Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American WestEven among iconic frontiersmen like John C. Frémont, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger stands out. A mountain man of the American West, straddling the fur trade era and the age of exploration, he lived the life legends are made of. His adventures are fit for remaking into the tall tales Bridger himself liked to tell. Here, in a biography that finally gives this outsize character his due, Jerry Enzler takes this frontiersman’s full measure for the first time—and tells a story that would do Jim Bridger proud. Born in 1804 and orphaned at thirteen, Bridger made his first western foray in 1822, traveling up the Missouri River with Mike Fink and a hundred enterprising young men to trap beaver. At twenty he “discovered” the Great Salt Lake. At twenty-one he was the first to paddle the Bighorn River’s Bad Pass. At twenty-two he explored the wonders of Yellowstone. In the following years, he led trapping brigades into Blackfeet territory; guided expeditions of Smithsonian scientists, topographical engineers, and army leaders; and, though he could neither read nor write, mapped the tribal boundaries for the Great Indian Treaty of 1851. Enzler charts Bridger’s path from the fort he built on the Oregon Trail to the route he blazed for Montana gold miners to avert war with Red Cloud and his Lakota coalition. Along the way he married into the Flathead, Ute, and Shoshone tribes and produced seven children. Tapping sources uncovered in the six decades since the last documented Bridger biography, Enzler’s book fully conveys the drama and details of the larger-than-life history of the “King of the Mountain Men.” This is the definitive story of an extraordinary life. |
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Contents
Bridger Braves Bad Pass 1825 | |
Pilot for the Brigades 18261830 | |
The Gold Rush and the Mapmakers 18481849 | |
Bridger Pass 1850 | |
Horse Creek Treaty 1851 | |
Mormons Take Fort Bridger 18521853 | |
Guiding Gore Warren and Hayden 18541856 | |
Chief Guide for the Utah War 18571858 | |
The Search for Yellowstone 18591860 | |
Americas Guide and Storyteller 18611863 | |
Partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company 18301832 | |
Eagle Ribs and the Blackfeet 1832 | |
The Race to Rendezvous 18331834 | |
Bridgers Family 18341835 | |
The Siege 18361837 | |
Knight of the Rockies 18371838 | |
Seventeen Years without Bread 18391841 | |
Fort Bridger 18411843 | |
Coyoterra and the Gulf of California 18441846 | |
Old Bridger is death on us 18471849 | |
Mary Ann Chipeta Virginia and Mary Josephine 18471848 | |
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Common terms and phrases
American animals army arrived Ashley asked attack beaver Black Blackfeet brigade buffalo California called camp Campbell carried Carrington Cheyennes chief City Company continued Creek crossed Crows earlier emigrants expedition explored feet fight finally fire Fitzpatrick five followed Fork Fort Bridger four gathered Green River Hafen hand head Henry Historical horses hundred hunt Ibid Indians James Jim Bridger John Journal July killed known land Laramie later lead letter lived Louis March Mary miles Missouri Mormons named night ordered party Pass pelts Powder Powder River Raynolds reached recorded rendezvous reported returned rifle road Rocky Mountain rode route Salt Lake sent Shoshones side Sioux Smith soldiers soon South spring Sublette supplies told took trade Trail train trappers trapping traveled valley Vasquez wagons wanted West winter women wrote Yellowstone Young
Bibliographic information
| Title | Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American West |
| Author | Jerry Enzler |
| Publisher | University of Oklahoma Press, 2021 |
| ISBN | 0806169796, 9780806169798 |
| Length | 384 pages |
| Subjects | › › › Biography & Autobiography / Adventurers & Explorers Biography & Autobiography / Military History / United States / 19th Century History / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877) History / United States / State & Local / West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY) |
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