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Jim Bridger
On March 20, 1822, the Missouri Republican published a notice addressed “to enterprising young men” in the St. Louise area. “The subscriber,” it said “wishes to engage one hundred young men to ascend the Missouri River to its source, there to be employed for one, two, or three years. For particulars enquire of Major Andrew Henry… or of the subscriber near St. Louise.” The “subscriber” was General William H. Ashley, and among the “enterprising young men” who embarked with Major Henry less than a month later was eighteen-year-old James Bridger, former blacksmith’s apprentice. So began the Ashley-Henry fur empire and the long, colorful career of Jim Bridger.
In the years that followed, Jim Bridger became a master mountain man, an expert trapper, and a guide without equal. He came to know the Rocky Mountain region and its inhabitants as a farmer knows his fields and flocks. Indeed, J. Cecil Alter tells us, “he was among the first white men to use the Indian trail over South Pass; he was first to taste the waters of the Great Salt lake, first to report a two-ocean stream, foremost in describing the Yellowstone Park phenomena, and the only man to run the Big Horn River rapid on a raft; and he originally selected the Crow Creek-Sherman-Dale Creek route the Laramie Mountains and Bridger’s Pass over the Continental Divide, which were adopted by the Union pacific Railroad.”
Such knowledge, together with extraordinary skill and uncanny luck, preserved Jim Bridger in a country where nearly half of his mountain companions met violent death. It also gave rise to a brood of impossible tales about Old Gabe and his adventures-tales which he himself may unwittingly have helped along with his droll humor.
Based on Mr. Alter’s original biography of 1925 (a facsimile edition of which, with addenda, appeared in 1950) and a wealth of new facts gleaned from many years of careful research, Jim Bridger is the authentic story of the Old Scout’s life. Only those events in which Bridger took part are included; improbable and uncorroborated stories, however interesting, have been omitted.
In the years that followed, Jim Bridger became a master mountain man, an expert trapper, and a guide without equal. He came to know the Rocky Mountain region and its inhabitants as a farmer knows his fields and flocks. Indeed, J. Cecil Alter tells us, “he was among the first white men to use the Indian trail over South Pass; he was first to taste the waters of the Great Salt lake, first to report a two-ocean stream, foremost in describing the Yellowstone Park phenomena, and the only man to run the Big Horn River rapid on a raft; and he originally selected the Crow Creek-Sherman-Dale Creek route the Laramie Mountains and Bridger’s Pass over the Continental Divide, which were adopted by the Union pacific Railroad.”
Such knowledge, together with extraordinary skill and uncanny luck, preserved Jim Bridger in a country where nearly half of his mountain companions met violent death. It also gave rise to a brood of impossible tales about Old Gabe and his adventures-tales which he himself may unwittingly have helped along with his droll humor.
Based on Mr. Alter’s original biography of 1925 (a facsimile edition of which, with addenda, appeared in 1950) and a wealth of new facts gleaned from many years of careful research, Jim Bridger is the authentic story of the Old Scout’s life. Only those events in which Bridger took part are included; improbable and uncorroborated stories, however interesting, have been omitted.
358 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 25, 2018
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.
June 24, 2013
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.
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.
February 19, 2024
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.
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.
May 6, 2012
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.
March 29, 2012
Good biography and great account of the mountain men of this country.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews