JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau | Posted: Thursday, August 7, 2008 12:00 am
FORT BRIDGER - Famed in his lifetime as a storybook mountain man, Jim Bridger has finally been memorialized in bronze at the fort that bears his name.
An eight-and-a-half foot statue of Wyoming's quintessential mountain man will now greet visitors entering the Fort Bridger Historical Site, thanks to a five-year effort by Lander sculptor David Clark and the Fort Bridger Historical Association.
Bridger left a lasting legacy, and his name, on southwest Wyoming's Bridger Valley.
The gleaming bronze statue was placed at the Fort Bridger State Historical Site in Uinta County on Wednesday, in preparation for the formal dedication ceremony and unveiling Friday, Clark said.
Clark was commissioned by the association in 2004 to cast the bronze statue of the famed explorer for placement at the park's entrance. The association raised approximately $50,000 through private and corporate donations to pay for the sculpture.
"I think it turned out great … the community really embraced the effort," Clark said. "This was the result of a lot of really hard work on the association's part."
Officials said the statue will fit in nicely with the fort's historic setting, which includes Bridger's Post, the military guardhouse, a museum, parade ground and numerous residences, among other features.
The statue was lifted and bolted onto a base that includes cobblestones and river rocks from the nearby Black's Fork of the Green River.
Clark, a 1977 graduate of Green River High School, said he worked with Fort Bridger historian Martin Lammers and Western Wyoming College professor Dudley Gardner to ensure the sculpture's costume and equipment were historically correct.
He said the bronze statue was cast over an approximately four month period this spring at the Eagle Bronze foundry in Lander.
Heartfelt project
Clark said there was a "real sentimental aspect" to his involvement in the project.
"I grew up spending a lot of time going to Fort Bridger with my folks when I was a kid and the area is near and dear to my heart … so honestly, this is kind of a heartfelt thing and it's really nice for me," he said.
"The historical association and the community elected to really step up to the challenge of fund raising and in a small community like the Bridger Valley, that's a real commitment," he said.
Fort Bridger is also the site of the annual Fort Bridger Mountain Man Rendezvous, held each Labor Day weekend. The site is located about 25 miles east of Evanston and about three miles south of Interstate 80.
Work on the project began in conjunction with the state's celebration in 2004 of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bridger with a variety of statewide activities, including a huge celebration at the fort.
The 48-year-old Clark, the winner of several international and national competitions, casts most of his work at his studio in Lander.
Clark completed a similar, nine-foot bronze statue of Maj. John Wesley Powell to rave reviews for his hometown city of Green River in 2003.
Powell led the first expedition of white men down the Green River and through the Grand Canyon in 1869. The impressive sculpture stands on the city's main avenue at the entrance to the Sweetwater County Museum.
Bridger received another honor this summer when he was named one of the four 2008 inductees into the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming's Outdoor Hall of Fame.
The hall recognizes individuals who have made a significant lasting contribution towards conserving the state's wildlife heritage. Bridger will be inducted into the hall Sept. 12 in a ceremony in Casper as part of the Wyoming Hunting and Fishing Heritage Expo.
Admission will be free to the historic site Friday for the statue dedication. The fort opens at 8:30 a.m. and the statue dedication will begin at 6 p.m.
Gardner will be the ceremony's featured keynote speaker. Officials said a variety of mountain man and other activities will be offered during the day.
Southwest Wyoming Bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearinotribcsp.com.
Last we knew: In 2004, the Fort Bridger Historical Association commissioned Lander sculptor David Clark to cast a bronze statute of famed mountain man Jim Bridger.
The latest: Clark's nearly 9-foot tall statute was finished this summer at a Lander foundry in preparation for installation at the Fort Bridger State Historical Site.
What's next: The statute will be unveiled and dedicated Friday evening during a ceremony at Fort Bridger.]]->
By all accounts, Jim Bridger was probably the most famous, and adept, mountain man in history.
He spoke English, French and Spanish. He was the chief of five Indian tribes and spoke six Indian tongues. He discovered the Great Salt Lake in 1824, South Pass in 1827, and passed through Yellowstone in 1830, some 40 years before it was officially discovered.
He also guided more wagon trains than all the other scouts put together along the Oregon Trail. He could claim the titles of beaver trapper, fur trader, guide, merchant, Indian interpreter and army officer during his lifetime.
Bridger was born in 1804 in Virginia, according to historical records. His Wyoming exploits began at the age of 17 as the youngest member of General William H. Ashley's Upper Missouri River expedition in 1822.
After working for Ashley, Bridger began trapping in the Rocky Mountains with various companies and partnerships.
After the beaver market softened in 1841, Bridger and partner Louis Vasquez established a trading post and emigrant supply stop on the Black's Fork of the Green River in 1843, later named Fort Bridger.
Bridger discovered an alternate route for the Oregon Trail in 1850, named Bridger Pass. The route was eventually used for the overland mail, the Union Pacific Railroad and later for Interstate 80.
Bridger also blazed the Bridger Trail and served as an army scout during the Powder River Expedition (also known as Red Cloud's War).
Bridger died in 1881 on a Missouri farm at the age of 77. At the time, he was one of the last living mountain men in the country.]]->