Birth of Jim Bridger
Mountain man James Felix Bridger was born on March 17, 1804, in Richmond, Virginia.
Bridger’s family moved to St. Louis around 1812 but he was orphaned five years later at just 13 years old when both of his parents died. Bridger never received a formal education and couldn’t read or write so he was eventually apprenticed to a blacksmith.
Bridger left his apprenticeship in 1822 to join the Upper Missouri Expedition. Part of the expedition included fur trapping, which captured Bridger’s interest. He would continue to work as an employee or partner in the fur trading business for the next 20 years. This work led him to travel extensively through Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, and up into Canada, blazing early paths across the West.
During his travels, Bridger became one of the first white men to witness the geysers and other natural wonders of the Yellowstone area. And during the winter of 1824-25, he became famous as the first European American to see the Great Salt Lake (though some suggest it may have instead been Étienne Provost). Tasting the water there, Bridger initially believed he’d found part of the Pacific Ocean.
In 1830, Bridger and other trappers joined together to form the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He also built a trading post, Fort Bridger in southwestern Wyoming. A supply station for emigrants traveling westward on the Oregon Trail, the fort also served as a fur-trading post, and later as a post for the U.S. Army.
In 1850 Bridger began searching for a new overland route to the South Pass in the Rocky Mountains. He succeeded and named it Bridger’s Pass. This shortened the Oregon Trail by 61 miles and would later serve as the route for the Union Pacific Railroad.
Equipped with an extensive knowledge of the area and its trails, Bridger also worked as a guide and advisor to groups traveling West. In 1859 he was hired to serve as the main guide for the Raynolds Expedition to Yellowstone. Though the trails were blocked by snow and they couldn’t reach Yellowstone, they did get to explore nearby Jackson Hole and the Teton Range.
In 1863, gold was discovered in Virginia City, Montana. The Bozeman Trail was developed to lead prospectors to the gold, but it passed through Native American territory and was subject to their raids. Bridger was then hired to lead an expedition to find a new trail. He succeeded and created the Bridger Trail. However, when hostilities along the Bozeman Trail grew worse, he was sent on the military’s Powder River Expedition to help put an end to the raids.
By 1865 Bridger was suffering from a number of health issues and was discharged from his military duties. He returned to Missouri and died in Kansas City on July 17, 1881. A number of natural sites have been named in his honor including the Bridger Mountains, Bridger Wilderness, Bridger Lake, and Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Click here for a map of “Old Jim Bridger’s Country.”
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Another interesting chapter in the discovery of the Wild West, highlighted and forever remembered through US stamps, (and MYSTIC ‘s This Day in History). Well done, thank you.
I wonder why Jim Bridger’s Pass and Fort is considered a Short Cut to Oregon. After crossing the South Pass, the Oregon and California Trails split. UP’s route also splits at Granger, WY — north to Kemmerer and Pocatello, ID, west to Evanston, WY and Ogden. The more southerly branch goes to Fort Bridger, but that would not be a short cut to Oregon, would it?
Very interesting narrative about Jim Bridget and his exploits. It was brave and adventurous men lik him that helped our great country grow. Thank you
Great history lesson Mystic. Thank you.
My wife and I began our life together living outside Bozeman, Montana, where we had a superb view across the valley of the Bridger mountains. At 4800′ above sea level, the view was always changing. Locals were well aware of Jim Bridger and had many stories to share. They were true and far more interesting than any fiction.
My younger brother, Richard, worked for Yellowstone National Park following his graduation from Clemson University with a forestry degree some years ago. After a couple of years of national park work and absorbing the independent life of the mountain man, he came home to South Carolina wearing a full red beard and stories of how he admired the life of the mountain men of Montana. Our father became worried for Richard’s future as a mountain man. He offered him an opportunity to return to Clemson to study and earn a masters degree in forestry. Thank goodness he took the challenge and earned a masters degree and went on to become a professional in his field of study – even managing a pine forest owned by Ted Turner. He continued working in his profession and recently retired to the foothills of the South Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains where he and his family live in a log cabin he built on the hillside of the state’s most beautiful lake.
Jim Bridger married a Flathead Indian tribe woman in 1835. They had three children. She died in 1846, and Jim married a Soshone chief`s daughter. but she died three years later during child birth . So, he again married Soshone Chief Washakie`s daughter who bore him two children. Thank you MYSTIC for informative article on this great ~frontiersman~ . He will be remembered as legendary figure .
Amazing that such a person could achieve so much. Not just during his lifetime, but also for prosperity to know and admire. All the creation of a person who could not read or write. It is believed that Jesus Christ could neither read or write, in his native tongues. Those tongues would have been: Latin, Greek (Ancient), and Aramaic.