Jedediah Smith Documentary.

[cshold]

Jedediah Smith - OLD WEST LEGEND (WILD WEST FRONT…: http://youtu.be/reHw-ZuUmGU

[Chuck 100 yd]

Thanks, I book marked it for later.

[JerryB]

We just finished watching it.

[gamekeeper]

Thanks for posting, very interesting and well done documentary.

[Blackhawk]

That was a good video! My son got to watch some! Thank you for sharing!

[superchicken]

Jed was one of those guys who pretty much everyone liked and respected and he was amazingly tough. People wanted to follow him. Problem was he took a lot of risks, got lax about security at bad times, and led a lot of people to their deaths before he was finally killed by the Comanche. I read an article in one of the recent Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journals than analyzed the causes of death for fur trappers during the period and the temporal distribution of those deaths. The three big spikes in mortality during the period coincide with Ashely's battle with the Arikara and Jed Smith's two massacres. Both of those massacres should have been avoidable. Jed screwed up bad with the Mojaves and got people killed. In NorCal, he seems to have forgotten that a brigade leader is responsible for his men and went off on a scout, leaving others in charge. Both were silly mistakes. I respect him for being a tough guy who was scalped by a grizzly bear, but I dont really respect him as a leader. The fur trade era brigade leader that I respect the most was Joe Walker. He likely had the fewest people killed under his command while still covering an amazing amount of country. Joe was just less well-known. The next was probably Bridger. You could make an argument that Gabe pulled tougher duty than Walker with his time trapping in Blackfoot country. Bridger was probably the best brigade leader of the Ashley-Henry/RMF crowd, but wasnt the best of the businessmen.

[Paladin]

Thanks for sharing will watch it later.