Montana Medicine Show: Jim Bridger

Welcome to the Montana Medicine Show. I'm Derrick strong. Jim Bridger was the Daniel Boone of the Rocky Mountains the West's foremost mountain man scout and guide from the 1820s to the 1860s. Major General Grenville Dodge described him is over six feet tall spare straight as an arrow agile raw boned of powerful frame hospitable generous and always trusted and respected. Bridger on the Rocky Mountains from the headwaters of the Missouri River to the Rio Grande. He was among the first white men to see the great salt lake and the natural wonders of what would become Yellowstone National Park. He knew Kit Carson John Fremont Brigham Young and John Bozeman to historian Bernard DeVoto Bridger was an atlas of the West. He could go virtually anywhere without a map or compass. As William Brackett put it the whole West and all the passes and labyrinths of the Rocky Mountains were mapped out in his mind. After the Civil War a nearly blind Jim Bridger returned to his farm near Kansas City and lived there until his death in

1881. Here's how biographer Stanley Vestal summed up Bridger's colorful life. His skill and knowledge opened the way for the trappers the missionaries the soldiers the railroad men the Cowboys and the settlers. If ever a man earned that title Jim Bridger may be called a pioneer. Bridger is remembered in many Montana place names including the town of Bridger the Bridger mountains and the Bridger bowls ski area. From K GLT studios. I'm Derrick strong. Of Montana medicine shows supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. A private corporation funded by the American people.