Notable Figures

Jedediah Smith
(1799-1831)
Jedediah Smith was a young, religious, mountain man traveling more miles of unexplored territory than any other single mountain man. He is credited with being the first American to travel overland to California through the southwest and the Mojave. In a most amazing journey, he also came back from California across the desert of the Great Basin.

Samuel Woodhouse
He was a scientist who explored indian territory in what is now oklahoma. he and the mountain men edured the same hazards-Woodhouse lost the use of one hand from the bite of a ratlesnake.

James Bridger
1804-1881
James Bridger (Old Gabe) was in good company when he signed on with Hugh Glass, Jedediah Smith, and Thomas Fitzpatrick to be a member of General Ashley's Upper Missouri expedition. At the age of 17, he was the youngest member of the expedition. This was beginning of a long and colorful career in the mountains for Jim Bridger.
Bridger rose to the status of the quintessential mountain man. Biographer Grenville Dodge described him as:
    "a very companionable man. In person he was over six feet tall, spare, straight as an arrow, agile, rawboned and of powerful frame, eyes gray, hair brown and abundant even in old age, expression mild and manners agreeable. He was hospitable and generous, and was always trusted and respected."

Jim Beckworth
1798-1866
Jim Beckwourth was an African American who played a major role in the early exploration and settlement of the American West. Although there were people of many races and nationalities on the frontier, Beckwourth was the only African American who recorded his life story, and his adventures took him from the everglades of Florida to the Pacific Ocean and from southern Canada to northern Mexico.