August 5, 2010 - Day 4 Part 4
Old Fort Bridger
As
I walked toward the old fort I got a feeling of how the vanguard wagon
train must have felt when the first Mormons came west in 1847 100 years
before I was born.
Linda got a shot of the wall made of poles held together with pegged boards from the inside. The Mormons bought the original fort from Jim Bridger then set fire to it in 1857 to keep the invading U.S. Army from using any facilities here.
Here was another Conastoga wagon. It wasn't the typical wagon used by the pioneers on the Mormon trail. They typically used a much smaller wagon which was easier to get over the Wasatch mountains to the west.
As we walked through the gate we got a view of the replica trading post.
Here's a closer view. The corral for the horses was around back. The blacksmith shop is on the far end.
Here's a row of leftover army gear from the old days. Notice the leaf springs to absorb shock.
And these must be leftovers from someone's supper.
Linda asked me to stand here while she got this closeup of the stick and mud chimney.
Another view of the trading post with the door to the blacksmith shop on the left.
Here's the inside of the blacksmith shop. Keep in mind that iron was a very scarce commodity in the old west. Whatever items of iron were had needed to be repaired if possible. Horses and oxen had to be re-shod, etc. If there was any scrap iron it was reused. By the way, notice the authentic sod roof. I guess they didn't have mowers.
As we left the replica of the old fort we came back to the rear of the museum where archaeologists have uncovered the foundation of the original fort.
Here, they've uncovered some old iron implements that must have been buried when the place was burned prior to the 1857 Utah war.
Plaques told how they uncovered this original rock wall that was placed here after the Mormons purchased the place. A layer of ash was also uncovered showing the remnents of when they burned the place not long after they purchased it.
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