Jim Bridger

Jim Bridger was a famous scout on the Oregon Trail in the 1800s.  When he was 18 he became a trapper with a fur company.  They went to the area along the Missouri River.  Using keelboats they traveled 1,800 miles upstream to the mouth of the Yellowstone River. He learned all about the land and how to survive in these unsettled areas.  While trapping beaver for fur pelts he learned all about the high country.  The trails he and other mountain men created became parts of the Oregon Trail.

On one of his journeys Jim Bridger thought he had reached the Pacific Ocean, but he actually discovered the Great Salt Lake.  After a few years of exploring he started to lead bands of trappers.  He became known as the "king of the mountain men" and set up a fort named Fort Bridger in Southwestern Wyoming.  He traded with the many pioneers who traveled through the area.

The people who traveled the trails during this time said, "Jim Bridger had the whole West mapped in his head."
 
 
 

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