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Early report on Jedediah Smith's explorations in the West...
Early report on Jedediah Smith's explorations in the West...
Item # 702738
November 03, 1827
NATIONAL GAZETTE & LITERARY REGISTER, Philadelphia, Nov. 3, 1827
* American frontiersman Jedediah Strong Smith
This is one of the desired reports collectors seek in early newspapers, being an early mention of a then-obscure name that would become well-known years later.
Page 2 has over three-quarters of a column taken up with a report of Jedediah Smith, an American transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the North American West, and the Southwest during the early 19th century.
After 75 years of obscurity following his death, Smith was rediscovered as the American whose explorations led to the use of the 20-mile-wide South Pass as the dominant point of crossing the Continental Divide for pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
There is a prefacing paragraph introducing: "...a letter written by Jedediah S. Smith, who has been for several years engaged in hunting & trapping in the Upper Missouri & who has visited that extensive barren country on the West not heretofore explored..." and what follows is Smith's lengthy and very detailed reporting on his explorations.
Rare to find such extensive & early mention of him.
Four pages, very nice condition.
AI notes: Jedediah Strong Smith (1799–1831) was a pioneering American frontiersman, trapper, and explorer whose expeditions helped open the western United States to future settlement. Born in New York, Smith ventured west as a young man, joining fur trapping ventures across the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin, where he became one of the first Americans to explore and map these remote regions. He led groundbreaking overland journeys to California, crossing the Mojave Desert and navigating the difficult terrain of the Sierra Nevada, providing critical geographic knowledge that aided later westward expansion. Smith survived numerous life-threatening encounters, including attacks by Native Americans, hostile Mexican authorities, and even a grizzly bear, demonstrating extraordinary resilience and survival skills. His meticulous journals documented the landscapes, rivers, mountains, and indigenous peoples of the West, making him an invaluable chronicler of the early American frontier. Tragically, at age 32, he was killed by Comanche warriors in present-day Texas, cutting short a life of remarkable exploration, but his contributions remain foundational to the history of the American West.
Rare to find such extensive & early mention of him.
Four pages, very nice condition.
AI notes: Jedediah Strong Smith (1799–1831) was a pioneering American frontiersman, trapper, and explorer whose expeditions helped open the western United States to future settlement. Born in New York, Smith ventured west as a young man, joining fur trapping ventures across the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin, where he became one of the first Americans to explore and map these remote regions. He led groundbreaking overland journeys to California, crossing the Mojave Desert and navigating the difficult terrain of the Sierra Nevada, providing critical geographic knowledge that aided later westward expansion. Smith survived numerous life-threatening encounters, including attacks by Native Americans, hostile Mexican authorities, and even a grizzly bear, demonstrating extraordinary resilience and survival skills. His meticulous journals documented the landscapes, rivers, mountains, and indigenous peoples of the West, making him an invaluable chronicler of the early American frontier. Tragically, at age 32, he was killed by Comanche warriors in present-day Texas, cutting short a life of remarkable exploration, but his contributions remain foundational to the history of the American West.
Category: The Old West
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