HISTORICAL AND OTHERWISE 87 



General Ashley, of St. Louis, and William 

 Sublette, one of the great figures of the time. 

 Their head man was James Bridger, who almost 

 deserves a chapter by himself. I do not intend 

 to write a history of the American fur trade — ■ 

 others have done it better than I could — but 

 James Bridger is really the first white man who 

 discovered and explored the Yellowstone Park. 



Bridger was long known as the monumental liar 

 of the American West. At his death a friend 

 proposed as his epitaph: '^Here 'Lies' James 

 Bridger." And yet most of Bridger 's lies turned 

 out to be true or, at least, to have foundation in 

 fact. Before him Father De Smet, Warren Angus 

 of the American Fur Company, and others, had 

 touched the rim of the Park; but James Bridger 

 is the real discoverer of its wonders. 



Born in 1804, he was a celebrated character in 

 the Northwest before he was twenty, and his life 

 practically bridged the whole period till civiliza- 

 tion came; and after countless adventures, life 

 among wild men and wild things, he died peace- 

 fully in his bed, in Missouri, in 188L 



