Green River High School history students got a chance to handle a powder horn, muzzle-loading rifle bullets and bullet molds, beaver pelts, antlers, a beaver trap, and other period-authentic items during Aidan Brady's mountain man-fur trade presentation.
In presentations throughout the day for over 100 students attending the Green River High School's Wyoming History class, mountain men and the fur trade were the topics of a recent Sweetwater County Historical Museum program.
Aidan Brady, the museum's Public Engagement Coordinator, highlighted the importance of the mountain man and fur trade era in Wyoming and Sweetwater County history.
Every year, from 1825 to 1840, at different locations in Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho, mountain men, trappers, and Native Americans gathered at rendezvous to sell their beaver pelts, trade for supplies, and celebrate. The first rendezvous, in 1825, was staged on Henry's Fork, three miles northeast of Burntfork and about 40 miles southwest of Green River in what is now Sweetwater County.
The most famous mountain men included Kit Carson, John Colter, Jim Beckwourth, Jedediah Smith, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Joseph Walker, and Jim Bridger, who established the trading post named for him in what became Uinta County, Wyoming, in 1843, now a Wyoming state historic site. Bridger was among the greatest of American frontiersman, and at least a dozen major landmarks in the west now bear his name.
Educators, parents, and parent-teacher groups who are interested in learning more about museum programs for students Grades K - 12 are encouraged to contact Brady at (307) 872-6435 or via email at bradya@sweetwatercountywy.gov.
Reader Comments(0)