When one thinks of early explorers of the West, Lewis and Clark probably come to mind quickly for many. Others might think of Jim Bridger or John C. Fremont as key figures in shaping the American West.

Lesser-known but equally as important as those famous explorers was Jedediah Strong Smith, who once called Bainbridge his home.

Charles Lord, Bainbridge town historian, once said of Smith, "He probably was far more important to westward expansion than all of the most famous explorers. He did the most."

Lord said what Smith did is noted on a monument in Salt Lake City, Utah. Another marker is in the Bainbridge village park. Smith was the first to traverse Utah north to south, and east to west. Smith was the first white man to cross what is now Nevada. He was also the first man to enter California from an overland route, across the Rockies and Sierra Nevadas. To get to California before the late 1820s, one sailed south around South America and north by the Pacific Ocean.

Smith logged a lot of miles on foot. Once in the West he explored the entire Pacific slope from San Diego to Vancouver.

Smith was born in Bainbridge, or what was known then as Jericho, in January 1799. His family had moved to the developing town from New Hampshire around 1790. His mother’s side of the family, the Strongs, moved with them. They lived in the vicinity of where the Algonkin Motel stands today along state Route 7 between Bainbridge and Sidney.

According to Lord, Smith’s father, also named Jedediah, and Cyrus Strong started a store in Jericho where travelers and traders heading west bartered pelts and other items for goods. Strong, who went on to help form the early banking industry in Binghamton, built today’s Olde Jericho Tavern. The elder Smith left his mark in Bainbridge by helping to establish its first church, now a Presbyterian church, in 1793.

The busiest part of Jericho at that time wasn’t where the center of the village is today, near state routes 7 and 206. Instead, it was near the current Guilford Road, in an area known as Bush’s Corners. The whole area was essentially wilderness when the families arrived. No bridges crossed the Susquehanna. With plenty of wilderness around, it gave young Jed the chance to discover nature.

Smith likely inherited the interest in exploring because of this and by his father’s moves to new locations. At 12, Jedediah and the family moved to Erie County, Pa., and later to Ohio. In 1821, young Jed started with his roaming nature by moving to Illinois.

In 1823, Smith read an ad in a St. Louis newspaper seeking recruits for a fur expedition up the Missouri River.

Smith was a man who wanted to make it on his own, and this was the start of his westward exploring. Smith eventually acquired his own fur-trading business and became an important figure in the early period of westward exploration.

In less than 10 years, Smith and his men traveled through what are now the Dakotas and Idaho. He ventured into present-day Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. He crossed the Sierra Nevadas into California, south to the current Mexican border below San Diego, and then made the turn north to Washington state.

The traveling wasn’t always easy. Smith and his men fought off two American Indian attacks that killed most of his trapping party. He won a battle with a bear, though he lost most of his left ear and suffered a mangled elbow.

Smith startled a community of Mexicans in California in 1826, because they couldn’t believe anybody could cross the Sierra Nevadas.

Smith wasn’t welcome there, and the Mexicans jailed him until a group of ship captains from Monterey posted a $30,000 bond to set him free.

Smith didn’t really compare to someone like Jim Bridger, who was always characterized as rough and tumble, and willing to fight for any reason. Smith had a Yankee look and carried a Bible in his bedroll. Apart from the above-mentioned run-ins, Smith normally got along well with those he met on his journeys, including American Indians.

After doing his part for opening new paths for people to move west, Smith decided he had explored enough and returned to St. Louis in 1830, supposedly to retire.

That lifestyle grew old quickly for Smith, so in 1831 he organized a wagon train bound for Santa Fe. While scouting for water near the Arkansas River in May that year, he was attacked and killed by Comanches, who had seen few white men and feared that his presence presaged a greater migration of European settlers. That eventually did happen in the next 30 years.

On Monday: Our area took in Hungarian refugees who escaped from behind the Iron Curtain in 1956-57.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.