Jedediah

Smith
Jedediah Strong Smith
17991831

by breanna glover and jordan freeman

fun facts

1. born: January 6, 1799, Bainbridge, NY

2. died: May 27, 1831, Ulysses, KS
3. trapper, hunter, fur trader, and explorer of the American
West
4. Smith and his group became the first United States
citizens to travel overland to California.
5. In 1824, Smith rediscovered the South Pass through
the Rocky Mountains

why was he important

Jedediah Smith, one of the nation's most important trapperexplorers, is killed by Commanche Indians on the Santa Fe
Trail.

family

According to family tradition, young Jedediah read Biddle's 1814 edition of

the Lewis and Clark journals and was set on living a life in the wilderness
The fourth of 12 children, Smith was born on Jan. 6, 1799. As a child, he
roamed the wooded hills in southwestern New York, and when he was 12,
the family moved into Erie County, Pa. From there they moved to the
Western Reserve in northern Ohio. Jedediah's activities between 1816 and
1821 are unknown to historians. One author suggests that he got a
reasonably good education and then became a clerk on a Lake Erie
freighter, learning some business methods and perhaps even meeting
Canadian trappers and fur traders.
.

timeline

http://www.teach-nology.com/
cgi-bin/timeline.cgi

Jedediahs smiths grave

jedediah smith's tubestone

CHARACTER TRAITS
1. brave-he was not afraid to do something that was dangerous
2. Curious- if he did not know something than he would figure it
out something
3. christian- believed in the holiness of God and always carried
a bible with him
4. smart- he did things no one else would do although h did
learn a few lessons on the way.

sources
http://www.harcourtschool.com/ss1/biographi
es/jedediahsmith/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedediah_Smith
http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/biographyproje
ct