Jim Bridger

Do you know who was one of the best fur traders and was a good explorer? Jim Bridger was the most famous mountain man of the west. He lived a tough life but he survived the extreme conditions in the Rocky Mountains.

Jim was born in March 1804 and he died in 1881. At the age of seventeen he worked as a fur trader. He worked at several fur companies including his own, The Rocky Mountain Trading Company. He crossed the plains and the Rocky Mountains on the way to California.

He was one of the first men to cross the Great Salt Lake. When he traveled west he tried to describe the Yellowstone geysers but nobody believed him. He showed the builders of the Union Pacific Railroad a route that they could use for trains.

Jim is famous for being a mountain man who crossed the west first. He is famous for crossing the entire west with Jed Smith before anyone else.

I think that Jim Bridger is a hero because he crossed the Great Salt Lake and found the Yellowstone geysers. He was a brave fellow who helped discover parts of America. I admire how he mapped out the Union Pacific Railroad and he was a hunter like me.