Mountain Man
Jim Bridger was a well known fur trapper who left for the mountains in
1822. He was only 18 years old when he first became a trapper. He set up
a trading post near what is now Evanston, Wyoming.
Fort Bridger became a stopping place for people traveling on the Oregon
Trail.
Jim Bridger was a trader, a storyteller, an explorer, and a mountain man. He was born in Virginia in 1804. For 50 years he led a lot of tough frontiersmen. In 1865 Bridger was hired to help the Union Pacific map a route through the Bighorn Mountains.
Bridger had a Blackfoot arrowhead stuck in his back from an Indian battle. It had been there three years. At one of the rendezvous Dr. Whitman did surgery on Bridger's back to get the arrowhead out. Dr. Whitman asked Bridger how he lived so long and Jim said, "Meat does not spoil fast in the Rockies."
Although Jim could not read or write he liked to be read to. One time he hired a German boy to read to him for $40.00 a month. Bridger liked Shakespeare and could quote Shakespeare really well.
Did you know Jim Bridger set up his own trading post to trade with the Indians or that his nickname was "Old Gabe"? Did you know there are twenty places named for Jim Bridger? Some land forms which carry his name are a butte, a basin, a beach and a national forest.
He died July 17, 1881 on his Missouri farm. He was 77.
Questions:
How many years did Jim Bridger have an arrowhead stuck in his back?
Name something you learned about Jim Bridger.
"I have established a small fort with a blacksmith shop and a supply of iron in the road of the emigrants on Blacks Fork of the Green River, which promises fairly. They, in coming out, are generally well supplied with money, but by the time they get there are in want of all kinds of supplies...Horses, provisions, smith work, etc."
Jim Bridger, Ex-Mountain Man