Jim Bridger. by J. Cecil Alter

by Alter

Bridger, Jim

Genres: Biography, History, American History, Nonfiction, Westerns

Hardcover

First published May 15, 1979

Reviews

[Tom Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pretty comprehensive history of the great Jim Bridger. So, I learned a lot about his travails. It would have been more enlightening if some of his personalty was shown. This book also needed more maps of the west, where certain forts, mountains and lakes and trails lay etc. All in all, an important book on Jim Bridger"s life.

[Lisa Kearns · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very in-depth look at the life of Jim Bridger - it includes photos of Bridger and other scenes from the time period, and does a great job of tracing his life. It's heavily footnoted and addresses several of the popular tall-tales about his life.

I really enjoyed this book, although it isn't a quick, easy read. For anyone who enjoys history or biographies, this will be a book you enjoy.

[doug.whatzup · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if this is typical of biographies written a century ago, but it's not like any biography I've read in the past 50 or so years in that it's less of a narrative about Bridger's life than it is a compilation of every known fact from every primary source that the writer, J. Cecil Alter, could find. Alter was a meteorologist who became interested in the history of the American West, primarily Utah, and would up becoming the editor of the Utah Historical Quarterly.

His biography of Jim Bridger isn't exactly a scintillating read; you don't get a lot of insights into Bridger's character other than what others wrote about him. But Bridger was such a fascinating character, perhaps the most foremost of the mountain men of the Old West, that the book manages to hold your interest in spite of Alter's writing style and methodology.

Readers who, like me, are fascinated by the American West will enjoy this book. Others should probably read something else.

[Scott Bischke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little tough for me not to rate this book highly as it tells the story of one of my Dad's favorite mountain men, and one of Montana's best known explorer. I might give this 5*s but this is a bit of an academic tome and for me, even in non-fiction I love to have my history presented as a story (e.g., THE RIVER OF DOUBT). That said, wonderful to have a compilation of information about the man who is the namesake of the mountains I regularly walk in, and that I stare out the window at each day as I write.

[Eddie Romero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good biography and great account of the mountain men of this country.