"Well researched and well told, The Life and Times of Jim Bridger by Bill Markley gives us a vivid and insightful look at one of the giants of the American West. Markley covers new ground and has captured the man and his essence."

—Bob Boze Bell, executive editor, True West magazine

"When the tall, genial Virginian Jim Bridger ventured West as a 'green' teenager in the early years of the fur trade, no one predicted that he would become the legendary 'old man of the mountains.' Packing his life with enough adventure for at least ten mountain men, Bridger led beaver-trapping brigades, hunted buffalo, fought hostile Blackfeet, married a Shoshone woman, mapped trackless wilderness, guided the U.S. Army during Red Cloud's War, and more. Although illiterate, he spoke several European—and Indian—languages. Did Bridger really leave the grizzly-mauled Hugh Glass to die alone? Markley delves deep into his subject's extraordinary life. Wonderfully illustrated with period maps and artwork, this book is for all who love true tales of the raucous fur trading era of the early nineteenth century.

"Bridger once said, 'Sir, the grace of God won't carry a man through these prairies! It takes powder and ball.' And how."

—Nancy Plain, four-time Spur Award winner, past president of Western Writers of America

"Bill Markley has done it again with The Life and Times of Jim Bridger. The mythic mountain man comes to life in Markley's biography and by the end you will be ready to go West and discover for yourself the West of Jim Bridger."

—Stuart Rosebrook, editor-at-large, True West magazine

"Bill Markley has established an enviable reputation as a western biographer. His excellent new biography of Jim Bridger will only augment his status. Crisply written and carefully researched, this biography of the greatest of the mountain men will both captivate and inform readers for years to come."

—Paul Hutton, author of The Undiscovered Country

"Bill Markley's The Life and Times of Jim Bridger vividly captures the adventures of a legendary mountain man whose courage, ingenuity, and deep connection to the American West shaped a nation's frontier. From fur trapping to guiding emigrants, Bridger's story is a testament to resilience and cultural fluency, brought to life with meticulous research and engaging prose."

—Jon Nelson, Board Director for the Museum of the Fur Trade, Chadron, Nebraska; co-author of Crossing the Plains with Custer, co-author of Tools and Utensils of the Fur Trade; and editor of Gun Accessories & Hand Weapons of the Fur Trade and Ornaments & Art Supplies of the Fur Trade

"The Life and Times of Jim Bridger is the colorful saga of this bigger-than-life historic figure, placing the man within the larger context of the fur trade era, early exploration, westward migration, and the ensuing period of conflict with Native Americans. Bridger seemed to be everywhere at once, traveling this vast unexplored region, present at many key historic events. As his contemporaries wrote: 'Everything Bridger has seen, he recollects with entire precision, and in his wild life . . . he has traveled the whole country in many directions.' A notable feature of the book is a brief history of each tribe or historical figure as they are introduced. The author also probes enduring historical controversies, for example, was Jim Bridger the young man present when Hugh Glass was mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead?

"Among Bridger's most noted accomplishments were blazing the Bridger Trail, a safer route used by emigrants bound for the Montana gold fields, and pioneering the Overland Trail, the primary overland stage route from 1862 to 1869.

"As Jim Bridger aged, he bore witness to the settlement and 'taming' of the West. As early as 1857, Captain John Phelps observed Bridger standing alone on a high point of land observing the countryside. 'He was a perfect monarch of all he surveyed,' Phelps wrote, 'and never dreamed that his kingdom would ever be disturbed by emigration in his day—so remote was it from the United States.'

"Bridger died in 1881 at the age of 77 at his home in Westport, Missouri, far from his beloved West. In 1904, General Grenville Dodge had Bridger's remains reburied in Kansas City's Mount Washington Cemetery with a seven-foot monument. Dodge declared, 'So remarkable a man should not be lost to history and the country, and his work allowed to be forgotten.' With this fresh view, Bill Markley has brought Jim Bridger back to life in the pages of The Life and Times of Jim Bridger."

—Robert Rosenberg, Rosenberg Historical Consultants, Cheyenne, Wyoming