The Trail Still Being Blazed

 

The Trail Still Being Blazed

Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven.  All rights reserved.

California’s courageous and hard-working character is not simply a natural byproduct of the landscape nor soil.  These characteristics and traits were carried there.  To understand where the cultural DNA of the West truly began, we must look to Jedediah Smith.  

No Ordinary Mountain Man.  In the early 19th century (1800s), the American frontier was a place of lawless reputation, yet one of its most influential figures was a study in disciplined contradiction.  Jedediah Smith (January 6, 1799—May 27, 1831) was born in New York of English Puritan descent.  He brought a specific, disciplined work ethic to the fur trade, demonstrating that the roots of Western fortitude were actually nourished by the traditions of his Eastern origins.

Crossing the Continental Great Divide.  In the tidy illustrations of modern geography, the Continental Divide is often reduced to a simple, crisp line tracing the highest peaks. The reality for the early traveler was far more disorienting.  The Divide is a complex, 100-mile-wide labyrinth of overlapping ranges and vast, treeless sagebrush steppe.

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Nothing illustrates Smith’s iron will quite like the events near the Cheyenne River in present-day southwestern South Dakota.  The brush exploded as a massive grizzly lunged at Smith expedition party.  Before Smith could even level his rifle, the animal was upon him.  The bear’s jaws clamped onto his head, gashed his forehead, and tore his scalp.  Several ribs snapped under the bear’s weight.

When the grizzly finally bolted back into the thicket, Smith’s men found their leader in a state of carnage.  His left ear was dangling from his head by a thin flap of skin.  Yet, in a display of mental fortitude that borders on the legendary, Smith remained conscious and calm.  He did not succumb to shock; instead, he became the director of his own surgery, "He ordered his companions to get water, clean his wounds, and sew up the cuts on his head.  The trappers also bound up his broken ribs and repaired his ear as well as they could sew."  

Remarkably, Smith was back at his traps just ten days later.  He would carry the jagged scars and a mangled ear for the rest of his life.

Smith helped to stitch the American East to the West when he conquered the Continental Divide.  His brave trek to California was a pivotal moment in the nation’s history, representing far more than a simple feat of navigation.  By surmounting the spine of the continent, Smith did not just find a path; he acted as a catalyst for the state’s very creation.  This journey bridged two worlds and established the precedent that California was accessible to those with the fortitude to seek it.

Smith and his fellow trailblazers did more than chart rivers and mountains; they established the temperament of a civilization.  These trailblazers did not simply stumble upon the land.  Their specific traits of bravery, hard work, and courage served as foundations to create a new state.

The bravery required to cross the Divide and the hard work of the early trappers and traders established inspirational stories, role models, and key stories about humanity.  The courageous spirit of the frontier is the same spirit that continues to define the state’s collective character today.

Jedediah Smith’s legacy is written into the maps and the mindset of the West.  He was a frontiersman who traded the comforts of his New York roots for the uncertainty of the wild, leaving behind a legacy of courage.  While the wilderness he navigated has changed, the stories of his life and other trailblazers continue to make us curious to learn more, inspire us to do more, and encourage us to contribute in our communities today.  

Bibliography

Barbour, Barton H.  Jedediah Smith: No Ordinary Mountain Man.  Univ Of Oklahoma Press.

Biography of Jed for Students – the Jedediah Smith Society, jedediahsmithsociety.org/home/research-information/biography-of-jed-smith-for-students/.

Gateway to the West: National Historic Trails across the Continental Divide (U.S. National Park Service), www.nps.gov/articles/000/gateway-to-the-west-national-historic-trails-across-the-continental-divide.htm.

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