Jedediah Smith, Mountain Man

San Dimas, California

Jedediah Smith was the inspiration for the bear-battling pioneer Jebediah Springfield of The Simpsons. The bear part is a big part of Jedediah Smith lore, and makes this smiling statue of him somewhat inaccurate, as by the time he arrived in California he had half of his face torn off by a bear (He subsequently wore his hair long over that half to hide the scars).

The 1992 larger-than-life bronze by Victor Issa depicts Smith in fringed buckskins, leaning on one knee, looking out contentedly over what is now San Dimas, with an undamaged head. In one hand he clutches the logbook in which he wrote "A Welcome Sight" on Nov. 26, 1826, and that's the official title of the statue.