James Bridger-A Forgotten Explorer

James Bridger, the son of the elder James Bridger and Schloe Bridger, was born in Richmond, Virginia, March 17, 1804. When James was eight, his family moved from Richmond to St. Louis. In the following five years, Bridger would suffer the death of a brother and both of his parents. By the age of 13, James and his sister were placed in the care of their aunt.

Although their aunt would eventually marry John Tyler, financial security was still years away. At 13, James Bridger was apprentice to a local blacksmith by the name of Phil Cromer to help support his family. Most of the money he earned went towards the purchase of a flatbed ferry and Jim became a ferryman until 1822.

In 1822, James Bridger left St. Louis as a part of a group of trappers that would latter become known as The Rocky Mountain Fur Company. This company, organized by General W. H. Ashley and commanded by Andrew Henry, would become a major part of Bridger’s life.

After several skirmishes with Native American tribes, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company eventually split into smaller groups. In the winter of 1823, Jim Bridger found himself in Cache Valley on the Bear River. To settle a bet on the river’s course, Bridger followed the Bear River until it ended in a large body of salt water. Although he mistakenly assumed he had found an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, Bridger had actually stumbled across the Great Salt Lake. He is generally assumed to be the first non-native to discover the lake*.

*Some historians claim that it was Friar Escalante that discovered the lake in an expedition to the area in 1776.

In August of 1830, James Bridger and three others purchased the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. The partners divided their efforts into different sections of the country. Bridger and two of his partners took two hundred men and traveled onto the Big Horn Basin of what would become Wyoming. They then crossed the Yellowstone River and headed north to the Great Falls area of the Missouri River in what is modern-day Montana. From the Three Forks junction, they followed the Jefferson River to the Continental Divide, then went south several hundred miles to Salt Lake.

From Salt Lake, the company-now laden with furs-traveled east to Powder River Valley near what would eventually become Yellowstone National Park. They arrived just before the first heavy winter snows. This circuit of nearly 1200 miles was made primarily on foot and took less than four months.

In the early 1830’s James Bridger discovered one of the oddest natural phenomena in North America. In the hills of the continental divide in present-day Teton County Wyoming, exists a steam that eventually empties itself into both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Bridger's love of the Yellowstone River and the surrounding areas is at least partially credited with the formation of the national park. He frequently told stories of the area, and in reality was probably one of the first white men to set foot on much of the area. Today, the nearby Bridger-Teton National Forest and Bridger lake in Wyoming bear his name.

A small town in Wyoming also bears Jim Bridger's name, or rather the name of the fort that he helped construct on his land. The fort was built in 1842 on land that Bridger purchased from the Mexican Government. The land was later ceded by Mexico to the United States.

Over the years, Jim Bridger had developed a relationship with the Native Americans in the area and often traded goods, including alcohol and firearms, with the local tribes. Technically, this was illegal but this law was rarely enforced in the area. As more Mormons traveling the Oregon Trail witnessed this practice, the tension grew. In 1855, the Mormons took control of the fort.

Until 1858, the Mormons and Bridger both laid claim to Fort Bridger and several armed confrontations took place between the groups. In 1958 the U.S. government officially laid claim to the fort, installing their own caretaker and completely dismissing both claims to the land.

After the loss of his fort, Jim Bridger seemed satisfied to live a less dangerous life. He wanderlust never died, but he became more cautious, contenting himself largely to acting as a guide.

In 1873, Bridger began to go blind. His family limited his travels to the area near his home. Still, James would go on long rides around his property on a well-trained horse he named Ruff. It is said that when he would become lost, his dog Sultan would alert the family and lead them to him.

James Bridger passed away on July 17, 1881. He was 77 years old at the time of his death.