Page:History of California, Volume 3 (Bancroft).djvu/171

Rh he seems to have passed in a general south-westerly course to the junction of the Virgin River and 21-9, errs chiefly in dates and order of events. He makes Smith start in 1824 and lead a party of hunters through the Green River country, south of Salt Lake, over the Sierra Nevada near Walker Pass, into the Tulare Valley. In June 1825, leaving his men on the American Fork — whence the name — he re-crossed the sierra with two men. Starting back for California in the autumn of 1825 by a more southern route, he was attacked by the Mojaves while crossing the Colorado, and lost all his men but 2 or 3, with whom he reached S. Gabriel late in 1826. The author of Cronise's Natural Wealth of Cal., after being at much trouble to unravel the various stories, 'gathered the following particulars from those who knew Smith personally, and from documents in the state archives:' 'In the spring of 1825, Smith, with a party of 40 trappers and Indians, left their rendezvous on Green River near the South Pass, and pushed their way westward, crossing the Sierra Nevada into the Tulare Valley, which they reached in July 1825. The party trapped from the Tulare to the American fork of the Sacramento, where there was already a camp of American trappers (?). Smith camped near the site of the present town of Folsom, about 22 miles north-east of the other party. From this camp Smith sent out parties, which were so successful that in October, leaving all the others in California, in company with 2 of the party, he returned to his rendezvous on Green River with several bales of skins. In May 1826 Smith was sent back with a reënforcement. On this trip he led his party farther south than on the former one, which brought them into the Mojaves settlements on the Colorado, where all the party except Smith, Galbraith, and Turner were killed by the Indians. These three made their way to S. Gabriel on Dec. 26, 1826, where they were arrested,' etc. Cronise also publishes a translation of 2 documents from the archives, of which more later.

Thomas Sprague, in a letter of Sept. 18, 1860, to Edmund Randolph, published in Hutchings' Mag., v. 351-2, and also in the S. F. Bulletin, states that Smith, starting from Green River in 1825, reached and went down the Humbold River, which he named Mary River from his Indian wife, crossed the mountains probably near the head of the Truckee, and passed on down the valley to S. José and S. Diego. Recruiting his men and buying many horses, he re-crossed the mountains near Walker Pass, skirted the eastern base to near Mono Lake, and on a straight north-east course for Salt Lake found placer gold in large quantities. He was ordered to return and prospect the gold fields on his way back from California, but near the gold mines he was killed with most of his party.

Robert Lyon furnished to Angel, author of the Nevada Hist., 29 et seq., a version somewhat similar to that of Sprague, including the discovery of coarse placer gold near Mono Lake. His account seems to rest on the testimony, in 1860, of Rocky Mountain Jack and Bill Reed, who claimed to have been companions of Smith.

An 'associate of the daring pioneer' corrected prevailing errors as follows in the S. F. Times, June 14, 1867: 'He came into California in 1827, with a trapping party from the rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. on the Yellowstone River. He left his party on the American fork of the Sacramento in the summer of that year, and with two men returned to the rendezvous, where he fitted out a new party and returned in 1828 to the American, where the two parties were combined, and moving northwardly, he reached the Umpqua River,' etc.

It will be noticed that all these versions have the double trip and some other points in common, and that the confusion is largely removed by the original authorities, on which I found my text. Randolph, Oration, 313-14, translating Smith's letter to P. Duran, and Tuthill, ''Hist. Cal., 124-5, as well as Frignet, La Californie,'' 58-60, mention Smith's arrival in 1826 in so general a manner as to avoid serious error. The same may be said of Douglas,