Bridger's Stockade

Bridger's Stockade. . These log buildings and corrals are a reconstruction of the trading post operated by mountain men Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez in 1846. The post was originally built in 1843 when the fur trade was rapidly dying due to a change in Eastern fashions and depletion of beaver from Rocky Mountain streams. The establishment of this trading post, known as Fort Bridger, marked the end of the era of free roaming trappers and the beginning of the westward movement of civilization. Thousands of emigrants stopped here for supplies, smith-work, or fresh animals on their way west to find land, gold, religious freedom, or a fresh start in a new land. , Jim Bridger's original fort consisted of two pole stockades. One measured 100' x 100' and contained two log cabins at right angles to one another. Each cabin was divided into two rooms. The proprietors and their families split one cabin and the other housed the blacksmith/carpenter shop and the trade room. The other enclosure measured 100' x 80' and was used to corral the livestock at night to guard them against theft. , Fort Bridger was briefly occupied by the Mormons in the early 1850's. This reconstruction was based on diary accounts and made possible by a donation by former local resident and his wife, George V. and Phila Caldwell. It was built during 1985-6 and, according to archaelogical (sic) evidence, sits about 60 yard northwest of the original.