28 Facts About James Beckwourth

James Pierson Beckwourth was an American fur trapper, rancher, businessman, explorer, author and scout.

James Beckwourth was eventually emancipated by his enslaver, who was his father, and apprenticed to a blacksmith so that he could learn a trade.

James Beckwourth is credited with the discovery of Beckwourth Pass, the lowest pass through the Sierra Nevada, connecting Reno, Nevada, and Portola, California during the California Gold Rush.

James Beckwourth improved the Beckwourth Trail, which thousands of settlers followed to central California.

James Beckwourth has since been featured as a role model in children's literature and textbooks.

Jennings moved to Missouri around 1809, when James Beckwourth was young, taking James Beckwourth' mother and all her children with him.

James Beckwourth's father arranged to apprentice him to a blacksmith so that he could learn a good trade.

James Beckwourth's father freed Beckworth by manumission, by deed of emancipation in court in 1824,1825, and 1826.

James Beckwourth worked as a wrangler during Ashley's expedition to explore the Rocky Mountains.

In July 1825, rendezvous, trapper and colleague Caleb Greenwood told the campfire story of James Beckwourth's being the child of a Crow chief.

James Beckwourth claimed Beckwourth had been stolen as a baby by raiding Cheyenne and sold to whites.

Later that year, James Beckwourth claimed to have been captured by Crow while trapping in the border county between the territories of Crow, Cheyenne, and Blackfoot.

James Beckwourth still trapped but did not sell his or Crow furs to his former partners of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.

James Beckwourth participated in raids by the Crow on neighboring nations and the occasional white party.

In 1837, when the American Fur Company did not renew his contract, James Beckwourth returned to St Louis.

James Beckwourth volunteered with the United States Army to fight in the Second Seminole War in Florida.

In 1842, James Beckwourth moved to new settlement at Pueblo, Colorado with a wife, Maria Luisa Sandoval and a child Matilda.

In 1844, James Beckwourth traded on the Old Spanish Trail between the Arkansas River and California, then controlled by Mexico.

James Beckwourth brought along nearly 1,800 stolen Mexican horses as spoils of war.

James Beckwourth soon sold and went to Sacramento, then a boomtown close to the mines, to live as a professional card player.

In 1850, James Beckwourth was credited with discovering what came to be called James Beckwourth Pass, a low-elevation pass through the Sierra Nevada mountain chain.

However, when James Beckwourth tried to collect his payment in 1851 after leading a party, Marysville suffered from two huge fires and town leaders were unable to pay.

In 1859, James Beckwourth returned to Missouri briefly but settled later that year in Denver, Colorado Territory.

In 1864, James Beckwourth was hired as a scout by United States Army officer John Chivington, who commanded the 3rd Colorado Cavalry Regiment.

Well into his sixties by then, James Beckwourth returned to trapping.

James Beckwourth returned to the Crow village, where he died in 1866.

James Beckwourth said the tribe felt they could no longer trust him.

James Beckwourth was buried at the lodge of Iron Bull near Fort Smith and Clarks Fork in Crow Territory.