The Bridger Trail, also known as the Bridger Road and Bridger Immigrant Road, was an overland route connecting the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

to the gold fields of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. Gold was discovered in

Virginia City, Montana Virginia City is a town in and the county seat of Madison County, Montana, United States. Virginia City was the territorial capital of Montana from 1865 to 1875. In 1961 the town and the surrounding area were designated a National Historic Landm ...

in 1863, prompting settlers and prospectors to find a trail to travel from central

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

to Montana. In 1863, John Bozeman and John Jacobs scouted the

Bozeman Trail The Bozeman Trail was an overland route in the Western United States, connecting the gold rush territory of southern Montana to the Oregon Trail in eastern Wyoming. Its important period was from 1863 to 1868. While the major part of the route us ...

, which was a direct route to the Montana gold fields through the

Powder River Country The Powder River Country is the Powder River Basin area of the Great Plains in northeastern Wyoming, United States. The area is loosely defined as that between the Bighorn Mountains and the Black Hills, in the upper drainage areas of the Powde ...

. At the time the region was controlled by the

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

and

Arapaho The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...

, who stepped up their raids in response to the stream of settlers along the trail. In 1864 the commandant of

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (; founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte Rivers. They joi ...

, Colonel William O. Collins, concerned about the hostilities along the Bozeman Trail, asked

Jim Bridger James Felix Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, Animal trapping, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was ...

to lead a party of settlers from

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

on a new route to the mines through the

Big Horn Basin The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the B ...

along the western edge of the Big Horn Mountains. In 1859, Bridger had guided a topographical expedition through the area, and knew the region well.Wyoming Division of State Parks and Cultural Resources, The Bridger Trail
/ref> The road ran approximately , paralleling the Bozeman Trail and running to the west of the

Bighorn Mountains The Bighorn Mountains ( or ) are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately northward on the Great Plains. They are separa ...

in the lands of the

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

and

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

people. with In all, 10 wagon trains made the trip in spring and summer of 1864, two of them guided personally by Bridger. The following year, hostilities along the Bozeman Trail had escalated to the point where Major General Grenville M. Dodge ordered Brigadier General Patrick E. Connor to lead the first Powder River Expedition to try to end the raids along the trail. Connor chose Bridger as one of his guides, and Bridger spent the next few years guiding various military excursions into the

and never again led settlers along the Bridger Trail.

Route

The route left the Oregon Trail at Red Buttes, near Fort Caspar in central Wyoming, and headed in a northwestern direction. The trail crossed Badwater Creek near present-day

Lysite, Wyoming Lysite (also Lysaght) is an unincorporated community in northeastern Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. It lies along local roads northeast of the city of Lander, the county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of govern ...

, and followed Bridger Creek into the Bridger Mountains located just to the west of the southern end of the

. After cresting the range, the trail led down along the Kirby Creek drainage to where it meets the Bighorn River near the current town of

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. From there, the trail turned north and follows the Bighorn River. At the mouth of the Nowood River the trail turned northeast and headed toward the Greybull River. After that crossing, the settlers forded the Shoshone River near Powell and continued north into Montana. After traveling through Bridger Canyon, the trail met the Clark's Fork Yellowstone River and followed it downstream past the present day town of Bridger, Montana, finally joining the

at its confluence with Rock Creek, about 10 miles south of present-day Laurel, Montana. The two trails continued together west across Montana to the Virginia City gold mines. The trip could be made in as little as 34 days, though most of the wagon trains took some time to prospect the streams along the route. As compared to the Bozeman Trail, the Bridger Trail was much less suited for wagon trains as grazing and water along the route were limited. However, in 1864, the trail is credited with handling 25% of the total growth in Virginia City's population. At least ten wagon trains used the trail in 1864, the largest being composed of 129 wagons and carrying some 350 to 450 people.

Remnants

Few remnants of the trail remain today. Some visible tracks can be seen in Fremont County and Hot Springs, County. There are two sets of remaining carvings of settlers names: one on a sandstone cliff face near Bridger Creek, and the other at Signature Rock between Byron, Wyoming and

Cowley, Wyoming Cowley is a town in Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 762 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. Demographics 2010 census As of the cens ...

. The trail was not well-defined in most places, but used a single well-defined path at stream crossings and other places where the terrain limits the choice of route, where the most distinct traces survive. Two portions of the Bridger Road are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The Dry Creek crossing at is located in Big Horn County near U.S. Route 14/ 16/ 20 at Bridger Butte. The Waltman crossing at is in Natrona County where the Bridger Road crosses U.S. 20/ U.S. Route 26 near Sand Draw and Waltman Draw. The sites encompass each. with The Dry Creek Crossing and Waltman Crossing site were placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 17, 1975.

References

External links

Roadside Sign on US Highway 16

Bridger Road - Dry Creek Crossing
at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
Bridger Road - Waltham Crossing
at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office {{NRHP in Natrona County, Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Big Horn County, Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Natrona County, Wyoming Native American trails in the United States Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming Trails and roads in the American Old West Historic trails and roads in Wyoming Historic trails and roads in Montana Gold rush trails and roads History of the Rocky Mountains Pre-statehood history of Wyoming Pre-statehood history of Montana Native American history of Wyoming Native American history of Montana