Mountain Man vs. Comanche Warriors : The Killing of Jedediah Smith

A legendary mountain man comes out of retirement for one last trip, only to meet a terrifying end.

Don’t miss this episode of History at the OK Corral: History Too Real For The Westerns!

MUSIC
"Waltz For Zachariah" by Blue Dot Sessions

Support Our Work By Becoming A Subscriber On Patreon:

Links to Sources

“Jedediah Smith: No Ordinary Mountain Man” by Barton Harbour

[johnpage]

Thank you for this, makes a change to talk about real life and not the pathetic so called celebs that are rammed down our throats.Excellent .

[IntheBlood]

Brave Men never die unless they are Forgotten! Thankyou for your efforts!

[timwalsh]

Great story.
I've read everything about Jedidiah Smith since I was 12.
Well done, as always.

[nickyorchak]

Definitely one of, if not the best there is, when it comes to western history... amazing work!

[steveelder]

I live about ten minutes from the Smith River in Northern Cal. and about half an hour from Jedediah Smith State Park in the Redwoods. Jed Smith traveled by foot and horseback over some of the hardest ground on the planet for years. walking around in the woods here and blazing your own trails is absolutely ball busting hard work. it's sad that he survived so much just to be taken out at the end of his labors. bad luck to be caught in the open just before he was soon to cash in on the European and Eastern American lecture circuit. but he pissed off a whole lot of Indians in his travels and lifted a few scalps as well as inadvertently cost some of his companions to lose their hair too. hell of a story Hoss, many thanks.

[johncox]

This is probably the best and most accurate accounting I have seen on Youtube about the death of Jedidiah Smith. I have read and researched the history of the fur trade and the mountain men for my own interest in the subject as well as accuracy in my work (artist). One of my best friends and his wife live on the Shoshone/Arapaho reservation at Fort Washakie, Wyoming and my friend, a sculptor who's work can be seen at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and Museum, The Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and the U.S Congressional Hall of Statues. Richard Greeves was also a noted historian on the fur trade, mountain men and especially the Native Americans who were his main subject. I would stay with them on my trips during the summer while researching, painting on location and photographing most of the places where the fur trade did so much of their exploring and trapping. I was privileged to learn so much from Richard and his bringing all the books to life. For anyone interested, there are a few books I do recommend. "A Majority of Scoundrels" by Don Berry. This has a lot of the Ashley-Henry men and a lot of Jedediah Smith. The history book "Across The Wide Missouri" by Bernard DeVoto (Not the fictional book made into a movie many years ago). Osborne Russell Journal Of A Trapper . Osborne Russell gives a first hand account of the fur trade but he came west after Smith was dead, but there is some excellent accounts of other events that happened, as well as some interesting observances on some tribes the Fur trappers encountered. Russell was a fairly well educated man for his time period. "Bill Sublette Mountain Man" by John E. Sunder. And of course "Jedediah Smith No Ordinary Mountain Man" by Barton H. Barbour University of Oklahoma Press. These are only a small amount of excellent books on mountain men and the fur trade. Most can be found in different university press. I can't say which ones without going through my personal library which is quite extensive. Sorry, but maybe Amazon or www.abebooks.com or Thrift books. And two great books for background of this period of history are " Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" and "Black Elk Speaks" and if you really want to get into this period of American history of course is "The Journals Of Lewis and Clark" All of these are great reads and have real accounts better than anything Hollywood can come up with.

[thethmusketeer]

A very sad & lonely end, but a tale **most eloquently** told… That was a genuine privilege to watch & listen to… THANK YOU VERY MUCH for researching it & sharing it. 🤝

[JerryEricsson]

Living in NW South Dakota, where the Sioux lived and hunted for centuries before I was born, this sort of true history is so very welcome. All around me the current "experts" on Indian life tell us that we must honor their past, and should be giving up our lands to return them to the surviving Sioux, your history answers NO! We fought hard for this land in the past, our ancestors knew the Indian for what they were, and fought them where necessary to tame this land and make it ours. All around the world, if you study History, you will find that the Strong push the weaker peoples from the land and take it as their own. This is the way of man, and must be remembered.

[roberthowe]

Thanks for the story of jedadiah smith, i knew of him by reputstion but never knew he came to such a sad end. An amazing man to have done a he did so young. Greetings from Kilkenny, R.O.I 🇮🇪

[paul]

Absolutely awesome video, I always enjoy and feel inspired by your stories of the mountain men . Smiths story is such a fantastic tale of adventure and courage that I feel it should be told to all young men around the world. What a true example of what a man should be . It's difficult to imagine a man like that living and dieing any other way . Thank you for your great work, God bless you brother.

[superdave]

Your channel is superb and this story is full of sought after details about Jedediah Smith, one of my all time great favorite characters. Thanks a million for your great coverage and details. I’m subscribed, thanks.

[bennetdeb.]

Well told and moving. That was excellent thank you.

[Cowboy]

Great documentary, well done! One inconstancy I find is the story says he left the Comancheros heading south for a few miles to Wagon Bed Springs. The Cimerron river runs East to West pretty much at that place. Looking west from the river it heads slightly Southwest. The point to all this is the Wagon bed Springs is only a quarter of a mile South at best from the river. Can't imagine the river had changed course over the years as it has been mostly dried up for years, and all the land around it is several hundred feet higher in elevation. I pass by this every week in my travels and is located about 7 miles South of present day Ulysses, KS. The state has put up a historical maker next to the highway commemorating the event. Always when I drive by I always look towards the West and think of him...

[bobfk]

Your narrative is amazing ! So eloquent !
Thank you for the fascinating stories.

[Eriugena]

"There has never been a more expansive or interesting american life", "like one star among billions in the night sky" yup

[philipcallicoat]

" Half alligator, half preacher!" A quote from a mountain man that knew him....

[thomasgumersell]

Great video on the legendary Moutain Man. Truly he lived an incredible life in his short 32 yrs. To see what he saw with his own eyes. That would have been incredible. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨

[michaelcalland]

Great story…!
Jeremiah Johnson & The Revenant ( Hugh Glass Reference)
2 of my favorite movies….
Well Done……Thank you !

[Sandbarfight]

Man o man!!! Another amazing documentary. Thank you for your hard work. God bless

[deaddocreallydeaddoc]

One important element of Comanche and Kiowa violence was the fact that in 1800, a mission paid them a ransom to return captured individuals. This created a culture of capture and ransom that continued until the U.S. ended its side of it in 1866. This led to more violent captures and the resultant Indian Wars throughout the West. Not that violent captures had not occurred previously. They had. The Cynthia Parker case is famous but there were many that were bad or worse. Cynthia Parker saw her family raped and butcher b before her eyes before being carried off as a child. A very good record of Indian Capture history is "A Fate Worse than Death, " by Gregory and Susan Michno.