Kern unveils Jedediah Smith memorial at Panorama Park

Jan. 17—For anyone needing context: His middle name was Strong.

In partnership with the Jedediah Smith Society, Kern County on Tuesday unveiled the Jedediah Strong Smith Monument at Panorama Park, a 3,200-pound granite slab that overlooks the Panorama Bluffs.

While dead by 32, Jedediah Smith led a short, yet unparalleled life; he fought bears, discovered mountain passes and shot outdated flint-lock rifles at a time when the market was dominated by percussion-based guns.

He was the pinnacle of the mountain man trope, in league with Jeremiah Johnson and 'Kit' Carson. He was also the first American to enter what is now Kern County.

"As someone who thinks about these historical figures — you'd think they were in Santa Fe, in the Rockies or St. Louis with Lewis and Clark," Kern County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff Flores said. "You don't realize that these important people were with us right here in Bakersfield as they were out pursuing westward expansion and the American Dream."

The Jedediah Smith Society, which documents Smith's expeditions, approached then-District 3 Supervisor Mike Maggard in 2021, asking if the county would approve a plaque in honor of the explorer. With Maggard's departure from the county board in December, Flores took his place after the election.

"It feels good to be here and see this through," Flores said. "The wider public can now come and read this and learn about history."

While the plaque coming to the park was two years in the making, the story behind it was etched into history more than 100 years ago, with a search for adventure, and beavers.

"Beaver was one of the major economic engines of the early United States because it spawned all kinds of other industries and trade," said JSS President Milton Von Damm. "He was also looking for a ship port."

By trade, Smith was a fur trapper. In 1822, he was recruited by a company in Salt Lake City, Utah, to hunt North American beavers. In that search, Smith led expeditions along the Missouri River, over the Rockies and later through the Sierra Nevada range before arriving in Kern County in 1827.

"Some mapmaker out of his mind drew this river from Salt Lake to the Pacific Ocean," Von Damm said. "So (Smith) came here, looking for an exit to the ocean, to get back to St. Louis."

Using Smith's journals and in collaboration with federal and state governments, the society established markers and plaques in several states throughout the West, along his original routes that include California cities of Barstow, Lodi and now Bakersfield.

Flores said the plaque came at no cost to the county; all of the proceedings were paid for by donations.

According to David Williams, who constructed the monument, the 3,200-pound slab had an expedition of its own in being transported to the park, needing to be moved by forklift after almost flipping a small crane.

"The forklift got the job done," Williams said.

Historians present said they could not pinpoint precisely where Smith traveled through, but did note that he had to have come up to the Panorama, to avoid the heavy marsh and snowpack, depending on the season, that used to bound the Kern River.

"He's a part of the pioneering spirit of Kern County," Flores said. "He might have stood on these very bluffs, looking out at the great expanse of the Central Valley."