Yesterday we lost what many would consider the “father of four-wheeling.” His name was Mark A. Smith. He passed away at the age of 87. I was blessed to have met him a number of times, four-wheeled with him a few times, and those that met him, knew him, and his family, will miss him greatly.   

Smith was born in 1926 in Globe, Arizona, but grew up in eastern Nevada. He drove his first Jeep while serving in the Marine Corps during World War II, and the Jeep would become a part of his life until the end.

He moved to Georgetown, California in the early 1950s and to boost local tourism, Smith and a group of locals dreamed up the original Jeepers Jamboree that traversed an old abandoned stagecoach road known as the Rubicon Trail. Eventually it would become the most famous 4×4 trail in the world. 

But for many of those that don’t know, Smith also organized and led expeditions such as the Expedicion de las Americas, a 120-day, 20,000 mile off-road journey from the southernmost tip of South America at Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, above the Arctic Circle in 1979. It traversed the virtually impassable Darien Gap, a 103-mile stretch of jungle, taking 30 days. Smith also headed up the 1987 Camel Trophy event, one of the world’s most demanding off-road adventures, in Madagascar.

And in 1980, Smith was inducted into the Off Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Smith is survived by Irene, his wife of 63 years, and his children Robert, Patti, Greg, and Jill, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Godspeed Mark Smith.