“A scholarly and well written volume of Jedediah Smith, which may well serve as a base for a complete history of the fur trade of the West. Few have attempted and one has achieved such a task.”—A. P. Nasatir, American History Review “The chapters are alive with characters. . . . Dale Morgan is a scholar who knows how to ... Read morewrite.”—J. Frank Dobie, New York Times “A distinguished work of historical scholarship, based on an absolute command of the sources (including much unpublished material that has recently become accessible), well written, and notable for its analytical depth.”—H. N. Smith, New York Herald Tribune “Mr. Morgan has tracked down every scrap of information about Smith . . . and has done a full-scale reconstruction of a commanding figure and a period of great ferment and vitiality.”—New Yorker “This is the book on one of the true great men of his era.”—J. H. Jackson, San Francisco Chronicle Show Less