Jim Bridger
Jim Bridger was the son of a Virginia innkeeper. Born in 1804 Bridger went west in the early 1820s as a fur trapper, and was one of the two men who volunteered to stay with Hugh Glass after he was mauled by a grizzly, to bury him after he died. They abandoned the still alive Glass, who survived his ordeal and later did not take vengeance on the pair, although he did catch up with Bridger near the Bighorn River.
Bridger explored the Yellowstone area, one of the first men of European descent to do so and was credited with being the first to see the Great Salt Lake, during the winter of 1824-25. Bridger believed that he had found an inlet of the Pacific due to the salt water. Whether he was the first American to see the Great Salt Lake is now disputed.
Bridger married at least three times. His brides were either Flathead or Shoshone Indians, at least two died. He is known to have had multiple children, some of whom were sent to eastern relatives to be raised. By the 1850s his knowledge of the western lands acquired during his trapping expeditions led him to be a hired guide for several wagon trains and for the Army.
During his visits to Eastern cities Bridger developed a reputation for story telling – tall tales – which contributed to his legend in later years. Bridger’s tales of petrified forests and geysers in the west – both of which were later proven to be true – were amplified with stories of petrified animals and birds populating them.
Bridger’s legacy is one of exaggerated strength and endurance, which he helped to establish with his tales to newcomers to the west. Numerous places are named for him, including the Bridger Mountains and Fort Bridger in Wyoming, and the town of Bridger, Montana.