The Holly chieftain., 1924-03-13

with buffalo skin and piscs of charcoal he
.nd o. sn. IN.
valleys called 'hoes with wonderful accuracy
Capt j. w. 9unaison U. g. A.
Bridger sold out at Fl. Bridger in 1850 and
moved to jackson County, Missouri. He bought
big farm and built large residence He had
an Indian wife and several children. He kept
open house. Virginia Bridger was married there
IN 1854 to Capt. Albert Wachsman. The wedding
was big social event. Captain Wachsman died
IN 1888 and in 1892 she married Frank Hahn.
brdger died in 1881 and his grave in Washington
Park cemetery. Kansas City, is marked by a mon
ument erected and Inscribed by General Dodge
According to General Dodge. BrIdger had three
Indian wives-one at time and a regular-n
Flathead. Ute and Snake. Mrs. Hahn Is the
daughter Of the second wife. the Ute. to whom
Brtdger was married at Ft. Brldger by the famous
Jesuit Father de Smet.
Bridgers career reads like a fantastic romance
and the most fantastic thing about 1t is this:
"Oid jim Bridger is nm American Immortal be-
cause of his fantastic Tall Yarns" The West
may forget him "the uncrowned king OF all
the Rocky Mountain scouts, guides. traiIers, In
dian fighters. trappers and plansmen from the
Thirtes to the Seventies" But his Tall Yarns"
will always be told in the West to each succeeding
generation
"6ld Jim" led dual life He apparently
equally devoted TO fact and fiction. When he
told fact he exact. Els spoken work had
the confidence OF white man and Indian alike.
His maps invariably correct When he
swapped yarns with old cronies could get the
ear OF tenderfoot. his adventures were limited
only by the powers Of his Imagination And he
never played bigger Joke greenhorn than
he played on himself for when he told Of the won
ders of the Yellowstone admirlng public burst
into laughter another of old 1im's' tall
yarns"-and refused to believe a single word
SO Jim. making the best of bad job, concoct-
ed the "obsdan cliff ynrn and added 1t as the
rtvC, ~ fbn Yel1p fc
ably the most popular Of all his Tall Yarns" and
is too well known to need telling here. The herd
O. picked BUTLER" was showed in by seventy day
storm and frozen solid. In the spring Jim rolled
the carcasses into Salt Lake and supplied the
Utes with rueat for two years. The ce-cold spring
was high up and the water ran down-hill fast
that 1t boiling by the time 1t reached the foot
of the mountain. The alum creek shrunk up his
ponys feet points, so that the animal stuck
when he hit the trail.
Can Imagination conceive Of situation more
UNIQUE than Sir George Gore with a perfectly
strught face, reading 'Munchausen's Tales to
Jim Bridger beside Rocky Mountain campfire?
Yet the incident Is strictly true. is J.n's COM
ment md rival boast Sir George was IL noted
Irish sportsman who hunted for two yenrs in the
Rockies, 1S54-5 with Jim for guide. philosopher
and friend. The Gore range Is named for him
He Travelled with retlnue Of fifty and outfit
to correspond He dined in state late In the
evening and 1t his practice nfter dinner to
read to Jim from the great books OF the world
Imagine his inward delight In reading from the
biggest liar of all print to the champion liar OF
the Vest