A day at Fort Bridger - 8.12.10

Fort Bridger was first set up as a trading post/store by mountain man, trapper, explorer, Oregon Trail guide, and finally store co-owner - Jim Bridger.  Later it was occupied and run by the Mormons fleeing east to west and then by the US military.

There was plenty of running,walking, and exploring to be done.  4 hours worth of it. Most buildings on the property are furnished and complete inside and out.  We saw the old store with it’s goods -

These women's shoes up on the shelf were quite a fascination for everyone.  How on earth did their feet squeeze into them?!?  I really hope they had smaller feet back then!

There was also the schoolhouse, icehouse, laundry house, stables....



...officers quarters, farm house, etc, etc.

There was also a cool museum where, among other things, we watched short kid’s movies about the Oregon/Mormon/California Trails and the Pony Express.  BTW, the Pony Express and all those trails ran the same route for most of the way west, and then split in different directions somewhere here in WY.  We also learned that even after the pioneers stopped heading west in droves via horse and wagon the trail continued to get plenty of use by stage coaches and such.

Here are Inventor and Analyzer at the museum recreating the Mormon movement west, complete with tired and struggling faces.  Or is it frustration with the photographer?!



The grounds also include a recreation of the original fort built by Jim Bridger -



Ooooooooo! All these tools! What can I get my hands on first?!





Labra heading to his proper place under the wagon, he must have been trying to make the photo as historically accurate as possible :-)
BTW, did you know they made specially designed wagons (narrower, higher in the back and front, etc.) for the pioneers heading west? Well, now you do.  The technical name would be a prairie schooner.





Hey look! I finally got in a picture!  Talk about historical.

I have to tell you, the kids aren’t the only ones gettin’ and education here!  But that’s the point, learning never ever stops.  And shouldn’t.  Guess one just has to figure out how to live so one can keep learning.

After a pleasant late lunch in the RV we decided to head back to Little America to camp after all, as like I said before, our plans changed.  Our next stop was not going to be Fossil Butte, yet, but a free campsite on the Green River that sits in between Fossil Butte and our now new destination, an old mining town and the *actual* Oregon Trail.

The next day was spent lingering around Little A taking advantage of having plenty of water.  We took long showers, washed fruits and veggies, prepared some food, and used the food processor and washed it.  I don’t like to use too many appliances when our water supply is limited since washing them uses up more water then I usually have to spare.  Of course, the Blendtec gets used daily, but that’s taken into account already.

As evening approached, with still many hours of daylight available, we headed back east and then north to Slate Creek campground on the Green River, not far from where the pioneers forded said river.

This sign greeted us at the campground.  We particularly liked number 3!

There's the green river, again.  It was much fuller and scarier when the pioneers forded it though.  It's calm now thanks to a dam just north of here.