Jim Bridger

3 Pages 730 Words

Jim Bridger was a legendary frontiersman. He was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1804.
From 1824 until the late 1860’s he was the premier Indian fighter, beaver trapper, fur trader and
guide to the Wild West. With an almost photographic memory for terrain, he guided more wagon
trains than all the other scouts put together on the westward trek. He was also a storekeeper,
scout, explorer, and discoverer with the ability to speak English, French, Spanish, and six Indian
tongues as well. He was, in fact, the most interesting character in our western history.
In the winter of 1822, at the age of 18, Bridger signed on with General William Ashley’s
Rocky Mountain Fur Trading Company to trap beaver on the upper Missouri River. Bridger
spent his first year with the company on the upper Missouri until Blackfoot Indian hostilities
forced the expedition back down the river in the spring of 1823. After working for Ashley,
Bridger trapped the Rocky Mountains with various companies and partnerships. Renowned by
his peers, Bridger was an able brigade leader and a excellent trapper. Year after year he was able
to avoid Indian attack and turn a profit from his trappings.
One particular discovery early on in Bridger’s career brought him lasting celebrity. To
settle a bet in the winter camp of his trapping party of 1824, Bridger was selected to set out to
find the exact course of the Bear River from the Cache Valley in present day Utah. He returned
and reported that it emptied into a vast lake of salt water. The men were convinced that he had
found an arm of the Pacific ocean. In reality, he was the first white man to view The Great Salt
Lake.
The only contact mountain men had with society was at a rendezvous for an annual
trading event. St. Louis merchants would meet with the trappers in Wyoming territory and trade
goods for pelts. The trappers needed salt, sugar, tobacco, traps, and liquor. The rendezvous was
als...