Back جيم بريدغر Arabic Jim Bridger Czech Jim Bridger German Jim Bridger Spanish جیم بریجر FA Jim Bridger French ג'ים ברידג'ר HE Jim Bridger Italian ジム・ブリッジャー Japanese Jim Bridger NB
Jim Bridger | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bridger c. 1876 | |
| Born | James Felix Bridger March 17, 1804 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | July 17, 1881 (aged 77) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Other names | Casapy [Blanket Chief - from the Crow Tribe), Gabe |
| Occupation(s) | Frontiersman, explorer, hunter, trapper, scout, guide |
| Employer(s) | Rocky Mountain Fur Company, U.S. Government |
| Known for | Famous mountain man of the American fur trade era |
| Spouse(s) | Three Native American wives: one Flathead and two Shoshone |
| Children | 5 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1859–1868 |
| Rank | Scout |
| Unit | |
| Commands | Rifleman |
| Battles / wars | Raynolds Expedition, Utah War, Indian Wars |
James Felix Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old Gabe in his later years.[1][2] He was from the Bridger family of Virginia, English settlers who had been in North America since the early colonial period.[3]
Bridger was part of the second generation of American mountain men and pathfinders who followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806, and became well known for participating in numerous early expeditions into the western interior as well as mediating between Native American tribes and westward-migrating European-American settlers. By the end of his life, he had earned a reputation as the foremost explorer and frontiersmen in the American Old West. His conversational knowledge of French, Spanish, and several indigenous languages served him well along and his photographic memory allowed him to map almost any part of the Rocky Mountain region from memory.
He was described as being "at least six feet tall, straight as an Indian, muscular and quick in movement, but not nervous or excitable; in weight probably 160 pounds; with an eye piercing as the eye of an eagle that seemed to flash fire when narrating an experience."[4] He also had a strong constitution allowing him to survive the extreme conditions he encountered while exploring the Rocky Mountains from Canadian border to what would become southern Colorado.
- ^ Alter (1925), p. 161.
- ^ Gard (1963).
- ^ Fischer (1989), pp. 633–639.
- ^ Vestal, Stanley (1946). "Chief of Scouts". Jim Bridger - Mountain Man. New York: William Morrow & Company. p. 243.