It was the night before Jed Smith and his younger brother Austin was to depart for their expedition to Santa Fe. Smith sat in front of a long and elegant table. Austin, and Jed's three other siblings were sleeping. Smith envied them. They seemed to sleep very well, but no sleep would come this night for the legendary mountain man. Smith was lost in his thoughts and his concerns, a night before another expedition.
Smith had hoped that this would be his last expedition, as he had grown weary of the life of a mountain man. He had already seen more than enough in his thirty-two years. He had seen and experienced many things in his dangerous work.