Jim Bridger

James Felix “Jim” Bridger was an early frontiersman in the American West.  Born in Richmond, Virginia, on 17 March 1804, two months before Lewis and Clark began their expedition, Bridger moved with his family to the St. Louis, Missouri, area in 1812.  Orphaned at an early age, in 1822 he joined fur trappers who set out to explore the upper Missouri River.  He roamed the western mountain regions for many years.  Some have said he was the first man of European descent to see the Great Salt Lake in 1824.  He is said to be one of the first non-indigenous men to see Yellowstone’s hot springs and geysers.  He established Fort Bridger, Wyoming, in 1843.  The U.S. military used him as a guide for many years, and he advised the Union Pacific Railroad on where to build their tracks.  He died on 17 July 1881, on his farm at New Santa Fe (also called Little Santa Fe) south of Kansas City, Missouri.  On December 10, 1904, his remains were moved to Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Missouri, under a memorial monument with the epitaph:

Celebrated as a hunter, trapper, fur trader and guide. Discovered Great Salt Lake 1824, the South Pass [1823]. Visited Yellowstone Lake and Geysers 1830. Founded Fort Bridger 1843. Opened Overland Route by Bridger’s Pass to Great Salt Lake. Was a guide for U. S. exploring expeditions, Albert Sidney Johnston’s army in 1857, and G. M. Dodge in U. P. surveys and Indian campaigns 1865-66.

Jim Bridger’s name has been given to Bridger Range (Montana), Bridger Peak (southern Wyoming), Bridger Pass (southern Wyoming), Bridger-Teton National Forest (western Wyoming), Bridger Canyon (Montana), and the town of Bridger, Montana.  Schools are named for him in Oregon, Utah, Montana, and Missouri.

Genealogy

The Bridger Family Association believes that Jim Bridger’s descent from Joseph Bridger is as follows:

• Joseph Bridger (1631-1686)/Hester Pitt
• Joseph Bridger Jr. (1654-1713)/Elizabeth Norsworthy
• Joseph Bridger III (1685-1751)/Agatha Wells
• James Bridger (1725-1782)/Susannah Sinclair
• James Allen Bridger (1772-1817)/Chloe Tyler
• James Felix “Jim” Bridger (1804-1881)

Published information about Jim Bridger’s wives and children is inconsistent.  According to some sources, Jim Bridger had three children — Mary Ann (1836-1848), Felix (1844-1876), and Josephine (1845-0000) — by his first wife, a Flathead Indian who died in 1846.  Mary Ann died at the age of 11.  Felix died without having any recorded children.  Josephine is said to have married her father’s friend and fellow frontiersman Jim Baker, with whom she may have had children.

Jim Bridger had one child, Virginia Bridger, born on July 4, 1849, by his second wife, a Ute Indian, who died during childbirth.  Virginia married her first husband Albert Wachsmann on February 5, 1864.  Albert and Virginia had one child, Louise Catherine Wachsmann.  Albert died in 1883, and Virginia married Frank Hahn in 1892.  Virginia died in Thermopolis, Wyoming, on March 7, 1933, and is buried in the Fort Bridger Cemetery.  Louise Catherine Wachsmann (1875-1907) married Edward J. Lightle and had two daughters, Louise Marie Lightle and Helen Elizabeth Lightle.

Jim Bridger had two children by his third wife, Mary (who died in 1858), the daughter of Shoshone Chief Washakie.  Daughter Mary Bridger was born on June 9, 1853.  She married Abraham Carroll, lived in Oklahoma, reportedly had six children, and died in 1922.  Son William was born in October 1857 and died in 1892.

Do you know of any other descendants of Jim Bridger?  If so, please contact us.