Bridger and Fitzpatrick were among
the first in the fur trade to recognize that the lucrative days of
the beaver trade were numbered.
Fitzpatrick became a guide for
expeditions, and Bridger built a trading post on Black's Fork of
the Green River, Wyoming, in territory that was still owned
and controlled by Mexico.
The rivers of western Wyoming,
alive with mountain trout, were fed by the deep snows of the Uintah
range. Wild game was plentiful on the surrounding plains.
Just west of Black's Fort, the Oregon Trail was about to force
emigrants to make a momentous decision. The north fork of the
road lead to Oregon's fabled Willamette Valley, the South fork
turned to the gold fields of California.
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