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A legend of the Old West has roots in Virginia

July 8, 2006 12:50 am

MOUNTAINEER James Beck- wourth once followed an angry grizzly bear into a cave and emerged torn and bloody, but alive. On another adventure, the tough fur trapper crossed the Rocky Mountains in the dead of winter and claimed to have rescued a party of starving hunters. And on a prospecting expedition high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Beckwourth made a discovery that earned him a place in history. He found the lowest pass over the range, opened the road to settlers and is now recognized as one of the trailblazers of the American West.

The intrepid explorer later told his story to a traveling newspaperman, who polished up Beckwourth's memoir and published it back east in 1856. But long before his experiences in the West, Beckwourth hailed from a plantation in the Northern Neck of Virginia.

"I was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on the 26th of April, 1798," his epic tale begins.

Jim Beckwourth--mountaineer, adopted Crow Indian, Army scout, gold prospector, guide and "gaudy liar"--was probably not born in Fredericksburg as he claimed, but most likely he did play on the banks of the Rappahannock River as a child. He was the son of Sir Jennings Beckwith, who came from a prominent Virginia family proud to trace its ancestry back to a baronet of England.

Little is known about Jim's mother except that she was probably a black slave living on the plantation whom Jennings took as his common-law wife, wrote biographer Elinor Wilson.

This colorful pioneer lived through many of the major historical events of the 19th century, from the American fur trade to the California gold rush. Tales of Beckwourth's courage and daring spread across the West like smoke from a campfire. A gifted storyteller, his yarns grew until he reached legendary status. If he killed a bear, it was single-handedly. If he battled an enemy, rounded up horses or hunted buffalo, the numbers were exaggerated and the stories embellished.

Jealous men called him a liar, but telling a good story was as much a part of mountain honor as straight shooting and hard riding. The point was to paint it up, "embroider your adventures and spin it all out in the firelight, the only sin was in being dull," wrote historian Dale Morgan.

In his later years, over a long, cold winter in California, the hardy old frontiersman dictated the story of his life to Thomas D. Bonner. "The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth" was widely accepted by a public fascinated with life in the wild West. The book paints such a vivid picture of mountain life during the 19th century that historians still refer to it as source material despite its tall-tale nature.

But the book had to be lived before it could be written.

The call of the West

It is generally accepted that Beckwourth (his preferred spelling) was the great-grandson of Sir Marmaduke Beckwith, who settled in Richmond County around 1700 and held the post of county clerk until his death in 1780. Beckwith enjoyed considerable prosperity, and took part in the social and political life of the day. He built a handsome home called Belvoin near present-day Warsaw, just up the country road from Mount Airy, now a Virginia and national historic landmark, wrote Elizabeth Lowell Ryland in "Richmond County Virginia."

Beckwourth's father, Sir Jennings, may have been regarded as the black sheep of the family. He began well enough, serving as a captain in the Virginia Militia during the American Revolution, according to a 1781 Richmond County Order Book. Though the Beckwiths gave up their title and declared themselves to be "democratic patriots" who ignored all titles and class distinctions, Jennings was addressed as "Sir" throughout his life.

In 1796, Jennings inherited the family's Northern Neck estate. Along with the courtesy title, he became owner of all the horses, sheep, oxen, cattle, farm equipment, rich household furnishings and 34 slaves, as listed in Richmond County court records. The house has long since disappeared, and Jennings died at Mount Airy on Nov. 13, 1835, according to a Richmond Enquirer obituary.

As a child of mixed race, young Jim would have lived in a strange world, says Fredericksburg author Ruth Fitzgerald, who wrote a history of the local black community called "A Different Story."

"He was probably accepted by the African-Americans, but being the son of the owner would have given him some status," she said.

Though he was the landlord, Jennings shunned the life of a wealthy and privileged landowner. He preferred to roam the forests, fishing and hunting rather than managing the estate.

Around young Jim's 10th birthday, his father moved the family west. They settled in an isolated backwoods hamlet near St. Louis and there, in defiance of the times, Jennings freed his son from slavery. There is no record of what happened to Jim's mother.

During the 1820s, fur-trading companies were recruiting men for hunting expeditions. Beaver skins in particular were in high demand for the making of the popular stovepipe hats. Businessmen viewed the fur trade as a potential way to get rich, says historian Jim Hardee, director of the Fur Trade Research Center in California.

As a young man, Jim Beckwourth was "possessed with a strong desire to see the celebrated Rocky Mountains," he said later in his autobiography. So he signed on with a fur-trading company. These hardy trappers became the pathfinders of the West and are credited with opening trails to the frontier.

Beckwourth took to mountain life like a bear to honey. He spent the next years trapping beaver and trading buffalo furs, battling and befriending Indians and learning to survive in the wilderness. During evenings around the campfire he spun tales that stretched the imagination, like the time he ran 95 miles "to save my scalp" from the Indians.

On one hunting trip, a fellow trapper invented the fiction that Beckwourth was himself a Crow Indian who had been kidnapped by the Cheyennes as a child. With his long, black hair, coffee-colored skin and clothing of animal skins, he could easily pass for an Indian. The Crows accepted Beckwourth, and a new chapter in his life began.

According to his autobiography, Beckwourth rose to the rank of war chief as a reward for his bravery in battle. Over the years he earned titles such as Enemy of Horses, Medicine Calf and Bloody Arm after charging at the enemy with nothing but a battle-ax. He also claimed to have taken seven Indian wives.

Beckwourth eventually left the Crows to pursue other interests. He joined a company of volunteers and fought in the Seminole War in the Florida Everglades. He returned to the West and became a trader along the Santa Fe Trail. He developed a lasting friendship with the Cheyennes and later became a staunch supporter of Indian rights. Beckwourth helped build an adobe fort on the site that later became the city of Pueblo, Colo. But soon the territory began to seethe with unrest as tension grew between Mexico and the United States. Beckwourth packed his mules and went to California.

With his uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time, Beckwourth found himself on the West Coast just ahead of the gold rush. He loaded a pack mule with supplies and headed into the hills to set up a trading post.

On a prospecting expedition in 1851, Beckwourth made his mark on history when he discovered a mountain pass "far away to the southward that seemed lower than any other," he said in his book. He scaled the rocky, snow-covered Sierras until he came to a lush valley robed in green and no sign that humans had ever set foot there.

Exploring the gentle plain, he noted that it would provide the best trail into towns west of the mountains. In Marysville, the publisher of the local newspaper supported Beckwourth's project, saying, "This route is by far the most important to emigration and valuable to our city."

After a road was cleared, Beckwourth triumphantly led the first wagon train across the new route. Thousands of settlers used the crossing, which later became an important stagecoach and railroad route.

At the crossing, Beckwourth built his War Horse Ranch and trading post. He was the first to greet countless weary travelers on their arrival to the Golden State. It was there that he spun out his adventures to Bonner. Historian Hardee believes that the spelling of Beckwourth's name changed for unknown reasons during the publication of his book.

The last trail

Beckwourth later moved on to the frontier town of Denver, where he re-established his friendship with the Cheyennes, who were being forced off their lands by white settlement. In a letter he dictated in 1860 to William Byers, editor of the Rocky Mountain News, Beckwourth said: "Justice to the Indians--an article they seldom obtain compels me to redress one of the grossest outrages ever perpetrated in this country."

The conflict between the Indian nations and the white establishment reached a tragic climax in 1864. As an Army guide and interpreter, Beckwourth witnessed what came to be called the Sand Creek Massacre, and later testified against Col. John Chivington, who had led the bloody attack on the Indians.

Beckwourth returned to the Crow nation, a heartbroken old man now in his 60s. There, age and a hard life finally caught up with him. He died among the Indians, and legend has it that he was buried in true Crow fashion, wrapped in animal skins then placed high in the fork of a tree.

Jim Beckwourth had set out from St. Louis, an adventurous young man seeking fame on the American frontier. Today, he would likely be pleased to know that he did leave a legacy. The Sierra Nevada pass he discovered, and the mountain peak, valley and town nearby, still bear his name. A monument has been raised overlooking the ranch, his cabin has been restored and Beckwourth's wagon route is now designated a National Historic Trail.

In 1994, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp with a portrait of Beckwourth in its "Legends of the West" series. Elementary school social-studies textbooks in California even refer to Beckwourth as one of the trailblazers of the American frontier.

Though Beckwourth never returned to his homeland of Virginia, author Fitzgerald said the explorer should be mentioned in local schools as a pioneer of the West, just as he is in California. "His life was inspirational. Beckwourth could be considered a role model for all kids," she said.

ANN McDUFFIE is a freelance writer living in Stafford County.