“I had come to discover what I supposed to be a pass”

James Beckwourth

Adventurers such as James Beckwourth frequently lent their names to passes, trails, and geographic landmarks.  Beckwourth was an African-American mountain man who liked to call himself "Mountaineer, Scout, Pioneer, and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians."  He  "discovered" a pass through the Sierra Nevada that still bears his name.

Beckwourth's experiences are a classic microcosm of the mountain man/explorer world -- Beckwourth explored and provided help to Western settlement, dangerous and perhaps noble endeavors; but he also conspired with other mountain men, trappers, and some Indians to steal property and livestock from ranchos for trade and resale.  The activities of the mountain men varied from the sublime to the suspect.

Born James Beckwith in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1798, Beckwourth moved to Missouri in 1810.  Originally an apprentice blacksmith, James Beckwourth joined the William Ashley Expedition of 1824 to the Rockies.  By 1825, he was an experienced fur trapper and worked with Jedediah Smith as a free trapper.  By 1828, Beckwourth had trapped throughout the Upper Missouri and Columbia region, visited the Yellowstone area several times, and engaged in battles with the Blackfeet Indians.  In 1829, he joined the Crows, who welcomed him into the fold.  Marrying several times and joining skirmishes with other Native Americans, Beckwourth claimed (in his often exaggerated memoir), that he rose steadily in prominence among the tribe until he was named Chief of the Crow Nation.  In 1835, Beckwourth served in the Second Seminole War under Zachary Taylor.  The next years saw James Beckwourth joining Louis Vasquez in the Colorado foothills to trade at Fort Vasquez; assisting Jedediah Smith and the Ute leader Walkara on a horse gathering raid into California; trading in Taos and Pueblo, New Mexico; and fighting in California in 1845.  After a brief stay in Santa Fe, Beckwourth returned to California for the Gold Rush and began telling his story to newspaper reporter Thomas D. Bonner.  First published in 1856, The Life and Adventures of James Beckwourth was a sensational (or sensationalized) account of Beckwourth’s exploits.  Beckwourth returned to St. Louis for a short time, and then struck out for Denver.  From this base, Beckwourth guided military units, including Colorado militia Colonel John Chivington’s raid on Sand Creek in 1864.

James Beckwourth would finally settle with the Crows and it was among them that he died in 1866 at age 68.  He was laid to rest in the traditional Crow fashion on a tree platform.

Following is Beckwourth's own description of the "discovery" of Beckwourth Pass from his autobiography The Life and Adventures of James Beckwourth.

 

We proceeded in an easterly direction, and all busied themselves in searching for gold; but my errand was of a different character; I had come to discover was I suspected to be a pass.
           
It was the latter end of April when we entered upon an extensive valley at the northwest extremity of the Sierra range .... Swarms of wild geese and ducks were swimming on the surface of the cool crystal stream, which was the central fork of the Rio de las Plumas [Feather River], or sailed the air in clouds over our heads.  Deer and antelope filled the plains, and their boldness was conclusive that the hunter's rifle was to them unknown.  Nowhere visible were any traces of the white man's approach, and it is probable that our steps were the first that ever marked the spot.  We struck across this beautiful valley to the waters of the Yuba, from thence to the waters of the Truchy .... This, I at once saw, would afford the best waggon-road into the American Valley approaching from the eastward, and I imparted my views to three of my companions in whose judgment I placed the most confidence.  They thought highly of the discovery, and even proposed to associate with me in opening the road.  We also found gold, but not in sufficient quantity to warrant our working it ....
           
On my return to the American Valley, I made known my discovery to a Mr. Turner, proprietor of the American Ranch, who entered enthusiastically into my views; it was a thing, he said, he had never dreamed of before.  If I could but carry out my plan, and divert travel into that road, he thought I should be a made man for life.  Thereupon he drew up a subscription-list, setting forth the merits of the project, and showing how the road could me made practicable to Bidwell's Bar, and thence to Marysville .... He headed the subscription with two hundred dollars.
           
When I reached Bidwell's Bar and unfolded my project, the town was seized with a perfect mania for the opening of the route.  The subscriptions toward the fund required for its accomplishment amounted to five hundred dollars .... While thus busily engaged I was seized with erysipelas [a bacterial disease characterized by skin inflammation], and abandoned all hopes of recovery; I was over one hundred miles away from medical assistance, and my only shelter was a brush tent.  I made my will, and resigned myself to death.  Life still lingered in me, however, and a train of waggons came up, and encamped near where I lay.  I was reduced to a very low condition, but I saw the drivers, and acquainted them with the object which had brought me out there.  They offered to attempt the new road if I thought myself sufficiently strong to guide them through it.  The women, God bless them! came to my assistance, and through their kind attentions and excellent nursing I rapidly recovered from my lingering sickness, until I was soon able to mount my horse, and lead the first train, consisting of seventeen waggons, through 'Beckwourth's Pass.' ...
           
In the spring of 1852 I established myself in Beckwourth Valley, and finally found myself transformed into a hotel-keeper and chief of a trading-post.  My house is considered the emigrant's landing-place, as it is the first ranch he arrives at in the golden state, and is the only house between this point and Salt Lake.

 

Captions

Beckwourth seated –  James Beckwourth

Beckwourth portrait – James Beckwourth

Beckwourth Cabin –  Beckwourth’s cabin in Portola, California, near Beckwourth Pass

Beckwourth Pass – Beckwourth Pass is located on California Highway 70 in the Northern Sierra.

 

Credits

Beckwourth seated – USDA Forest Service

Beckwourth portrait – National Park Service

Beckwourth Cabin – Reno Gazette Journal January 11, 2005

Beckwourth Pass – California AAA