The Bridger Mountains are a short subrange of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

, approximately long, in central

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The range forms a bridge between the Owl Creek Mountains to the west and the southern end of the

Bighorn Mountains The Bighorn Mountains ( cro, Basawaxaawúua, lit=our mountains or cro, Iisaxpúatahchee Isawaxaawúua, label=none, lit=bighorn sheep's mountains) are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a ...

to the east. The Wind River passes through the gap between the range and the Owl Creek Mountains. Bridger Creek passes through the gap between the range and the Bighorns. The highest point in the range is Copper Mountain at . The range is named after

Jim Bridger James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...

, who pioneered the Bridger Trail through the mountains from southern Wyoming into the

Bighorn Basin The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the Bigho ...

in 1864. Bates Creek in the eastern part of the range is the location of Bates Battlefield, a significant battle on July 4, 1874, in which the U.S. Army soldiers from Camp Brown (Today's Fort Washakie) with 167 Shoshone scouts attacked the village of Chief Black Coal (Northern Arapaho), killing at least 34 Northern Arapahos.

Notes

Mountain ranges of Wyoming Landforms of Hot Springs County, Wyoming {{Wyoming-geo-stub

See also

Notes