The blind leading the blind

I am listening to A sense of the world : how a blind man became history's greatest traveler, by Jason Roberts. It's quite a tale and I will have more to say about it another time but today one little bit jumped off the page, so to speak. Roberts talks about exploration in North America and mentions that at this point in time, Jedediah Smith has just discovered (actually re-discovered) a pass in the Rocky Mountains that is wide enough for teams of horses to go through. Who was Jedediah Smith?

There is a lot of American history that must have blown right past me in school. Jedediah Strong Smith was one of the greatest of the mountain men. And South Pass, Wyoming, was the key to the success of the Oregon, Mormon and California Trails. The photo tour at this website requires some persistent clicking on your part to get to the actual pictures. Gas up your Chevrolet or use your web browser, but see the U.S.A. one way or another!