The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-09-16

somewhat garrulous, but his mind was
wandering then and he fitted from one
subject to another with so little coher-
eney that 1t was difficult to form an idea
OF his narrative. lie was born in Rich
mond, Va, in 1906 and moved to ST. Louis
With his father when about II years OLD.
For year or two he assisted ris father
IN the ferrying business, but the love OF
adventure was strong in the lad and ne
longed to see something of the world
particularly that mighty west which lay
almost uneXplorad on the other side of
the great father of waters across which
he daily carried his passengers. The op-
portunity came in 1922, when the boy was
not yet II years old. at which time he
joined a military expedition going west
with a certain Captain Henry of the
United States army.
How Bridger Fought Indians
At one time, being closely besieged by
band Of Indians, Hridger took the rifles
companions, and with his own weapon in
addition managed 10 crawl, slowly and
laboriously, through a shallow gully to
the banks of Il little stream. Here he
cautiously and painfully made his way
through the tangled willows and under
brush, and sometimes wadIng, sometimes
crawling on his belly in the mud, with the
rifles strapped on his back, finally man
aged to pull up in the rear OF the hostile
band. Cooking his four rifles he dis
charged them at the Indians in quick
succession, dropping a redSlin at every
shot. At that time repeating rifles We're
unknown, and the Indians, thinking that
large body of white men had arrived to
Succor the beSeiged party, fled in con-
fusion. The other men in the party at the
same moment made charge with a loud
cheer, and Bridger, loading and firing as
rapidly as possible, replied with yells and
cheers enough to answer fer an army
The diversion gave the white men time
CROUCH to get away in safety, and in two
days more they were behind the walls OF
old Fort Bridger.
But Bridger did not always escape so
easily. On one occasion he was literally
pinned to the ground by arrows and LETT
for dead on the field. The Indians were
so closely pursued that they had no time
to scalp their victim. One Indian as he
passed fired an arrow, which went
straight through Bridger's body and into
the ground under him. When the others
came back to succor him the scout had
recovered consciousness but could not
move, as the arrow kept him fast to the
ground like a beetle impaled on q pin.
The arrow was drawn out, and, strange
to say, Bridger soon recovered. The flint
arrow head received in this fight remain
ed in his body for years, being finally re-
moved by a surgeon.
In 1863 Bridger met with an unfortunate
and peculiar accident, which compelled
him to retire from active frontier life.
He was riding a nIIla, when the animal
bucked and threw him in such a position
that he received injuries OIL Il most palIi-
full nature. At this time he was connect
ed with a military expedition commanded
by Colonel Collins. Ola Jim took his
accident greatly to heart and on his fire.
Guent visits to Westport would bemoan
his fate and exclaim:
i've been scalped by Cheyennes on
Green river, shot by greasers in the Mo
2olones and it never did me no harm but
now [ have to be crippled up by an old
army mule
s'OId Gabe.''
Among his associates Bridger was
known as "Old Gabe." In his palny
days the plainsmen hal a saying: You
can drop Old Gabe' down anywhere, at
any hour of the night or day, and he can
tell you east from west and north from
south before you could take drink from
your canteen." Yet during the latter
years of his life he lost his way on his
own farm and almost at his own door.
Ore day he left his room to walk down 10
WAS J1lalSiD- rails