<P> Jedediah Strong Smith ( January 6 , 1799 -- May 27 , 1831 ) , was a clerk , frontiersman , hunter , trapper , author , cartographer , and explorer of the Rocky Mountains , the North American West , and the Southwest during the early 19th century . After 75 years of obscurity following his death , Smith was rediscovered as the American whose explorations led to the use of the 20 - mile ( 32 km ) - wide South Pass as the dominant point of crossing the Continental Divide for pioneers on the Oregon Trail . </P>
which mountain man rediscovered south pass and brought back important information about this trail
Jedediah Strong Smith