 And he was an explorer, so he just traveled all over the West and really broke new ground and found new trails. And so he's very much known for that. Gilchrist says Jim Bridger is a name familiar to many, a man who trapped for years in the West and attended most of the mountain man rendezvous from 1825 to 1840. Jim Bridger is known just for his longevity. The first year he came up, he was the youngest guy on the battalion at 19 years old.