JAMES BRIDGER is the first white man known to have seen Great Salt Lake in Utah.
Background
JAMES BRIDGER was born at Richmond, Va., Mar. 17, 1804. When Bridger was 12 his family moved to the vicinity of St. Louis, Mo. He established Fort Bridger, which served as a hostelry for pioneers migrating to Oregon. In 1868 he retired again to his farm near Kansas City, Mo., where he died July 17, 1881.
Education
He was apprenticed to a blacksmith at the age of 12.
Career
In 1822, he joined a fur-trapping expedition to the headwaters of the Missouri River. During the next 20 years, as an employee or partner in various fur companies, he journeyed constantly over the territory between Canada and the southern boundary of Colorado, and between the Missouri River and Idaho and Utah.
In 1853, he was expelled from this post by the Mormons, who wanted a monopoly of the emigrant business. He then retired but soon entered government service as a scout and guide. He had guided the Stansbury railroad survey party to Utah in 1849, and, in 1857-1858, he conducted A. S. Johnston's army on its Utah expedition. In 1865-1866, he was a guide for the Powder River expedition, and measured the distance on the Bozeman Trail.
In 1868 he retired again to his farm near Kansas City.