How This Fearless Trapper Walked from Missouri to Oregon Before Roads Existed

Before maps, there were men. And Jedediah Smith carved his into the wild—mile by mile, track by track, across a land no white man had seen before. In just nine years, Smith crossed more of the American West than anyone alive. He was the first to reach California overland from the East, the first to traverse Utah and Nevada, the first to push north through Oregon. And every step was charted not on parchment—but on beaver skin. A devout Christian with the grit of a warrior, Smith survived bear attacks, deserts, starvation, and war. With nothing but faith, instinct, and courage, he opened the West—then paid for it with his life on the Santa Fe Trail. How did one man map the American frontier—and why was his name nearly lost to history? The campfire is ready, so stay with me tonight; the story is about to start. My name is Sam, and this is Wild America. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— CHAPTERS: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:11 - Chapter I 00:55:41 - Chapter II 01:33:52 - Chapter III 02:18:29 - Chapter IV 03:02:18 - Chapter V 03:47:32 - Chapter VI 04:31:23 - Chapter VII 05:20:55 - Chapter VIII ———————————————————————————————————————————————— All materials in these videos are used for educational purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are or represent the copyright owner of materials used in this video and have a problem with the use of said material, please contact me via my email in the "about" page on my channel. ———————————————————————————————————————————————— As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Wild America sometimes utilizes similar historical images, AI representations and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Wild America is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are American history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. ————————————————————————————————————————————————