Bridger, Jim

Bridger, Jim
orig. James Bridger

born March 17, 1804, Richmond, Va., U.S.
died July 17, 1881, near Kansas City, Mo.

U.S. frontiersman.

From 1822 he led fur-trapping expeditions to Utah and Idaho. He was apparently the first white man to visit the Great Salt Lake (1824) and among the first to explore Wyoming's Yellowstone River region. In 1843 he established Fort Bridger, Wyo., as a fur-trading post on the Oregon Trail. After the 1850s he worked as a government scout. He became legendary for his knowledge of the territory and its Indian inhabitants.

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▪ American frontiersman
byname  of James Bridger  
born March 17, 1804, Richmond, Va., U.S.
died July 17, 1881, near Kansas City, Mo.
 American fur trader, frontiersman, scout, the “mountain man” par excellence.

      In 1812, Bridger's father, a surveyor and an innkeeper, moved his family to an Illinois farm near St. Louis, Mo. The young Bridger joined his first fur-trapping expedition in 1822 (that of William H. Ashley and Andrew Henry, up the Missouri River), and for the next 20 years he passed repeatedly on foot through an enormous area whose boundaries were the Canadian border, the Missouri River, the Colorado–New Mexico border, and Idaho and Utah, constantly exploring new territory; he is believed to have been the first white man to visit (1824) Great Salt Lake and was among the first to explore the geysers and sights of the Yellowstone (Yellowstone National Park) region.

      In 1843 he established Fort Bridger, in southwestern Wyoming, as a way station for emigrants traveling westward on the Oregon Trail and as a fur-trading post. (The fort later served the U.S. Army, and it was not abandoned until 1890.) When Mormon “settlers” took over the fort, Bridger entered government service as a scout and guided numerous expeditions, including the invasion of Utah by Col.Albert Sidney Johnston (Johnston, Albert Sidney) in 1857–58 in the Utah War, and the Berthoud party that was trying to discover a direct route from Denver to Great Salt Lake in 1861. His knowledge of the territory and its Indian inhabitants (he had three successive Indian wives) was unrivaled.

      He is commemorated in the names of Bridger Range (Montana), Bridger Peak (southern Wyoming), Bridger Pass (southern Wyoming), and the Bridger National Forest (western Wyoming).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Bridger, Jim — orig. James Bridger (17 mar. 1804, Richmond, Va., EE.UU.–17 jul. 1881, cerca de Kansas City, Mo.). Explorador en la frontera estadounidense. A partir de 1822 dirigió expediciones de caza de pieles a Utah e Idaho. Fue el primer hombre de raza… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jim Bridger — (* 17. April 1804 in Virginia; † 17. Juli 1881 in Washington, Missouri), eigentlich James Bridger, oft auch Old Gabe und von Indianern Casapy oder Blanket Chief genannt, gilt als einer der fähigsten Mountain Men, Trapper …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jim Bridger — (à droite) est représenté aux côtés du fondateur du Pon …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jim Bridger — [Jim Bridger] (1804–81) a ↑mountain man in the American West who discovered the ↑Great Salt Lake in 1824. He trapped animals and sold their furs, and worked for the army as a scout (= a person who goes first to watch for danger). He began the… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Jim — /jim/, n. a male given name, form of James. * * * (as used in expressions) Beckwourth Jim Bowie Jim Bridger Jim Brown Jim Henson Jim Wong Tung Jim Jim Crow Law Jones Jim Morrison Jim Player Gary Jim Thorpe Jim * * * …   Universalium

  • Jim Bridger — James [Jim] Bridger Retrato de Jim Bridger Nacimiento …   Wikipedia Español

  • Jim Bridger — James or Jim Bridger (March 1804 ndash; July 17, 1881) was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western United States during the decades of 1820 1840. He was also well known as a teller of tall …   Wikipedia

  • jim — /jeem/, n. the fifth letter of the Arabic alphabet. [ < Ar] * * * (as used in expressions) Beckwourth Jim Bowie Jim Bridger Jim Brown Jim Henson Jim Wong Tung Jim Jim Crow Law Jones Jim Morrison Jim Player Gary Jim Thorpe Jim * * * …   Universalium

  • Jim — (as used in expressions) Beckwourth, Jim Bowie, Jim Bridger, Jim Brown, Jim Henson, Jim Wong Tung Jim Jim Crow, ley de Jones, Jim Morrison, Jim Player, Gary (Jim) …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jim Baker (frontiersman) — Jim Baker (1818 ndash;1898), trapper, scout and guide was a friend of Jim Bridger and Kit Carson and one of General John C. Fremont s favorite scouts. He was one of the most colorful figures of the old west.Born in Belleville, Illinois, at 21 he… …   Wikipedia

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