(1804-1881) - An accomplished trapper, scout, and mountain man, Bridger was born on March 17, 1804 in Richmond, Virginia. At the age of 17, Bridger joined General William Ashley's Upper Missouri Expedition and was one of the first non-Indians to see the natural wonders of what would become Yellowstone Park. In 1824, he was the first white man to see the Great Salt Lake, which he believed to be an arm of the Pacific Ocean. Known by the nicknames of Old Gabe and Blanket Chief, Bridger became a partner with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1830 and established Fort Bridger on the Black's Fork of the Green River in Wyoming Territory in 1842. He then guided prospectors to the gold mines of Montana and laid out routes for the Central Overland Stage and the Pike's Peak Express Company. With his eyesight failing, Bridger returned to Missouri in 1867 where he died on his farm near Kansas City on July 17, 1881.