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It was early November 1826 near Needles, California.
Jedediah Smith and his party of 14 or so men had just
completed a daring and difficult probe down the previously unexplored Virgin River to its confluence with the Colorado River, and from there down the east bank of the Colorado for approximately 100 miles.
On today’s maps this latter part of the journey looks short, straight and easy. In fact, it is laced
throughout with cliffs, giant impenetrable piles of red rocky mountains, deep sandy washes from long ago floods, and a notable lack of reliable food for man or horse.
Smith’s men had exhausted their supplies of dried buffalo meat and were subsisting on such jackrabbits
and other animals as they could flush from the canyon draws and rocky wilderness. What a delight when they now discovered the Mojave villages in a large and pleasant valley above Needles. These Indians opened
their camps to the expedition and were curious to learn all about Smith and his journeys.
The Mojave men were tall, well proportioned and handsome. They went naked, or with little more
than loin clothes. The women were friendly and attractive and seldom wore clothes above simple skirts at their waste. For 15 days Jedediah and his men enjoyed the company of these friendly Indians and
their supplies of corn, beans, pumpkins, watermelons, musk melons, and wheat.
Smith was about to become the first Euro-American explorer to enter California on an overland route.
What sort of a man was he to chance such a dangerous journey into territory about which he knew nothing?
Jedediah was extremely curious, opportunistic, aggressive, and tough. Historians consider him second
only to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark as an important early explorer of the American West.
In 1824 he effectively discovered the South Pass route through the Rocky Mountains and opened up an important trail which eventually led trappers and settlers to Oregon and California. He was the first American to freely travel up and down the Great Basin and probably saw more of the West than any other man of his time.
Smith demonstrated his talent and knowledge of survival techniques on his South Pass journey. During
one long stretch he and two other men were separated from the main party, out of water and in desperate condition.
His two companions gave up and were prepared to die of thirst and exhaustion. Jedediah buried the men up to their necks in order to conserve their body moisture and continued his search for water and help. Shortly thereafter he found the main group at a water hole. He returned on horseback with water to his two buried friends, who still clung to life...and they resumed their journey.
On that same South Pass adventure Smith was nearly killed by a grizzly bear.
They had been traveling in thick brush when a large grizzly suddenly appeared and charged
them. Jedediah ran from the group and emerged to face the bear head on. Written accounts are unclear as to whether Smith killed the bear or whether one of his companions did. But there is no doubt about what
happened to Jedediah in the encounter.
The bear bit Smith’s head in his giant jaw and slung him around, eventually throwing him into the
dirt. Several ribs were broken and his head and neck were a mess. Historian Dale Morgan relates the account of the incident by Jim Clyman who helped repair the wounds.
“I asked the Cap (Jedediah Smith) what was best he said one or 2 go for water and if you have a needle
and thread git it out and sew up my wounds around my head which was bleeding freely. I got a pair of scissors and cut off his hair and then began my first job of dressing wounds. Upon my examination I found
the bear had taken nearly his entire head in his capcious mouth close to his left eye on one side and close to his right ear on the other and laid the skull bare to near the crown of the head leaving a white streak
where his teeth passed.
One of his ears was torn from his head out to the outer rim. After stitching all the other wounds in the best way I was capable and according to the captain’s directions, the ear being the last I told him I could do nothing for his ear.”
“O you must try to stitch up some way or the other said he. Then I put in my needle stitching it
through and through and over and over laying the lacerated parts together as nice as I could with my hands....This gave us a lesson on the character of the grizzly bear which we did not forget.
Smith recuperated from his wounds within 10 days and they were off again on their journey.
For the rest of his life, Jedediah wore his hair long and hanging over his ears to cover the scars. This was the kind of man who faced the California desert wilderness at the Mojave villages on November 10, 1826.
One of the Indians spoke a little Spanish and was able to convey to Smith and his company that it was
not too far until they could reach some Mexican Missions. Smith acquired some new horses, several of which had been stolen from the Missions. He also became acquainted with several Indians who had run
away from the Missions and persuaded them to act as his guides.
On November 10th they started this last part of their famous overland journey. They were essentially
traveling the Mojave Road, an ancient route across the desert which now passes through the Mojave National Preserve. It was the same general route that Father Garces took in 1776 when he became the first white
man to penetrate into the Mojave Desert; and, they were guided by members of the same Indian tribe which guided Garces.
The trip across the desert took 15 days.
It is likely that they passed through the Paiute Range and into Lanfair Valley. From there they would have passed south of the New York Mountains along a path which would have paralleled present day Cedar Canyon Road. Rock Springs would have been a pleasant stop for water and grazing for their horses.
Not very many years later, Rock Springs would become a well-known waterhole for many fortune seekers on
their way to California. The route was so successful that in 1846 the military established a small installation at this spot for protecting travelers and the mail.
Jedediah Smith’s expedition then threaded their way down to Soda Lake about five miles west of present
day Baker, California, on Highway 15. If the lake was dry they would have crossed to Soda Springs, now known as Zzyzx, where there was abundant water.
Over 100 years later, in the 1940s Curtis Springer would build a health resort at this site, and it is
now the home of California State University Desert Studies Center.
Jedediah
followed the ancient course of the Mojave River near scenic Afton Canyon and due west to present day Barstow. From there, he followed the source of The Mojave River into the San Bernardino Mountains and dropped through canyons into the broad San Bernardino Valley.
It must have seemed like heaven after the wild country they had traveled. The men met Indian
herdsman and feasted on fresh meat and other local produce. The valleys were filled with thousands of cattle, sheep and horses.
Jedediah Smith’s expedition had completed the first overland American expedition into California.
When he arrived at the San Gabriel Mission, his arrival was met with surprise and a certain element of shock. The Americans had arrived out of the deserts.
What sort of threat did they pose to the Mexican missions and ranchos?
How had these Americans accomplished an overland desert crossing which they had found so difficult for hundreds of years?
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