Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1884-08-30

had run against the perpenuIcuiar dun
Of crystal mountain. TWAS as trans
parent as the surrounding atmosphere.
The mule had not seen it until his head
came in contact with t. So perfectly
transparent was the mountain that deer
and elk grazing on the opposite side, a
mile or two distant, could be seen as
distinctly as though the atmosphere
alone interviewed. Bridger explained
why others had not seen 1t by say'n"
that it was ten days travel from ~ &"
water, and grass.
Referring to the wonderful changes in
the topography of the country within
the last fifty years, he said that there
was hole in the ground were the
large fiat butte stands short distsnce
west of Fort Bridger, when he first
came to the country.
Bridger told wonderful tales of his
prewess as an Indian fighter On one
occasion he was attacked by an lncred-
ible number of Sioux, and had only
dog asa companion. Tue TWO 1ougnt
their dusky enemies for long time. AT
the end of the conflict several dead
braves lay around. One of them had
been killed by the dog, which ran about
so full Of Indian arrows as to look like
fretful porcupine. Although Jim
would slightly prevaricate and exagger-
ate for the amusement and astonlsh-
ment of the curious, he was careful new
er t. misre present anything to his COM
manding officer when giving information
officially as guide.
Two amusing anecdotes used to be
told of Bridger by Uncle Jack Robinson.
| Mountaineers in that section Of country
| wore huckskin clothes, not because OF
| their durability and warmth, but fifty
wears ago it was difficult to obtain Others
even if desired. BridgeI wore buck
skin clothes and moccasins of the same
material. The prickly pear easily pen
etrated the soles of his mocassins, and
many time his feet had been badly
pricked and infamed by careless step.
When he had spent twenty-five years IL.
the mountains, somebody gave him q
pair of shoes. 1t was the first pair that
he had worn since he left the State
Putting them on, he went some distance
from the road, and, seeing a growth Of
cactus, ne began to jump and stamp on
it as though he had encountered dead
ly enemy. Uncle Jack and others wen
to the spot, thinking that he was either
killing rattlesnake or that he haC
gone crazy. They were not a little
amused to hear him cursing the BLASTED
prickly pears, and saying that he wa
having his revenge at last.
| When Bridger went East IN 1853 h
visited st. Louis. After his return h
was narrating his adventures in civil
cation TO Uncle Jack st Louis be pro
; nounced, with sundry oaths, to be tn
meanest place he ever saw. Uncle JAG
: wished to know why he thought sc
l"Why, stayed there two days an,
nearly starved to DEATH" he replied.
/ "How was that? Didn't you hav
money!"
Money what had that to do with il
And / had money, too-$500 in my pocI
ct. Crowds of people were passing m
: all the time, going up one canon an
, down another and not man asked m
to eat mouthful. If / hadn't met on
l of our boys in one of the canons
might have starved to death. Don
: talk to me any more about st. Lou
I being a great city. It's the meal
est place l ever saw"
AS much as Bridger had travelled an
y as familiar as he was with the gre;
v West from the Mississippi to the Pacifi
4 and from Mexico to the British posse
sions, he had little idea of distances q;
we measure them. If asked how far
y was to certain locality, he would tie
e you it was so many camps" but he hs
. no idea of the number of miles. Whe
guiding Col. Carrington's command in
II the Powder River country in 1866, Il
8 Colonel asked him the distance fro
/ Fort Laramie to Fort Reno. "Si
i, camps" he promptly replied but coul
give no idea of the distance from can
to camp.
d The first days march was, say, te
a miles, but he made no distinction of Il
. distances-ten miles was to camp, ar
so was twenty and thirty miles. Whe
y pressed to guess the number of mil
Ie they were to march in day, he sa
K about thirty, and he was perfectly
miliar with the country. The marc
" proved to be about twelve.
'e Bridger and Uncle Jack Robinsc
n were born in the same year. Once the
\. quarreled. Bridger struck Uncle Jat
: With stick. The latter, being bett
l. man ply sically, caught his adyersal
by the throat and choked him gent
il by way of admonItion. Upon being r
i leased Jim upbraided. Uncle Jack |
saying: "You ought to be ashamed
III yourself to treat man old enough to
tyour father IN that way"
y He must have regarded himself as
d rather precocious infant, as the two we
said to have seen the light within s.
Y weeks of each other.
s, Bridger has become historical cha
d acter. His name is inseparably come
ted with the early history of the f
West, and will live to remote ages 9
N sociated with mary of its promine
of features. "Bridger's Pass" in the Roc
lie Mountains will be known as long as t
% mountains stand. "Bridger's Butt
will also defy the winds and rains
u many centuries. The name Fort Bri,
Y. err will bring pleasant memories
&C. many army officers.
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