Two
principal ways there were to the valley of the Bear River, up which the
California Trail marched almost to Fort Hall on the Snake. One way went
by Fort Bridger, where old Jim had set up a tradÂing station on Black's
Fork of the Green River in the winter of '43. "It promises fairly," he
wrote that year, "They (the emigrants) in coming out are generally well supplied with money, but by the time they get here are in want of all kinds of supplies."
If
you went by way of Fort Bridger, you could refit there for the drive to
Bear River valley and the wells of the Humboldt. Or at Bridger, you
might change your mind and decide to head for Salt Lake City. Thence
you might take Hastings' road to the Humboldt, or follow the Spanish
Trail to Los Angeles.
To get to Fort Bridger from Pacific Springs, you had to ford the Green River near the mouth of its tributary, the Big Sandy (above).
This
journey from South Pass to Green River was made through a barren, sandy
waste. In summer, the heat and dust were almost too much after all that
you had been through.
Once
across the ford, the road crossed over to Black's Fork. Thirty-seven
miles further you came to a mountain stream, icy from the crests of the
Uintas and alive with trout. Beside it was Fort Bridger (below).
