Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/170

152 streams of the interior, and even the valleys of California, flitting hither and thither, individuals and parties large or small according to the disposition of the natives, wandering without other motive than the hope of more abundant game, well acquainted with the country, as is the wont of trappers, but making no maps and keeping no diaries. Occasionally they came in contact with civilization east or west, and left a trace in the archives; sometimes a famous trapper and Indian-fighter was lucky enough to fall in with a writer to put his fame and life in print; some of them lived later among the border settlers, and their tales of wild adventure, passing not without modification through many hands, found their way into newspaper print. Some of them still live to relate their memories to me and others, sometimes truly and accurately, sometimes confusedly, and sometimes falsely, as is the custom of trappers like other men. I make no claim of ability to weave continuity from fragments, bring order from chaos, distinguish in every instance truth from falsehood, or build up a narrative without data; nevertheless, I proceed with confidence to write in this chapter and others of the men who came to California overland from the east.

Jedediah S. Smith was the first man who made the trip. From a post of the fur company established at or near Great Salt Lake a year or two earlier, Smith started in August 1826 for the south-west with fifteen men, intent rather on explorations for future work than on present trapping. Crossing Utah Lake,