Jedediah Smith
Explorer
The first U.S. citizen to cross the Sierra Nevada, Great Basin, and use the California coast to reach the Oregon Country.
He worked as a fur trapper for General William H. Ashley.
He was the first white man to travel through the Salt Lake frontier, the Colorado River, and the Mojave Desert into California.
His father owned a general store.
He was inspired by the travels of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.