The Wagner Perspective
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.
Fort Bridger State Historic SiteBox 35
Fort Bridger, WY 82601
Tel: 307-782-3842
