Thomas L. Smith

Thomas L. "Pegleg" Smith (October 10, 1801–1866) was a mountain man who, serving as a guide for many of early expeditions into the American Southwest, helped explore parts of present-day New Mexico as well as a fur trapper, prospector, and horse thief.

Related Topics:
October 10 - 1801 - 1866 - Mountain man - American Southwest - New Mexico - Trapper - Prospector - Horse thief

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Born in Crab Orchard, Kentucky, Smith ran away from home as a teenager working on a flatboat on the Mississippi until reaching St. Louis, Missouri where he began working for John Jacob Astor as a fur trapper with other mountain men such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, and Milton Sublette. Smith later accompanied Alexandre Le Grand's expedition into New Mexico as a scout, later learning several Native American dialects. During the expedition he was shot in the right knee by a local Indian and had to use a wooden leg from which he later earned his nickname. Following the expedition, Smith became a successful fur trapper despite his handicap, later relearning how to maintain his balance while riding a horse.

Related Topics:
Crab Orchard, Kentucky - Flatboat - Mississippi - St. Louis - John Jacob Astor - Kit Carson - Jim Bridger - Milton Sublette

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With the decline of the fur trade by 1840, Smith began kidnapping Native American children to sell as peons to Mexican haciendas. When the local tribes began searching for him, Smith fled to California where he would become a horse thief for the next decade. In one incident, Smith guided around 150 ]s under the leadership of Warkara across the Sierra Nevada, stealing at least several hundred horses from Mexican ranchers. Joining Jim Beckwourth and "Old" Bill Williams, Smith helped establish the largest horse theft operation in the Southwest until authorities eventually forced the gang to break up in the late 1840s.

Related Topics:
Fur trade - Native American - Peons - Hacienda - California - Warkara - Sierra Nevada - Jim Beckwourth - Bill Williams - 1840s

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Smith traveled to the Chocolate Mountains (and possibly the Santa Rosa Mountains, or the Borego Badlands) where, after several years of prospecting, was forced to escape the area from local tribes. Claiming he had discovered a large amount of gold bearing quartz, Smith sold maps and claims to other prospectors known as the Lost Pegleg Mine until his death in a San Francisco hospital in 1866.

Related Topics:
Chocolate Mountains - Santa Rosa Mountains - Borego Badlands - Lost Pegleg Mine - San Francisco - 1866

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