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| Landmark #UT0001A.02 | Uinta County | Visited: Sept. 6, 2014 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | The preserved and replicated buildings of Fort Bridger from its years as a trading post to a military fort to a Mormon business hub! |
| What makes it historical? | THE PLAQUE SAYS: The fort was established about 1842 by Jim Bridger, discoverer of Great Salt Lake, notable pioneer, trapper, fur trader, scout and guide. Bridger was born at Richmond, Virginia, March 17, 1804 and died at Westport, Missouri, July 17, 1881. His unerring judgment regarding problems of trappers, traders, soldiers, emigrants and gold-seekers, bordered on the miraculous, and his advice was universally in demand in the early history of this state.
Bridger has been prominently recognized as America’s greatest frontiersman and the west’s most gifted scout. OTHER TIDBITS: Fort Bridger serviced the Oregon/California Trail, Mormon Trail, Pony Express Route, Transcontinental Railroad, and Lincoln Highway. It really was an important crossroads of the West! Mormon immigrants actually chased Jim Bridger out of his fort in 1853 because he was illegally selling alcohol and ammunition to the local Native Americans! It turns out that Brigham Young, in addition to being a teetotaller, was also a federal Indian agent! This was just as well, because many westward-bound emigrants had high hopes for Fort Bridger and had arrived to find only two crude log cabins! In 1857, the US Army took over the Fort, which the Mormons promptly burned, as part of the Utah War. The Army then rebuilt and controlled the fort off and on through the Civil War until 1933 when it was made a state historical landmark! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| How do I find it? | Listed Directions: 37001 Interstate 80 Business Fort Bridger, WY 82933 Annotations: From Casper: ~297mi (478km) — 5hrs |
| When should I go? | The park is open daily from 8:00 AM until dark, April 1 through October 31, and is closed all winter. If you want to go into the museum, that’s open daily from 8:30 AM until 5:00 PM, May 1 through September 30, and weekends from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM in April and October! |
