Fort Bridger, Wyoming

Officers' quarters
On the way back from a business trip yesterday, I and my family stopped at Fort Bridger in Wyoming. The site was opened by mountain man Jim Bridger in 1843. He and a partner supplied the pioneers heading west. Bridger was driven out by the Mormons in 1853. They fortified his camp with a formidable stone wall and occupied the outpost for their defense against the US Army's Utah Expedition in 1857. The Mormon forces burned all the buildings before their retreat from the approaching government troops. After things settled down with the Mormons that autumn, the US Army took control of the site and rebuilt the outpost's buildings. The troops maintained Fort Bridger to protect pioneers from Indian raids and bandits. In November 1890 it was abandoned by the Army and it entered private hands. In 1933 it was acquired by the state of Wyoming. It was a great place to stop for our picnic lunch and it's a interesting historic site.

Ice house

Pistols from the general store
Fur trade exhibit in the museum
A bear trap

A scale model of the fort donated to the historic site in 1955. (It seems just the right size for 28mm models.)


Diorama!

Gun collection in the museum

The manly interior design of the fort's commanding officer

Check out these wild rugs: buffalo and mountain lion.

I enjoyed the historic site's collection of post-Civil War military stuff, but there was also plenty to entertain the girls. As a cookbook author, my wife was intrigued by the 19th century kitchen and dining room displays. There was plenty to entertain the kids, and the buildings and expansive grounds were attractive. My wife suggested they must host wedding receptions there. I don't know about that, but there is a yearly living history event with mountain men in period garb shooting muzzle-loaded weapons.

Fort Bridger is in the far south western corner of Wyoming, just off route 80. There doesn't seem to be a website for the historic site, but here's the phone number if you want to visit: 307-782-3842.