- Bridger Trail
The Bridger Trail was an overland route connecting the
Oregon Trail to the gold fields ofMontana . Gold was discovered inVirginia City, Montana in 1863, prompting settlers and prospectors to find a trail to travel from centralWyoming to Montana. In 1863, John Bozeman and John Jacobs scouted theBozeman Trail , which was a direct route to the Montana gold fields through thePowder River Country . At the time the region was controlled by theSioux ,Cheyenne andArapaho , who stepped up their raids in response to the stream of settlers along the trail.In 1864 the commandant of
Fort Laramie , Colonel William O. Collins, concerned about the hostilities along the Bozeman Trail, askedJim Bridger to lead a party of settlers fromDenver on a new route to the mines through theBig Horn Basin along the western edge of theBig Horn Mountains . In 1859, Bridger had guided a topographical expedition through the area, and knew the region well [http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/btrail/index.html Wyoming Division of State Parks and Cultural Resources, The Bridger Trail] ] . In all, 10 wagon trains made the trip in spring and summer of 1864, two of them guided personally by Bridger. The following year, hostilities along the Bozeman Trail had escalated to the point whereMajor General Grenville M. Dodge orderedBrigadier General Patrick E. Connor to lead the firstPowder River Expedition to try to end the raids along the trail. Connor chose Bridger as one of his guides, and Bridger spent the next few years guiding various military excursions into thePowder River Country and never again lead settlers along the Bridger Trail.Route
The route left the Oregon Trail at Red Buttes, near
Fort Caspar in central Wyoming, and headed in a northwestern direction. The trail crossed Badwater Creek near present dayLysite, Wyoming , and followed Bridger Creek into the Bridger Mountains located just to the west of the southern end of theBig Horn Mountains . After cresting the range, the trail lead down along the Kirby Creek drainage to where it meets theBig Horn River near the current town of Lucerne. From there, the trail turns north and follows the Big Horn River. At the mouth of theNowood Creek the trail turned northeast and headed toward theGreybull River . After that crossing, the settlers forded theShoshone River near Powell and continued north into Montana. After traveling through Bridger Canyon, the trail met the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River and followed it downstream past the present day town ofBridger, Montana , finally joining with theBozeman Trail at Rock Creek. The two trails continued together west across Montana to the Virginia City gold mines. The trip could be made in as little as 34 days, though most of the wagon trains took some time to prospect the streams along the route.Remnants
Few remnants of the trail remain today. Some visible tracks can be seen in Fremont County and Hot Springs, County. There are two sets of remaining carvings of settlers names: one on a sandstone cliff face near Bridger Creek, and the other at Signature Rock between
Byron, Wyoming andCowley, Wyoming .References
External links
* [http://www.milebymile.com/main/United_States/Wyoming/photo_23436.html Roadside Sign on US Highway 16]
* [http://wyoshpo.state.wy.us/btrail/interpretivesign.html Interpretive Sign on US Highway 20]
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