so many things.

Nevertheless, starting in 1822, when he first set out with fur trader William Ashley, Smith’s journeys revealed key details about western geography and potential routes that proved invaluable to future pioneers. It’s likely that he had no idea that he was making history in the way he was. He was just trying to start his business. Still, his biggest achievement came in 1824, when he rediscovered the South Pass, which was a relatively easy way across the Rocky Mountains in what is now western Wyoming. While the first Anglo-Americans had crossed it back in 1812…fur traders heading east from a Pacific Coast post…their find went largely unnoticed. While it had been discovered before, it was Smith that made the South Pass a well-known and heavily used route for trappers, and decades later it became part of the Oregon Trail, making travel to Oregon and California much easier for wagon trains.

Although Smith had opened up many new territories for future pioneers, he gained little monetarily from his years of dangerous work. In 1830, he headed back to Saint Louis with plans to start a mercantile business and create detailed maps of the lands he had explored. But before he could begin, an associate talked him into delivering a load of goods to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Seeing a way to make a little money to start his business, Smith made the decision to make the delivery. In early 1831, he set out from Saint Louis with 83 men, heading south along the Cimarron River, an area almost entirely lacking drinkable water. Confident in his wilderness skills, he underestimated the challenge and failed to bring enough supplies. By mid-May, their water was nearly gone, and the men split up daily to search for waterholes. On May 27, 1831, Smith was riding alone on one of those searches, when a hunting party of Comanche Native Americans attacked and killed him on the Santa Fe Trail.