Jim Bridger's Rifle

[Steve Jajo]

In 1853, Louis Vasquez, a good friend and business partner of mountain man Jim Bridger had a .40 caliber half-stock rifle engraved "J.Bridger 1853" and presented it to Jim for reasons unknown. Perhaps it had something to do with their long business association or possibly it was due to the fact that 1853 was indeed a turning point in Jim Bridger's life. After Bridger's death, the rifle was held as part of a private Buffalo Bill collection. The gun was sold several times at auctions until it found its permanent home in the Museum of the Mountain Man in 1988.