Jim Baker (1818–1898) was a trapper, scout, guide and friend of Jim Bridger and Kit Carson. A colorful figure of the Old West, he was also one of General John C. Fremont’s favorite scouts.

Born in Belleville, Illinois, at age 21 he was recruited by Jim Bridger as a trapper for the American Fur Company, and on May 22, 1839, he left St. Louis with a large party heading for the annual fur trading rendezvous in the mountains. In August 1841, Jim Baker was involved in a bitter fight at the junction of Bitter Creek and the Snake River when 35 trappers faces a large band of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe tribesmen.

In 1855, Baker was hired as chief scout for General William S. Harney of Fort Laramie, and was part of the Federal Army sent to confront the Mormons moving westward. Baker was married numerous, each time to a Native American woman, including the daughters of a Cherokee chief and the Shoshone’s Chief Washakie.

Learn more about Jim Baker. 

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Jim Bridger’s Map

This hand-drawn version of mountain man Jim Bridger’s map depicts parts of what are now Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. It was drawn by Col. William Collins and is in the collection of the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming.

Learn more about Jim Bridger and other great Wyoming history.

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James Pierson Beckwourth (1798 -1866) was an African-American mountain man, fur trader and explorer. Beckwourth’s mother was an enslaved African-American and his father, Sir Jennings Beckwourth, was the slave owner who acknowledged the son they shared.

As a fur trapper, young Beckwourth lived with the Crow tribe for a number of years and is credited with the discovery of Beckwourth Pass through the Sierra Nevada Mountains between presentday Reno, Nevada and Portola, California during the California Gold Rush years. Thousands of settlers later followed this route to central California.

A book about Beckwourth’s life was published in 1856 as The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth: Mountaineer, Scout and Pioneer, and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians. Although originally considered little more than campfire lore, it has more recently been recognized as a valuable source of social history, especially for life among the Crow. However, not all of the biography’s details are reliable or accurate. During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Beckwourth was celebrated as an early African-American pioneer.

Learn more about the history of Jim Beckwourth and his ties to Wyoming.

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Alfred Jacob Miller (January 2, 1810 – June 26, 1874) was an American painter and sketcher best known for his paintings depicting the northwestern United States. His 1837 painting  titled  “Approaching Buffalo” depicts a Native American buffalo hunt.

“The hunters form for themselves a peculiar kind of a cap; it has two ears with a flap reaching to the shoulders. This is worn with a double object in view, one of which is to deceive the Buffalo in approaching – under such guise, the hunter is mistaken by the animal for a wolf, and is suffered to approach quite near. The mass of hair covering the forehead of the Buffalo obscures his sight and aids the trapper in his deception. In the sketch, a couple of Bulls are lying down near the swell of a rolling prairie. A trapper (in company with an Indian) is stealthily creeping along the rise – as the arrows of the latter make no noise, he is privileged to shoot first, the Trapper reserving his fire until the animals regain their feet, when he instantly ‘draws a bead,’ using his ramrod to steady his rifle. This mode of hunting is used only under certain circumstances; running being the favorite method, from its affording more excitement.”

A.J. Miller, extracted from The West of Alfred Jacob Miller (1837)

Learn more about the work of artist Alfred Jacob Miller. 

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Hugh Glass (1780–1833) was an American fur trapper and frontiersman noted for his exploits in the American West, including his legendary cross-country trek after being mauled by a grizzly bear.

Learn more about the legend of Hugh Glass. 

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Jim Bridger (James Felix Bridger) was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped in the Western United States during the decades of 1820-1850. He also helped mediate between native tribes and encroaching white settlers.

What is now known as Fort Bridger State Historic Site in Fort Bridger, Wyoming was first established by Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez in 1843 as an emigrant supply stop along the Oregon Trail. It was obtained by the Mormons in the early 1850s, and then became a military outpost in 1858. In 1933, the property was dedicated as a Wyoming Historical Landmark and Museum.

Learn more about the history of Jim Bridger.

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The Rocky Mountain Fur Company, originally known as Ashley’s Hundred, was organized in St. Louis, Missouri in 1822 by William Henry Ashley and Andrew Henry. Among the original employees were Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and Jedediah Smith.

Learn more about the history of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and the part it played in Wyoming history. 

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William Henry Ashley (1778-1838) was a United States congressman and fur trader who revolutionized the fur trade and hastened exploration of the American West when he introduced the rendezvous system as a substitute for traditional trading posts.

The Rocky Mountain Fur Company, originally known as Ashley’s Hundred, was organized in St. Louis, Missouri in 1822 by both Ashley and Andrew Henry. Among the company’s original employees were Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and Jedediah Smith.

Learn more about William Ashley and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. 

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Joseph Lafayette “Joe” Meek (1810 – 1875) was a trapper, law enforcement official and politician in Oregon Country (later Oregon Territory) of the United States. A pioneer involved in the fur trade before settling in the Tualatin Valley, Meek played a prominent role at the Champoeg Meetings of 1843 when he was elected as a sheriff. Later he served in the Provisional Legislature of Oregon before being selected as the United States Marshal for the Oregon Territory.

Learn more about Joseph Meek. 

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Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (1796 – 1878) was a French-born officer in the United States Army, as well as a fur trapper and explorer in the American West. He is noted for his expedition to the Oregon Country and the Great Basin, and in particular for trailblazing portions of the Oregon Trail.

Bonneville became famous through an account of his Western explorations written by writer Washington Irving.

Learn more about Benjamin Bonneville and his connection to Wyoming. 

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