![]() One historian even labeled him a walking “atlas of the West.” 3. ![]() Health problems eventually forced “Old Gabe” Bridger to retire in the late-1860s, but by then his frontier exploits and endless supply of tall tales had established him among the greatest of the mountain men. He helped blaze Bridger’s Pass and Bridger Trail, both of which were well-traveled by pioneers and gold-seekers, and later worked as a scout for the U.S. Upon tasting its briny waters, he incorrectly concluded that it was part of the Pacific Ocean.Īfter the decline of the fur trade, Bridger reinvented himself as a trader and wilderness guide. He made one of the earliest excursions to the Yellowstone region, and famously became the first Anglo-American to see the Great Salt Lake. Bridger’s travels took him all the way from the Canadian border to southern Colorado. The journey marked the beginning of a 45-year career that saw him discover new routes across the frontier, survive an arrow wound to the back, marry three different Indian wives and found a trading fort on the Oregon Trail. In 1822, 18-year-old Jim Bridger joined up with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company on a trapping expedition along the Missouri River. He would go on to participate in more trapping missions-and have even more run-ins with the Blackfeet-before finally retiring to a Missouri farm in 1810. The mountain man then staggered into a fort several days later, having trekked over 200 miles clothed only in a blanket. Ignoring the rocks and cactus that were shredding his feet, Colter supposedly outran most of the warriors before disarming his closest pursuer and killing him with his own lance. After killing his partner, the Indians stripped Colter naked, gave him a brief head start and then chased after him as though he were wild game. A section of Wyoming’s Shoshone River even became known as “Colter’s Hell” for his descriptions of its geothermal activity.Ĭolter was once wounded while fighting alongside Crow and Flathead tribesmen, but the most legendary chapter in his career came in 1809, when he was captured by a band of Blackfeet while trapping near Three Forks, Montana. He soon established himself as one of America’s original mountain men, and may have been the first white man to lay eyes on Yellowstone National Park. Two years in the wilderness was more than enough for most of the expedition’s members, but as they made their way home in 1806, Colter decided to shun civilization and strike out on a career as a fur trapper. Virginia-born John Colter first answered the call of the West in 1804, when he took off on a journey to the Pacific Ocean and back as part of Lewis and Clark’s famed Corps of Discovery.
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