In 1828 Jedediah Smith's trapping party of 19 men were attacked at the mouth of the Smith river. 15 were killed and some months after the massacre a Hudson Bay brigade sent by John McLoughlin recovered most of the trade goods and beaver pelts taken, and buried the skeletons of the men who had been left to rot. Recently cadaver sniffing dogs pinpointed the actual location of the mass burial and a monument has been erected to honor the Smith party dead.

The dedication for the new monument will be held this Saturday near Reedsport, Oregon. I plan to be there to honor those brave souls and represent the Oregon Trappers' Association.

Uplifting news there Beaverpeeler.

Build a campfire, spend the night and listen to the voices in the Wind.

The facts of the situation makes it a sad day for those that are a piece of history But it is recconized for hat those facts are It is god to have this info ouut in the open

And of course a representative for the confederated tribes says he won't attend and why are we honoring white men that were unwanted trespassers to his ancestors lands?

Great to hear those men will be remembered.

Take some pictures.

The mouth of the Smith river in California, just south of the Oregon border. Why is the memorial in Reedsport?

Two Smith Rivers.

One north of Crescent City, CA.

The other a tributary of the Umpqua at Reedsport, OR.

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Thanks! I had no idea he had 2 rivers named after him!

Yes, the Smith river comes into the Umpqua just a couple of miles upstream from the ocean. Jedediah and two other escaped the massacre because they were upriver on the Smith looking for the best possible route to the Willamette valley. Keep in mind they were driving 300 head of horses and mules and so finding the best possible route was very important.

Wow. It's amazing the dogs could still trigger on the scent after close to 200 years.

I've got to admit I did not know that was even a remote possibility. From what I read the probable route and camp site on the Smith river was mapped out by some guys (Jedediah Smith historical society) that really haves studied up on all the journals, etc and then a cadaver sniffing dog was brought out and had a hit right on the spot they figured could be the potential burial area.

The mostly skeletal remains had been buried about 3-4 months after the attack.

What about us injuns ? A lot of Indians got bent over here in Oregon in them days

I'm entirely sympathetic to the cause of the native Americans. They got a raw deal. But in this particular case the Indians involved were primarily interested in stealing the trappers' goods and figured they could get away with it because these were "Boston men" not British. They pretended friendship and were admitted into camp but had knives and war clubs concealed under their robes and suddenly attacked. It was pure unadulterated treachery...something that the mountain men were not very accustomed to with the mountain and plains tribes.

Didn't know we had "demo crat" injuns here back then.

good story yes take pic,

Quite a story of what happened there and that was his second trip to the west coast. The fact that McLaughlin even helped him, being basically an enemy trader, was remarkable.

Smith himself was killed by Comanches a couple years later on the Cimmaron river in what is today Oklahoma.

In some cases the natives got a raw deal and in just as many cases they got what they deserved. This was one case where they simply decided they were going to kill the white men and take their belongings. That's what they did to other indian tribes so it was nothing new. Smith had told the men under no circumstances do not let them into camp while he was gone. But they were very shifty and managed to infiltrate the camp.

Yep. Indians were not morally superior people. Nothing was done to them that Indians were not doing to each other. Ultimately they lost and were displaced. Technology did them in. If they had ships and guns battles would have been fought in Europe and the outcome may have been different. Its one thing to recognize their right to live,
be equal under the law, and quite another to promote the idea Indians deserve welfare because their ancestors lost the war.