Of Jim Bridger, Shakespeare and Laramie Peak

Jim Bridger was, by definition, illiterate.  He went through his entire life unable to read and write. The man who discovered or co-discovered south pass in1823, and was the first white man to view the Great Salt Lake in 1824. Yet his fame rests as much, or more, in his famous story telling and his ability as a guide than it does in his great discoveries.

Despite the fact he was uneducated he loved the works of Shakespeare, who he liked to quote, often at great length. He once traded a, $125.00 yoke of oxen for copies of Shakespeare’s books. Later he was renowned in the west for paying a young man, the then princely sum of $40.00 a month, to read Shakespeare to him.

Bridger was fond of telling his listeners that he came to Wyoming when Laramie Peak was but a hole in the ground. Thought I would end this post with a photo of Laramie Peak. The Peak, as us locals call it, is nearby, I see it every day, not old enough to have seen it when it was a hole in the ground like ol' Gabe though.

Sunset Over Laramie Peak -Photo From Six miles North of Town