Jedediah Smith: Mountain Man of the American West

Jedediah Strong Smith, like his fellow mountain men, explored many unfamiliar areas in search of beavers. His decision to cross the Rocky Mountains in 1824 led Smith to rediscover South Pass. In 1826, Smith led men across the Mojave Desert into California, on the first recorded overland expedition to California. Many people who helped to settle the West followed the trails Smith had blazed to California and Oregon.