The splendid wayfaring; the story of the exploits and adventures of Jedediah Smith and his comrades, the Ashley-Henry men, discoverers and explorers ... river to the Pacific ocean, 1822-1831

by John G. Neihardt

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 ...giving the narrator an opportunity to recall any episode that, owing to the well-known carelessness of Chance, might have failed to happen. Well, on its further side, that mountain range dropped sheer a thousand feet or more to a fertile cup-like valley apparently hemmed in on all sides by a giddy precipice. And lo, spread out on the valley floor was a vast city with spires and domes that shone in the sun! Yonder was food at last--but how to reach it? All the rest of that day the narrator of the tale sought in vain for a means of descent; and next day he continued his search, until in mid-afternoon he came to a ragged fissure in the cliff, down which, by dint of native cleverness and prodigious strength, he managed to make his way. He found the plain to be far vaster in extent than he had supposed (and the city itself proportionately larger), so that it was not until the next morning that he reached his destination, though he continued to travel most of the night. The Munchies (for it was their city that had been seen from the top of the mountain) appeared to be unaware that any other human beings existed, and they received the starved trapper as a god. Processions and feasts were the order of the day. Housed in a huge temple, where he was daily adored by thousands, the old trapper grew fat and dissatisfied. Had he only been treated as a human being, he might have been there yet, the contented father of a brood of Munchies. But being a god soon wearied him, and he began to yearn for the old free life. Accordingly, one dark night, he made his escape, reaching the fissure in the cliff just at the white of dawn. He climbed all that day, and when, at sunset, he stood on the crest of the mountain, he could see the whole Munchie population rushing wildly about th...

60 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1970

About the author

John Gneisenau Neihardt

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's to those intrepid adventurers of 1823, many who disappeared 'leaving no hint of the manner of their passing; and others, bewitched by the wild life and the vast free spaces of the wilderness, who shed, as an uncomfortable coat, the inheritance of ages, lapsing into the primitive, never again to long for the snug comforts and predetermined ways of civilized man." This light history reads like an adventure story from its time, the 1920s. Readers should neither be surprised by its triumphalist tone nor it's use of period idiom.

[Magen Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning: Not overrun but there is frequent use of the times colloquialisms.

This is an account of the travels of Jedidiah Smith, now forgotten explorer and first non indigenous man to travel across the Great Basin. It is an interesting look into this part of the history of the modern west, originally written in 1920. Well researched for the time, it does have a heavy focus on the Henry-Ashley camps and only a small fraction of focus on Smith himself. Still an important collection.of the known hsitory at the time of writing. An enjoyable read.

[Luciano Mezzetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neihardt is a poet. I first read the book 50 years ago and it is still alive. Sorry I mistyped "first" and the google translator translated ," I fist the book 50 years ago ", into Italian. Porco miseria! I hope it has been translated into decent Italian.