Jim Bridger Jim Bridger A trail guide, a fur tracker and hunter and a fur trader. Jim Bridger may have been one of the best outdoorsmen of all times. James Bridger was born on March 17, 1804. In 1812 Jim's parents moved to the vicinity of St. Louis. He was orphaned at age 12 and became a blacksmiths apprentice. In 1822, attracted by an ad in the Missouri Republican, 18 year old Jim, joined Gen. William H. Ashley's fur tracking expedition to the head waters of Missouri. In 1824 while searching for fur in the Rockey Mountains, Jim, allegedly became the first person to see the Great Salt Lake. Later on, he and a fr