Jim Bridger: OPENING THE WEST, Vol. II of II

By Ronald V Rockwell

Previously published as, "Jim Bridger's West," by this author, this two-volume work provides the reader with not only the life's experiences of this famous mountain man, trapper, explorer, and scout; but also an extensive description of events in the West that directly impacted on his adventurous life. From the day young Jim embarked up the Missouri River from St. Louis in 1823 until his final return to his Missouri farm in 1869 the West had changed dramatically. Where earlier the fur traders had questioned if wagons could travel across the American continent and messages took many months, the intercontinental railroad and telegraph lines now spanned the continent. Volume I introduces the reader to early efforts by fur traders, men who were heroes to a young Jim Bridger. It further traces Bridger's early years as a trapper and explorer, introduces the men he came to know and work with, his native American wives and children, as well as famous US pioneers such as John Fremont, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, and Father Pierre De Smet. Further described are his efforts to establish a successful trading post at Fort Bridger and the early days at Fort Laramie on the Overland Trail including his interpreting for the Shoshones at the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1851. Volume II continues with Bridger becoming ever more engaged as a US Army scout on topographical explorations of the Yellowstone and the Great Salt Lake, the military efforts to secure the Overland Road from attacks by hostile Indians, the Powder River campaign, and the fight for the Montana Road(Bozeman Trail). Advanced in years and plagued with rheumatism he was at the scene of the Fetterman massacre of an entire army command of over eighty men, as well as army victories at the Hayfield and Wagon Box fights near Fort C F Smith and Fort Phil Kearny. In 1869 he retired to his Missouri farm and in 1881 died a peaceful death.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B08T6PBDNX
• ISBN13: 9798591559342
• Release Date: January 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.0"