Point on the Jedediah Smith Trail

Kern County · 11 miles east of Bakersfield · location approximate

Near this spot about the 1st day of February, 1827, Jedediah Strong Smith, first American to reach Mexican California overland, passed through the present area of Kern County with his party of fur trappers. From San Gabriel Mission, the group was en route north to a land reported teeming with "plenty of Beaver...." Smith and his men were trailblazers whose exploits soon led to the American conquest of California.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

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