Jedediah Strong Smith's Route ~~ 1823
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MNSearchers
N 43° 30.807 W 103° 19.596
13T E 635255 N 4819195
He was the first white man in the Black Hills. In 1823 he led a dozen mountainmen from Fort Kiowa to the Yellowstone. His party entered the Black Hills via the old bison trail through Buffalo Gap.
Waymark Code: WMKYQ
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 08/13/2006
Views: 93
Jedediah Smith is probably the most famous of all "Mountain Men" -- those fur-clad, grizzled individuals who were first to explore the American West in search of pelts and adventure. He was the first American (after the Astorians) to cross west over the Continental Divide, rediscovering South Pass, and the first American to traverse California's rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. He was also first to open the coastal trade route from California to Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River.
But few realized that among his greatest exploits were Jedediah Smith's trail-blazing expeditions across the deserts of American West. In fact, Jedediah was the first American to enter California overland from the east (across the forbidden Mojave Desert) and the first to cross the enormous Great Basin Desert and return east, overland from California.
On May 27, 1831, while en route to Santa Fe, Jedediah Smith was surrounded and killed by Comanche Indians at a water hole near the Cimarron River. His body was never found.
Marker Name: Jedidiah Strong Smith's Route ~~ 1823
Marker Type: Roadside
Marker Text: Not listed
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