Jacob Dobson: First Known Person of African Descent in Nevada
Jacob Dodson was an African-American member of John C. Fremont’s group of explorers who traversed Nevada in the mid-1840s.
Dodson was one of the first know persons of African descent to enter the territory of Nevada.
Dodson, a free black, was employed as Fremont’s personal valet as early as 1843.
Dodson also accompanied Fremont on his 1845–46 expedition that led through the Great Basin along the Humboldt River.
As a member of Frémont’s third expedition, and with Frémont’s California Battalion of Mounted Riflemen, Dodson played an active part in the Conquest of California during the war with Mexico.
