The Dickinson press., 1890-02-01
A GLIMPSE OF WYOMING.
THE STORY OF JIM BRIDGER AND
THE FORT HE ESTABLISHED.

Archaeological Treasures Looks Like
Some Ruined City of the Gods.
Many years ago-way back in the
forties, in fact-old Gen. Ashley, ac-
companied by tho we'll known trapper
and mountaineer, Jim Bridger, turned
west from the Sheetskadee, or Green
river. After following n of its numcr-
GUS tributaries. called Henry's Fork, for
the distance of about thirty miles, they
changed their course and proceeded due
north, to find themselves one day upon
the ridge of steep bluffs overlooking the
valleys of Smiths and Blacks Forks, and
upon the latter stream they decided to
establish a trading post. Gen. Ashley
was supposed to have been at that time
in tho employ of the American Fur COM
pany, and for some reason or other soon
retraced his steps eastward, leaving Jim
Bridger in possession of the valley that
now bears his name.
Jim, with a spirit of pardonable pride,
called his camp "Fort Bridger." lie
married a wife, built a hut of woven
willows and logs, after the fashion ofhis
Indian neighbors, and for several years
carried on a most successful traffic with
the Indians and the cmigrants, chiefly
Mormons, who began to settle in the Vi
cinity.
Among the guides and trappers who,
during the years following its establish
ment, made Fort Bridger their head
quarters, were two Frenchmen, named
COSTA presumably a contraction of Gau-
tier) and Mariana, known by their COM
rades as the "toad eatin' parley voos."
They were perhaps the first to discover
certain very minute weapons and crude
tools of stone and iron upon the plateau
of Smiths Fork, and interpreted to trav-
elers the following fantastic Indian leg
end concerning their origin and utility.
A race of pygmies had formerly inhabi-
ted the valley and heights, and wagcd
eternal war upon the eagles. They fash
toned and stored away in numerous
mountain caves and crevasses the tiniest
arrow heads and spears, and fought va
liantly for their existence. But in the
end the eagles were victorious, and de-
voured their lilliputian adversaries with
pitiless voracity. Then in after years the
rains washed down the weapons, and the
Indians made use of them for petty traf-
fic and various games.
Since 1868 the tertiary beds in tho vi
entity of Bridger have proved of primary
importance to biologists and %palcontolo-
gists in all parts of the world, and Pro-
fessor Geikie, of Edinburgh, in the inter-
esting sketch he published of his journey
through the United States, speaks of the
intense eagerness with which he had al
ways looked forward to visiting the
"most wonderful fossil beds of the
world-the cretaceous and tertiary de-
posts of northwestern America" Tho
yield of fossil specimens, in fact, has
equaled that of the famous terres mat
VASES of Dakota, and extensive research
by Professor Hayden, Professor Marsh,
DR.. Leidy and other noted scientists
have brought to light an especial fauna,
the former existence of which was UNI
known.
Among the earlier and more unim-
portant fossils discovered in the Green
river and Bridger basins were flies,
fishes, insects and subsequently, the
long, gracefully shaped oyster shells, so
abundant in central and northern Europe,
known as Ladies' Fingers" Almost re-
markable specimen wa the feather of a
bird which Professor Marsh regarded as
unique and of great value. Many species
of turtle were discovered, the vertebrn
of crocodiles, and, in the intervening
years, the cranial bones of q mammoth
extinct animal to which Professor Marsh
gave the generic appellation of Dinoce-
rata, and which DR.. Leidy, on the other
hand, designated as the Uintatherium.
Some impression of the size of the speci-
mems may be gained when it is stated
thatthe finely preserved tusks are twenty
inches long and the jaw bones, showing
tho perfectly enameled teeth and deep
fangs, measure over a foot in length.
To DR.. j. Van A. Carter, residing at
Fort Bridger, and DR.. Corson, of the
army, is due the credit of having dis
covered many Of the finest fossil speci-
mems to be seen in the archaeological
collections of the Smithsonian Institution
and the Academy of Science, of New
York, and to the remains of a small ami
NAL similar to the European hedgehog,
forwarded by DR.. Carter to DR.. Leidy,
was given the name of Omomys Carteri,
in honor of its discoverer. The "moss
agate" beds are especially numerous
around Bridger, and occasionally stones
of great beauty, which would take an
extraordinary polish, were sold for $50
and SIS. Bits of amber, resembling the
murky gems found on tho coast of Pal
estine, are now and then picked up, and
few beautiful specimens Of opals have
been found among the Uintah mountains.
In appearance, the ''bad lands' of
Bridger basin more nearly resemble the
ruins of the Nile, near the confines of
the desert, than any other natural forma-
ton or artificial constructions visited by
the tourist of the present day. Though
deficient in great historic interest, the
in%describable grandeur and picturesque
ness of the locality, apart from the curl
osity excited by scientific research,
make exploration in the "bad lands" a
delight to all artists and lovers of beauty
in its most savage form.
Professor Denton's brief but graphic
description cannot be improved upon, SO
I give it here:
Choking from the summit of a high
ridge on the east, a tract of country con-
tanning 500 or 600 square miles is dis
tinctly visible. Over the whole surface
is rock, bare rocks cut into ravines,
canyons, gorges and valleys, in magnifi-
cent relief, terrace on terrace, pyramid
above pyramid, rising to mountain
heights, amphitheatres that would hold
million spectators, walls, pillars, tow
ers, castles everywhere. 1t looks like
some ruined city of the gods, blasted,
bare, desolate, but grand beyond a
mortal's telling.'"-Fort Bridget (Wyo.)
Cor. Omaha World-Herald.
Uses of Ants.
Ants are terrible fighters. They have
very powerful jaws, considering the size
of their bodies, and therefore their
method of fighting is by biting. They
will bite one another and hold or with
a wonderful grin of the laws oyo, .f,o,