The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-02-04

Rocky Mountains we're mapped out in his
mind. He had such a sense Of locality and
direction that he used to say he could
smell his way where he could not see it."
With a buffalo skin and a piece of
charcoal says Captain Gunnison who once
employed Bridger as a guide, "he will map
out any part of this immens region and
delineate streams and mountains and other
circular valleys, called holes with a Won
derful accuracy
Was With Bonneville
Scores OF prominehG government and pri-
vate expeditions employed him as a guide
Of fifty years. It was Bridger who pilOted
Captain Bonneville on the expedition which
was immOFtalized by Washington Irving.
AS late as 1868, General Sheridan consulted
Bridger about his plan Of making winter
campaigns against hostile Indians. The old
scout came out once more from Kansas,
where he was living, to consult with the
renowned general, and gave him the bene-
tit Of his advice, knowledge and experience.
Opened Up "Bridger's Trail"
1t was Jim Bridger VINO, in the sixties.
opened up a wagon road which became
known as "Bridger's Trail, leading
from a point on the Oregon Trail, near
Independence Rock, Wyoming, through
central and northern Wyoming and south
ern Montana, in the Gallatin valley, Mon
tana Territory, thereby shortening the dis
lance from omaha to the Montana mining
camps.
In the early fifties, while he and a COM
| pdulOu were SEEKING TO explore the river
valleys of the western slope of the Rockies,
Bridger, set out alone, and, in an effort
to locate the western seas, became the first
white man to set foot upon the shores Of
the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
Setting out from one Of his established
camps in what is now southern Montana,
this same mountain man, while exploring
new beaver streams, was the first white
famous Yellowstone National park. So mar
velOus were the tales he told Of the I'VE
inspiring things he viewed on this trip,
that the people at first refused to believe
his stories.
his shOshOne Wife
Bridgers habitual expression was mild
and his manner was mild and kind. He was
respected and trusted by both white men
and red. He held the confidence of the
Indians because he always treated them
with justice. His wife, 1.-THE only one OF
which there is any definite knOwledeg)
was an Indian of the ShOshOne tribe.
This wife Of Bridger is worth telling
about. Bridger had been captured by some
Indians, for a fist fight with one of the
man, he was a. good looking chap. Al
Indian maiden liked him. She slipped into
I his tent the night Of the capture, and cut
his thongs, thus freeing him. Jim made his
escape under cover of night, and that sum.
mer, he found this Indian girl and married
her. He never had any other wife. At least
there is no absolute proof that he ever had
any other.
In General DOdge's Geographic Sketch
Of James Bridger," in which he deplOre'
the fact that no writer has compiled a com
j plete history Of Bridger, and his fountain
companions and the remarkable and stir
ring events of their time, he tells of Bridg
er's matrimonial affairs. General DOdg,
claims that Bridger was married thres
times: that his first wife was the daughte
OF q Flathead chief. This wife died il
1S46. According to the b~iOgrapher, the sc
cOnd wife was a Ute who died in 1919; an,
the third wife a Snake (ShOshOne) woman
iii owing TO the fact that VnTU lfffTn If do
Unite Facts are known Of the mans earl.
V life on the plains, except as handed dow,
n by the journals of explorers and traders
there is no absolute proof that Bridge
ever had more than one wife.
Character Of the Man
Historians and others have made muc
ado about the character of the man, as {
whether or not he was a drunkard. Som
writer's have pictured him as the embed
ment Of license. 1t matters not if he did O
did not drink. Regardless OF these thing
1t remains that he was one Of the nation
n greatest explorers and he performed in
valuable service on the old frontier. One {
his ~neighbOrs who lived but a short dis
lance from Bridger during the last Is year
Of his life, says:
1--WE never knew him to drink. We ha
three saloons here, and all the drink
train could carry. The Indians were pal
off here and that brought in liquor by II
cistern full. Jim would hang round, an
once in a while he would take a nip. 81
Y that was all. He played poker mostly-an
- l know, myself, he played a good game
II Built Fort Bridger
From 1888 to 1910, Bridger cOnducte
er trapping parties in. the interest of the An
adj erican Fur company through the cOuntl
west Of the Big Horn river, reaching to Il
he Snake, and had many fights with and hal
breadth escapes from the hostile Blackfee
he IN 1S4U, ne was associated with Benz
Vasquez in charge of an extensive QUIT
which they conducted in person until 1S4
ce when Bridger and Vasquenz built Flo
re Bridger.
Fort Bridger was located 1,O70 mil
de west of the Missouri river by wagon rOS
st, and 1856 miles by railroad. Bridger selec
he ed this site on account of II being on Il
overland emigrant route and the MOrmC
rtail whether by the North or South Plat
routes, as both came together near or
Fort Bridger.
Buys Farm at Little Santa Fe
About 1850 Bridger took his ShOshOI
wife and together they went to Lift
Santa Fe, Mo-, where he bought a lit
farm where he maintained hins residen
until the time Of his death. 1t is, hOweve
said Of him by ~neighbOrs, that each spriI
he would leave the farm and travel we
to pilot expeditions during the SUNNI
months or to follow the trade Of trapp
and hunter.
It was in the spring of 1862 that the go
ernment called him frim his little hOI
back to the plains to guide the military
the Indian campaigns. He worked wi
the troops from Fort Laramie and to
part ia many encounters. He remained
the plans until late in 1870 when he NOV
back to the Little Santa Fe farm.