On May 27, 1831, Jedediah Smith's desperate attempt to find water for his wagon train led him off the main trail of the Cimarron Cutoff of the Santa Fe Trail down Sand Creek, a tributary of the Cimarron River. While watering his horse, with his guard down, Smith was ambushed and killed by a small party of Comanches, after he killed their chief.— "The Trapper's Last Shot" by William T. Ranney, Courtesy The Beinecke Library, Yale U


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