Jedediah S. Smith's Contributions

When the name John Smith is mentioned, people of all ages are familiar with it and could tell a lot about him. Why is this? How is it that a man who lived over 400 years ago still so popular today, more specifically to our children? The answer to that question is because John Smith can be viewed as one of America’s earliest heroes. His leadership was vital to the survival of the Jamestown colony. Most people are familiar with his famous quote, “he that will not work shall not eat.” He carried all the qualities of an influential leader, and even had a mystical legend with Pocahontas, in which no one truly knows what happened. His leadership characteristics and qualities possessed hard work, grit, and determination. He was an individualist that had an “American” dream. However, during his time, the colonists did not look at it as an “American” dream. Without him and his leadership, America may not be what it is today.

John Smith surprised many by becoming a significant leader and a ray of sunshine in an otherwise increasingly desperate situation. He strategically involved the Indians in order to increase the chance of survival of the colonists. This strategy caused him to develop personal relationships with Indians; some good, some bad. Although captured and sentenced to death twice by Chief Powatan, he was saved by Powatan's daughter Pocahontas. Many historians however, believe that Pocahontas did not actually save John Smith; they believe he was mistaking an adoption ceremony for his execution. David Price writes that there is no way to describe what happened other than an impending execution. "Nothing is known about seventeenth-century Powhatan adoption ceremonies, nor is any other tribe in North America known to have had an adoption procedure comparable to what was undergone by Smith."(pg.243).Either way, the romance between Smith and Pocahontas emphasized in children's stories is seemingly impossible; Pocahontas would have been eleven years old upon acquaintance with John Smith. Pocahontas

Robert W. Smith was born on October 24th, 1958 in Daleville, Alabama. He went to secondary school in Daleville, after which he cleared out for Troy State University, where he played lead trumpet in the Sound of the South Marching Band. Besides playing trumpet, he also studied composition during his time at TSU with Dr. Paul Yoder.

David Crockett may not have killed a bear at three years old, but he did pull himself out of the poverty of his childhood. Before Crockett was born his family had already faced the trials of pioneer life. In 1777 his family was uprooted by the native American tribes that did not want Tennessee to be settled by the white man. In this battle, his grandparents were killed, and his deaf and mute cousin James was

When the first colonists landed in the territories of the new world, they encountered a people and a culture that no European before them had ever seen. As the first of the settlers attempted to survive in a truly foreign part of the world, their written accounts would soon become popular with those curious of this “new” world, and those who already lived and survived in this seemingly inhospitable environment, Native American Indian. Through these personal accounts, the Native Indian soon became cemented in the American narrative, playing an important role in much of the literature of the era. As one would expect though, the representation of the Native Americans and their relationship with European Americans varies in the written works of the people of the time, with the defining difference in these works being the motives behind the writing. These differences and similarities can be seen in two similar works from two rather different authors, John Smith, and Mary Rowlandson.

While many cannot picture Smith in any context other than with Pocahontas, he had a very active life before he even met her. As stated by Woolf, prior to even meeting Pocahontas Smith had been “in an army fighting the Ottoman Turks in central Europe, during which he went through several escapes, was seriously wounded, taken into slavery, after which he murdered his slave-master and escaped, along with being shipwrecked twice.”1 All of these exploits happened before Smith ended up in Virginia at the Jamestown colony, and met Pocahontas, the narrative of which most Americans are intimately familiar with or so they think.

In Jedediah Smith’s Journals, smith talks about one encounter with the Indians that resulted in a dead horse. One morning smith woke up and Indain told them that some Indians killed and ate one of his horses. Throughout the trip Smith’s party was at risk for dehydration because they had to cross deserts, where there was not water for a long time. Jedediah Smith explains in his journals that one time, his guides told the him and his party that they were a multiple days of travel away from the next water source. Because of the length away from the next source of water, Smith decided to and wait till the sun went down and travel at night. Also traveling through the desert the party had to combat the lack of food. To combat this starvation the Smith’s men had to pack three horse loads of meat. The trip to California would have never been successful if it was not for the men’s ability to push through the tough times to reach the common goal of the group. Throughout this trip, the explorers kept running out of water.

The Sand Creek Massacre was one of the most defenseless and uncivilized massacres. The author of John Smith’s testimony prepared this document to shine light on the truth of the Sand Creek massacre. The massacre occurred on November 29th, 1864. Although there is no known number of casualties, it is estimated that around two hundred Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians were killed during this event. There are many different stories told about the events that took place. It is with reason to believe that John Smith’s testimony proves to be the most accurate.

I did not know much about John Smith, but I learned that he was an artist that did watercolor studies of the Indians and their way of life.

John Colter is a very special man because not much is known about him. What I do know is that in 1801 he traveled all by himself. In 1806, when the returning expedition reached what is now North Dakota, Colter parted ways with Lewis and Clark, joining up with two fur trappers from Illinois, Forrest Hancock and Joseph Dickson, on their way to the Yellowstone River.

A struggle to the death occurred between a grizzly and Jim Ray Irons, in 1857, east of Grizzly Mountain, near Bar Creek Basin at a pillar named Needle Rock. Irons, a twenty-six year-old Missouri-born school principal from Texas, had soured on panning for gold and had begun to supply fresh and dried meat to the miners and soldiers at Fort Humboldt. Assisted by two Indian helpers, he was dressing several bucks when they were interrupted by a grizzly attracted by the scent of fresh meat. The Indians, in great fear of the bears, fled from sight. As the Silvertip charged him, Irons fired his five-shot cap-and-ball Navy revolver point blank, though without effect. “Old Ephraim” seized Irons, crushing Jim Ray’s left arm bones with one massive crunch

Jedidiah Smith was inspired to travel by Lewis and Clarks adventures. He was in the group that had rediscovered the South Pass. He also was the first U.S. citizen to cross the Serra Nevada. On one of his trapping trips he was attacked by a bear, his ear was ripped off. The other trappers that where in his group helped aid his ear. While he was recovering from the attack a group of Indians attacked there camp. Jedidiah hide in the bushes, but sadly all the other

Hoke Smith had many accomplishments and made major impact in the late 1800s and early 1900s. People didn’t really know if he cared about racial judgments, but he was very political. Mr. Smith was a very intelligent democrats that was really involved in the government. He was the publisher of the great Atlanta Journal.

Dorothy E. Smith was born in North England in 1926. Dorothy E. Smith has lived a long life and commonly refers to it as “a long time ago and another world”. According to Smith, she has grown from the young woman to now due to several experiences. Smith has been employed in many different capacities such as a secretary and a clerk. In her Mid-twenties, she worked at a book publishing company. Smith attempted to make a career in the publishing field, but soon realized women were not welcomed or respected.

Abusive. Slave owner. Boastful. All traits that the infamous John Smith possessed. In 1624, John Smith wrote an autobiography about his encounters with the native Indians in North America, under the name General History. Previously, Bartolomé De Las Casas wrote an autobiography about his adventures in 1515 called Relation that discusses the mistreatment of the native Indians that he observed in the Americas, specifically Hispaniola. John Smith’s autobiography exhibits unacceptable traits such as degrading Indians, boasting about himself and lusting for fame which makes De Las Casas, the previous explorer of the Americas, a better role model who exhibited benevolent characteristics.