Digging Up the Past

Digging Up the Past. . Beginning as a Wyoming Centennial project in 1990, archaeologists from Western Wyoming College have been working to uncover the physical remains of 19th century life at Fort Bridger. As the fort evolved over time, from an emigrant supply station, to an outpost of Mormon settlement, to a major military post, to a settled agricultural community, the needs of those who lived at the fort changed. , As a result, the physical layout of the post was constantly being altered as buildings were added, modified, torn down, or moved. Architectural remnants from these successive occupations have been uncovered and stabilized at the archaeological site just south of the museum - the building directly in front of you. , Architectural Evolution at This Excavation , . A log trading post, run by famous mountain man Jim Bridger and his partner Louis Vasquez, stood on this site from 1843-1853. , . During the Mormon occupation, the trading post was enclosed by a massive cobblestone wall, completed in 1857. , . The 1867 photo above captures the deteriorating Mormon Wall and the earliest structures built by the army. Soldiers pose in front of the commissary building, which you can see today as the middle building in front of you. , . The other buildings inside the Mormon Wall and the remains of the wall itself were eventually removed by the army to make room for the 1880 barracks, which presently houses the museum.