Letter home.... Dec. 24, 1829
Dec 24, 2015 11:33:08 GMT -7
Post by leatherstocking on Dec 24, 2015 11:33:08 GMT -7
As captain of his second expedition, Jedidiah Smith was attacked by a grizzly bear, as Jim Clyman described: “The Grissly did not hesitate a moment but sprang on the capt taking him by the head first pitching sprawling on the earth … breaking several of his ribs and cutting his head badly. … The bear had taken nearly all his head in his capacious mouth close to his left eye on one side and close to his right ear on the other and laid the skull bare to near the crown of the head. … One of his ears was torn from his head out to the outer rim. …”
Smith had Jim Clyman sew his scalp back on, but the ear was too cut to save. Smith insisted he try, as Clyman wrote: “I put my needle sticking it through and through and over and over laying the lacerated parts together as nice as I could with my hands.”
After two weeks of rest, Smith resumed leading the expedition.
On Dec. 24, 1829, from the Wind River on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, Jedediah Smith wrote to his parents in Ohio: “It is a long time since I left home & many times I have been ready, to bring my business to a close & endeavor to come home; but have been hindered hitherto. … However I will endeavor, by the assistance of Divine Providence, to come home as soon as possible … but whether I shall ever be allowed the privilege, God only knows. …”
Jedediah Smith continued: “I feel the need of the watch & care of a Christian Church. You may well suppose that our Society is of the roughest kind. Men of good morals seldom enter into business of this kind – I hope you will remember me before the Throne of Grace. … May God in His infinite mercy allow me soon to join My Parents is the Prayer of your undutiful Son, Jedediah S. Smith.”
In a letter to his brother, Ralph, Dec. 24, 1829, Jedediah Smith wrote: “Many Hostile tribes of Indians inhabit this Space. … In August 1827, ten Men who were in company with me lost their lives by the Amuchabas Indians. … In July 1828, fifteen men who were in company with me lost their lives by the Umpquah Indians. … Many others have lost their lives in different parts. … My Brother. … I have need of your Prayers … to bear me up before the Throne of Grace.”
Smith had Jim Clyman sew his scalp back on, but the ear was too cut to save. Smith insisted he try, as Clyman wrote: “I put my needle sticking it through and through and over and over laying the lacerated parts together as nice as I could with my hands.”
After two weeks of rest, Smith resumed leading the expedition.
On Dec. 24, 1829, from the Wind River on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, Jedediah Smith wrote to his parents in Ohio: “It is a long time since I left home & many times I have been ready, to bring my business to a close & endeavor to come home; but have been hindered hitherto. … However I will endeavor, by the assistance of Divine Providence, to come home as soon as possible … but whether I shall ever be allowed the privilege, God only knows. …”
Jedediah Smith continued: “I feel the need of the watch & care of a Christian Church. You may well suppose that our Society is of the roughest kind. Men of good morals seldom enter into business of this kind – I hope you will remember me before the Throne of Grace. … May God in His infinite mercy allow me soon to join My Parents is the Prayer of your undutiful Son, Jedediah S. Smith.”
In a letter to his brother, Ralph, Dec. 24, 1829, Jedediah Smith wrote: “Many Hostile tribes of Indians inhabit this Space. … In August 1827, ten Men who were in company with me lost their lives by the Amuchabas Indians. … In July 1828, fifteen men who were in company with me lost their lives by the Umpquah Indians. … Many others have lost their lives in different parts. … My Brother. … I have need of your Prayers … to bear me up before the Throne of Grace.”
