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The Trail of
Jedediah Smith From 1826-27
From the time
that Jedediah Smith left the rendezvous in July, 1826 until arriving at
the following years rendezvous on July 3, 1827, he and his party were
inside the territory claimed by Mexico.
Although the area which would become
Utah,
Nevada, and much of eastern
California
was unoccupied, and unsettled, this harsh, desert region was important to
the authorities of
Mexico
as a buffer zone to keep potential enemies, the French, and later the
English and Americans at bay.
When Jedediah Smith and his party staggered out of the
Mojave Desert
into San Bernadino Valley, the authorities of
Mexico
were extremely suspicious of his motives.
It was not possible to accidentally cross a thousand or so miles of
desert, in search of beaver which weren’t there.
To the authorities thinking, although not certain, there was a high
probability that he was a spy. Jedediah
was probably in part saved from incarceration by his partnership with
William Ashley (a General, albeit in the Missouri Militia) and his trading
(trapping) license signed by William Clark (of Lewis and Clark, now an
official with the National Government)
Finally Jedediah was released, under the promise that he leave California
the way he entered. In part
determined to avoid the nearly deadly crossing of the Mojave Desert and
harsh regions which would become Utah, Jedediah proceeded to leave through
the settled regions as promised, but then headed north along the east
flank of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
He was also searching for the Rio Beunaventura, a river believed to
run from the continental interior to the Pacific.
With time running out to return to the rendezvous of 1827, he was faced
with a decision. Unable to
locate the river, or even a suitable place to cross the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, he left most of his men behind, and taking two others forced a
passage across the mountains. The
trail across Nevada and Utah was nearly as bad as that taken to
California, and Jedediah and his two companions nearly died of thirst
before reaching the vicinity of Salt Lake.
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