This daguerreotype of James P. Beckwourth dates to 1855. A native of the Northern Neck and a pioneer of African-American descent, Beckwourth discovered the lowest pass over the Sierra Nevada mountains. TOM FRADY View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

A legend of the Old West has roots in Virginia

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Tall tales--some started by himself--surround the life of Jim Beckwourth, a Northern Neck native who blazed a trail out West. By Ann McDuffie

Date published: 7/8/2006

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.

Date published: 7/8/2006