Family reunion at the Fort

FORT BRIDGER - Jeff Gearino joined The Historic Trails wagon train as it pulled into Fort Bridger early Saturday morning. Relatives and descendants of mountain men Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez arrived at the same time for a family reunion at the fort.

Wagon train participants broke camp early this morning and departed today for the 2l-mile trek from Fort Bridger to Cumberland Flats in southwestern Wyoming. The train is expected to arrive near Kemmerer sometime Tuesday, train officials said.

Established by Bridger and Vasquez in 1843 as an emigrant supply stop along the Oregon Trail, the fort was obtained by the Mormons in the early l850s and then became a military outpost in 1858. Historians agree that the construction of Fort Bridger marked the transition between the fur trade era and the period ofemigration and settlement.

Saturday evening, some 60 descendants and relatives of the two famous mountain gathered around the train's evening campfire to swap stories, tales and share the history of Bridger and Vasquez.

Sunday, descendants and visitors wandered along the wooden boardwalks at the fort, viewing the numerous items on dispJay which belonged to the two mountain men. Artifacts included Bridger's .40 caliber rifle, his bible and eyeglasses, and several items belonging to Bridger's daughter, Virginia Bridger Hahn.

Ray Tinkey, a wrangler and mule handler for an authentic freight wagon from Aurora, Ore. which departed Independence, Mo. May 12, said several wagons pulled out of the Historic Trails wagon train after joining the train in Nebraska. "We're down to just five wagons now," Tinkey said.