Throughout the mid-1800s, Fort Bridger was a welcome stopping point for passing fur trappers and adventurers.
But like most early Western forts, historians today are not sure where Fort Bridger - the earliest Fort Bridger - really was. The remaining evidence at Fort Bridger dates to a later occupation when Mormon settlers moved into the area and built a new fort."Until now we haven't known where Bridger's 1840s trading post actually was," said Linda Byers, manager of the Fort Bridger State Historic Site in extreme southwest Wyoming. "But we think we found the trapper occupation covered over by the Mormon occupation."
Archaeologists from Western Wyoming College have been excavating within a square stone enclosure, called the Mormon Wall, looking for any evidence of the earlier structure.
"So many visitors ask where the original fort is and we haven't been able to tell them," Byers said. "Now, I think we can."
Fort Bridger has a long and storied history. Bridger may have first built the outpost to capitalize on the fur trade, but he also found it ideally situated for the seemingly endless trains of immigrants bound for Salt Lake, Oregon and California.
In the 1850s, Brigham Young sent Mormon settlers to colonize the area, and the church eventually purchased the fort from Bridger. The settlers then built a more sturdy fort enclosed by a 100-foot square stone wall 15 feet high and five feet wide at the base.
They also built a stock corral of identical stone construction that was 100 feet by 80 feet and stood 8 feet high.
In 1857, Johnston's Army came through Wyoming en route to put down a rumored Mormon rebellion. When they got to Fort Bridger, they found it burned and deserted, along with nearby Fort Supply.
The army camped at Fort Bridger and utilized the rock walls as storage areas. The following year the army declared it a military outpost and began its own building projects.
Through it all, the location of Bridger's original fort was lost.
Archaeologists digging through the Mormon occupation area have now discovered an occupation level beneath an ash layer Byers says is a hard-packed dirt floor.
In the ashes they found several beads, brass tacks, musket balls, lead and other trapper-era artifacts, prompting some to now speculate the Mormons built their fort over the very top of Bridger's original fort.
Researchers are looking into the possibility of restoring the Mormon Wall.
Research is being funded by state and federal grants, as well as a donation from George and Phila Caldwell of Santa Monica, Calif. George Caldwell is a descendant of one of the soldiers in Johnston's Army. Local schoolchildren also raised $5,000 towards the project.
Excavations began July 16 and were to conclude Thursday.