August 5, 2010 - Day 4 Part 3
Ft. Bridger Historic Site & Museum
I
had always wanted to see the site where historic Fort Bridger
was. I didn't know if there would still be buildings there since
the Utah War. There were lots of them, all built after the war in
1857.
As we paid the modest entry fee and walked through the gate, the first thing we spotted was this old original buckboard, yesteryear's version of the pickup truck.
The buildings to the right of the entrance were built and occupied by those who purchased the place after the U.S. Army abandoned the fort.
I'm not sure I'd trust this bear trap.
There were many stops along the Pony Express route. This was one of them.
These beautiful, old carriages were well preserved.
This is the 1800s version of a semi-truck. Check the size of the wheels.
The plaque on the side of this wagon says it made the trip west in the 1860s and was donated to the park in honor of the pioneer family who donated it.
Across the lawn was this museum. The guide was dressed in a period costume.
On the right of the pot-bellied stove was a buffalo Indian robe.
At the rear of the store was this display of old pistols adn ammunition. Shown here, according to the labels, are an 1851 .36 cal. Colt Navy revolver, an 1875 Colt .41 cal. double action revolver, and a .45 cal. "British Bulldog."
There was also a display of old top hats.
Linda asked me to sit amongst these Quaking Aspens for a pose.
There was a neat little stream flowing down amongst them.
This "new" guardhouse, circa 1888, replaced an older one we saw later.
We walked down this path toward the site of the original 1840s log fort.
At the site, there was a museum with lots of artifacts including this diarama of the old fort.
There was a display of Civil War muskets that had been converted from mussle loaders to breach loaders.
There was also this small artillery piece.
One of the more interesting articles was this Hotchkiss Mountain Gun.
It was designed to be carried mounted on the back of a pack animal.
But not all displays at the fort were about the men's chores. There were women who worked for the army too.
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