The Wagner Perspective

Fort Bridger grounds from the  commander's quarters.

Jim Bridger established Fort Bridger in 1843 as a fur trading post. It was composed of two double-log houses about 40 feet long that were joined by a pen for horses. The Mormon Pioneer Company reached the fort on July 7, 1847, and spent a day there but considered its prices too high.

Thomas Bullock commented, "several brethren go to make trades with the French & Indians, but few succeeded, as they could not obtain sufficient for their goods." Here the main Oregon-California Trail turned north toward Fort Hall, and the Mormon Trail/Hastings Cutoff continued west to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. The fort served as a Pony Express, Overland Stage and transcontinental telegraph station in the 1860s and was garrisoned by the U.S. Army between 1857 and 1890.

The fort has a museum/visitor center and a reconstruction of Bridger's log trading post.

More Mormon Pioneer NHT sites:

• Nauvoo National Historic District - Nauvoo, Illinois
• Montrose Landing - Montrose, Iowa
• Garden Grove - Garden Grove, Iowa
• Mount Pisgah - Thayer, Iowa
• Winter Quarters Complex - Omaha, Nebraska
• Murdock Site - Alda, Nebraska
• Sand Hill Ruts - Sutherland, Nebraska
• Ancient Bluff Ruins - Broadwater, Nebraska
• This is the Place Heritage Park - Salt Lake City, Utah