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Show • THE JORDAN JOURNAL, MIDVALE, UTAH • can ausen? THROUGH A WOMAN'S EYES • By JEA!t NEWTON Beauty Always Within Reach ol Small Town (@). by the Boll Syndicate. Inc.) How to Avoid Saying What We Do Not Want to Say 4 "Jim Bridger Lies," Long a Tradition, Disproved by History. By ELMO SCOTT WATSON OURISTS who vh>it the Yellowstone National park this summer and see for the first time the wonders of that region no doubt will al&o make the acquaintance of ont> of the favm·i[e traditions ot the West-that of an American· otherwise l\:lunchuusen, lluron known us Ohl Jiul Bridger; and the tradition of "Jim Bridger's Lies." For the fame uf this frontlersmu.n seems to be Inextricably bound up with that of America's \Vonderlimd and the result Is a most amazing combination of myth, misinformation and sheer bunk. Perhaps the survival of the proverbial western fondness for "stutnng tbe tenderfoot" or "keeping the pilgrim guessing" has somethln;l' to do with keeping alive this tradition. Perhaps our American failing for accepting "rubber stamp" phrases and incorporating them Into our national platform of "popular beliefs" has as much to do with it. At any rate, most of us seem willing to accept the ter;oJs "American ::\funchnusen," "biggest liar on earth" and "discoverer of the Yellowstone" as syuo.p;rmous for the name James Bridger without realltlng that we are thereby doing a grave injustice to one of the bravest and most remarkable frontiersmen who ever trod American soil. Book Debunks Bridger Myths Fortunately, however, ::;orne effort Is being made to debunk the Bridger myth and to give tar<ly justice to the memory of this truly great J•ionPer. Happily for his future fame a llistorl:m, whose home is on the shores of the great inland ~;;ea which Bridger did discover, has set about the task of bringing together all the available Information al.Jout him, winnowing the fact from the fiction, analyzing, testing, weighing evidence and trying to arrive at tl1e truth as nearly as the truth can be determined. The result is a book ("Ju es Bridger," by J. Cecil Alter, Shepard Book Co., Salt Lake City] which can almost be regarued as the lul!'t word on the subject of James Bridger, which p1·esents him in a truer light than he has ever been presented before and which In Itself Js a monumental piece of historical scholarship. No'-only does l\lr. Alter's book gh e a faithful picture of an epic era In American history, but it should set at rest once for all the mass of misinformation that has been idly tossed uhout and p1·oves that Old Jim Bridger was. "more lied ag::llnst than lying." So an article ~;uch as this, which coulrl not hope to be a condensation of all the tht1lllng and Interesting incidents In the book, <·an do no better than to follow tbe line Indicated In its title anrl s1ww the general unfairness of the "American Mnnchausen" tradition. First of all the "discoverer of the Yel1owstone" tradition: Jim Dridger was not the "discoverer" nnd never pretended to be. That honor, if it Is limited to "white discoverer" and excludes the first Indian-his identity unknown, of course-who ever ,;azed upon its spouting gey!'ers, belongs to John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, hunter, trapper, Indian fighter and ('Xplorer:. who, so far as Is known, was the first Atperican to visit what is now the park. This w !"'h:: 1807. ~uturally, his account of itR wonders wa~ not believed and "Colter's H~ll'' became a ., ter of deri~f on. "Bridger Lies!" But Do~ He? It Is possible, although It has never been rlefiniteiy establ!:;hed, that Bridger visited the Yello.wstone region in 1825. The first written description of its wonder!! appeared In Niles It~glster October 6, 1827, In the form of a letter, published without a signature, from a member of a trnpplng expedition. The Identity of the writer Iii unknown and, although it has been credited to Bridger, Mr. Alter points out that he could not wl"ite, probably was not with this particular party, hence the letter was not hls. There is good reason to believe that he did visit the park as a member of the Fit2:patrlck trapping party in 1830 and that is the dnte usually given as the time of his first view of the Yellowstone IJhenomena. However, the date of \Vhat was unque~tlonably his first visit, according to Mr. Alter, was-18.12, while Bridger was still with Fitzpatrick on the expedition which Is recorded In Washington· Irving's account of the adventures of Captain Bonneville. As to the "Jim Bridger lies" tradition it Is not especially strange that such a tradition should spring up, since these so-called lies were based upon far.ts whleh in themselves seemed almost Impossible to believe--the facts about the wonders of the Yellowstone park. ,lust when thil tradition aturted It b diflicult to say. The chronology of lt is a tantallz!ng proposition. Bridger's description which was first officially recorded was during his term as guide for the Stansbury party in 18-!9 and 1850 and the recorder was Lieut. J. W. Gunnison. In one chapter of the book l\:lr. Alter says: The story o! Colter's Hell has been told and retold tor 35 years with little variation; but in 1827 a newspaper had published a story describintr a visit to a part o! the park which added some zest to the Colter Inferno. Then In 1833 a .Mormon newspaper had published another description o! some o! the park features, and still another came to light In 1842; but all these descriptions were antiquated and th• stories losing caste. Tells About Park's Wondera Gunnison's arrival at the settlements was calculated to reawaken lntere!lt In the park, tor he had a first-hand description of the park phenomena by Bridger who had visited the park many times from many directions as a trapper. Bridger was therefore mtervlewed by a newspaper man on the lower 1\llssourl, and a geheral description o! the geysers, hot water phenomena, and the canyons was given. It was a good story and atter setting It In type the publisher confided tlte news to a friend who unfortunately cautioned agalns'e..a too great confidence In the tale or a mere Tl-apper. The cold water thus poured broke the faith ot the writer and the stol"f was discarded. What a narrow miss from beeomlng the first to record Bridger's story! That same editor published many stories o! the pal"k In later years and In 1879, when ilridger was decrepit, and very near his demise, a story was run which followed Bridger's description, taken !rom other sources, together with an explanation and an apology to the old scout. The author of the book pays particular attention to these stories in two chapters headed "The Beginning of Bridger's Stories" and "The Evolution of Bridger·s Stories." In the first be says: • The outstanding development o! tho Raynolds' [Capt. 'V. F. Raynolds, U. S. A., who was sent to explore the Yellowstone river] winter at Deer Creek (1859) In the atmosphere of the mountains and the presence of many mountain men was the Incubation or the original brood ot reminiscent yarns of the trappers and mountaineers. And James Bridger, personifying all that was peculiarly or the mountains, was to become not only a cen-' tral figure In many of these tales by pro~y and foster father of them all In general, but the p~rent peacock, In fact, of many of the choicest tales In the limitless flock still flying about In mount 1 a n lore. "Is it surprising (writes Raynolds) that men leading such a life (as these trappers), not hearing from civilization oftener than once a year and then only through the fur companies who sent to them to get their· furs and supply them with ammunition and Indian trinkets, but who yet retained a recollection o! the outer world they left should bcgulle the monotony or: camp life by ~pinning yarns, In which each trle4 to ercel all others and which were repeated so often and Insisted up~n so strenuously that the narrators came to believe them most religiously." "All Wild T alea Are Bridger's" It Is Interesting to note that Ned lluntllne (Col. E. Z. C. Judson), who helped make Buffalo Bill famous, is principally responsible for the "Old Jim Bridger's Lies" tradition. The chapter on "Evolution of Bridger's Stories" tells about • Buntline's activities us follows: The flame o! Interest that was kindled In the stories of bygone trapper days at Raynolds' winter quarters on Deer Creek was slowly tanned Into a "I've done it agaln-sahl the thing I didn't want to say!" A woman who Jms confided to us before now asks for assistance In correcting this falling-saying the thing she does not want to say. "It Is not that I hnYe no :-;elf-re~tralnt," she ::;ays, "or cannot brake my tongue. As a rule I ha,·e no dltfi~ulty In controllfng my speech. I doubt that anyone would say it is chnraet~ristic of me to let my tongue run away with. me. But there is this one memher of my family to whom I lnvarlltbly ~ay thlugs I am Rure to be sorry forthings T don't want tn s11y, whieh are out before I am aware of having again showu thi~ wealme--s. You may gue~s. t>f eourse, thnt she ruh~ -the wrong way with me: that ;;he goa(ls me to the volnt w!Jere I forttf't . my resol ut ions and IN fly Ow very thing I did not want, to sn;v. nut that is no excuse for me. It Is what we do at a Unfor· national conflagration of entertainment. time I ike that that is the real test of tunately, however, Bridger's truthful narratives ot Is It not? ourRelves, eXJJerlence, and his faithful descriptions o! the It is not. It ' ould be hnrsh judg: natural phenomena o! the Yellowstone Park and other regions, were to be twisted almost beyond ment of t_he he~t of us t~ measure our recognition In the withering heat o! ridicule and real ~elves loy what we do when we disbelief. This came about largely through seconddriven to extremes of anger or are retold the attributed hand narrators, who still hurt or !nt1ignntion. Ho,~·ever, what story to Bridger. Soon after arriving at the 'Vestport farm In the we do at ~uclt time~. !<Jwcitlcally how late fall of 1860 Bridger was sought out by Ned· we spt>nk at Ruch timeR. is a teRt of Buntllne, a prominent story writer of the day, and ]JOW Wt'll we iltl\·e R<'hooled ourselves "Bridger gave him enough adventures to keep him In consciotu,ly enntrulllng our speech. writing the balance of his life," according to General Dodge. Bridger took a liking· to Buntllne ln cHI·er.ting the outer nmnifeRtation and took him across the plains with him on a our lmpulseR. of scouting trip. After a while Buntllne returned to Our frlentl sn ·~: "Af< n rule I have the East and not long afterward ths Jim Bridger stories commenced to he puhllsheu. One of these no clitncul.ty In !'ontrollin.i: my speecn.': was printed every week, and Bridger's companions Rlw mPans that a· a rule her ~pe·~<:h used to save them up and rend them to him. lluntn ot requh·e · e ·tnion\lnary conclop;:; llne made Bridger famous, and carried !.1m through more hairbreadth escapes than any man ever had." ! _tJ·ol to do her nt•clit. That is true of mnny of us. who _find, however, thnt Thus through the alchemy o! the juurnallst the flame o! Bridger's stories was transformed ln"tO In nnexpeeted circumstance>' under sechunks 'Jf pure gold for Buntllne, and Bridger vere pre~ure of sutltlt>n emotion, we hhnsC>lf soon tound that he was not so much of a do not alwnys ac(]ult ourselves to nur frontiersman as a story teller, the author of "Old Jim Bridger's Lies" to the unfortunate discredit o! sntl.qfactlon. "'•• tulk In n maim~.r. the truthful old scout. Brldger·s stories were that detrar:ts from our dignity, or·, af greedily seized upon by story tellers everywhere, il'nst, from · our 1\Pif-eilte·em; we sny and tagged with Brldger·s name, after countless things for which "\Ve are certn!n to be • metamorphoses. sorry. The- rea;oon Is that we hnve Thus the tradition was carried on endlessly not cultlvnted the habit of thinking and It seems that Bridger himself, in his later before we speak. It is not the res! we who says the wrong thing, he(]ays, help!lll t~erpetuate lt. William S. Brackett, enuRe, on thinking, we do not want to who was a member of an expedition which f!RY it. If is the Impulsive we, the Bridger guldeJ to Utah in 18G2, writing In the of us that Is without the dll!tlncl'art "Historical Coll'!:Hions of Montana," declares that: which is supposed to define the tlon Bridger keenly hH the suspicions cast upon his human being-namely, that "man Is honesty and truthfulness as to the wonders o! the a Blinking animal." Yellowstone. Disgusted at his unmerited treatment and angered at the talk about "Old Jim Bridger's With runny precepts that bav& gone Lies" he retaliated as so .many other mountain In one ear and out the other, we were men have done by stuffing h!s tcnd .. rfoot listeners told long ago, "'\'hen angry, count with . the most preposterous stories his Imagination ten!" An excellent deterrent to saycould conjure up. Ing the wrong thing; except for the Idle Tales for fuet thnt when w are angry is the last time In the world that we would Idle People think of stopping to count ten-unThe truth Is that when Bridger "dr"'w the long bow" he founded his romances on a great deal of le~s we hnhitunlly counted ten before fact, If his hearers on ·y had the wit and s•nse There is the crux of how to speaking. to sift It out. In this way the old scout aveng'lld at the most tr)'self-control achieve himself for the distrust previously shown !or his To control our tongues lng times. accurate and truthful accounts of many o! the wonders he had seen In the Rocky Mountains. I wiit>n we need that control most we have known many an old-timer to do the same ' must he in the .hnhit of thinking l.Jethmg when 'an audience of smart tenderfeet fore we spen k. The nn wer is to form laughed or sneered at a truthful recital o! somethe habit, to school our~;elves so that thing marvelous In the former's experience. The te:;tlmony of RCOres of prominent military whenever we sprak It will he the mind commanders and civiLians can be pr6duced showthat acts ftt·st, the tongue later. Ing that James Bridger was always ·to be trusted and b~,>lleved in as a guide, scout, trader and allround pluneer. His Idle tales were told only to Idle people In Idle hours. At heart he was as truthful as he was sklllful and brave. He never betrayed any man and was never untrue to any trust, public or private. lllgh tribute as this Is, It Is amply substantiated by the many authorities quoted in Mr. Alter's hisforical narrative. In the preface he ~;tates that "in this work it is hoped that the old scout may find a certain sanctuary from the • unjust 'designations of braggart, drunkard, polygamist or prevaricator, though it is further hoped that lie wi.ll not be shielded from any just and proper characterization llowsoever base." Undoubtedly he refers to the charncterlzation of Bridger In the movie version of Emerson Hough's •·covered 'Vagon" w!IIch resulted In a $1,000,000 suit for damag-es against the producing company by Mrs. Virpinla Bridger Hahn, a daughter of the old scout. The suit which was filed two years ago was ended early this year when th(' court rul('d in effect that it was "lmposR!ble to defame anyone's ancestors." So npparently there has been added to the ''Old Jim llrl<lger's lies" tradition this other tradition of Jim Bridger as a roistering blade, and the type of person who gets most of his ideas from the movies probably will accept It as unquestioningly as he does the other. But for those who recognize the fact that the truth does not usually lie In t>xtremes, a court decision either way would mean nothing. To them Bridger's slJOrtcomlng~. whatever they were, were far outbalanced by hls ~ood qualities and with th~m his ~ame Is !\ecure. They will reJoice that in the .face of tradition, myth and bunk an honest and. thoroughly satisfactory attempt has been made to fulfill. General Dodge's hope that "so remarkable a man shonltl not be lost to history and the country and his wo1·k allowed to be forgotten." END OF UNCOLN TRUNK MYSTERY Robert T. Lincoln. ninety-yenr-old son and sole surviving descendant of the Civil War President, has let It be known that the mysterious truokful of Lincolnlana which he recently presented to the Congressional library contains nothing for hunters of unprinted hiRtorical matter to get excited about-nothing, In fact, that has not already been published. "Mr. Lincoln, who has steadfastly refused to discuss the trunk's contents. still refuses to talk; but be bas whispered enough Into the ears of the Congressional librarian to quiet the heart pnlpitatlons of those Lincoln enthu.illasts who haye known of the trunk and have spent their good time, t11elr good money and the good influence of wealthy nnd I'Oclal friends tn an e1Tort to get a peep Into the chest. "There Is wobubly nothi.Ag in the material that has not heen used by Nicolay anrl Hay In their b!o"rnphy," silld the aged son of the Great Emancipator. The trunk has been n !l"reat nw~terv. There has been a belief that In partlcnl~r it ·contained ·r data having to do with Lincoln's ancestry or private family aiTalrs. The son, it has been hlnred, was keeping it all quiet for fear of the explosion that might follow Its relf'!lse. Energetic writers have camped on the Tiohert T. Lincoln doorstep, confident of their ab!llty to· gather In this greatest of all Lincoln scoop~. But they have got nowhere. ::\foney, they wore told, could not buy the trunk, and the contents were destined to disappear with the last of the Lin· There has been nothing m ( b else In coins. the Llncolnlana line to unearth, and k:f" quest has been unabatedly pur ued. : " • J Cause and Effe~t EMBARRASSING Willis-How do you like the corublnation furniture they have in ~orne of these New York ftuts? Glllls-Not at all. I went to b~a I in a piece of that kind of junk the other night at a friend's house nnll when I woke up, two women were serving bt·eakfust on the footboard, a fellow was !>lgning clier.k!'l on the headboard and another fellow was undernt>ath the bed making coffee.Kauf'as City Times. Information Wanted lie was a particularly raw recrllH, and the drill ser!!:Ptmt was getting very fed. up. At last he lost all patlence. 1 "Didn't you !:ear 'About turn'!" he 1 bellowed. "• 'o," answered the recruit. "\Vhat j about '!rn ?'' ~ II KISS WAS A DREAM • 1 She--How da.re you dream that l would kiss you 1 1e-; \ Yell, I suw :r~n kiss another gltl the· other duy-t'lld surely that'» worse. Several Kansas towns are feeling tbe urge of spring In a new·born desire to he beautiful. In fairness to Kansas it should be salt! that several Kansas towns are already pleasant lo look upon and vlslt. But there is more to the urge than that, and something the Emporia Gazette said recently on the SUbject OUght to SN other toWIIS In otl.er state:; to thinking ubout themselves. "'Ve can he nice, decPnt, agricultural town~. with each town having some <Jmall Industry, some specialty in school:; or local devPiopment like oll or coal and the products of the soli. But big plants-Ho! 'Ye ar(' doometl by our geogmphy to be small towns. Then why not be beautiful town;;? \\'by uot get the he:;t out of our town,;, and. our lives? Why not apple h!ossoms in Arkansas City, roses in Eldorado, cannas in Froooulu, relllmds In Emporln7 Surely If Japan can grow famous over the world for beauty of its cherry blossoms, we cau make something out of the beauty tha[ lies in our hands.'' There is more to being a popular arid thriving town thnn havin~ [hO largest population or the !Jigge~t manufacturing plants or the most money. And the ~ooner a lot of small towns all over the country realize this, the SQoner they will begin to create charm nnd distinction for themselve~. Even the towns that are already beautiful have something to do in maintaining their hi~h stnn<lard. Al.d ~he other·s ~hould start right In m k· In~ the most out of the heauty that I ies In their hand".-Kol,ono (Ind.) Dlrpatch. Distinction Given to Grounds by Shrubbery Shrubbery about a dwelling Is of equal, If not grenter, importance For, while trees give than trees. shade and add to the ~eneral attractiveness of u place, shrubbery "tie the house to tjle ground," as It has Alo11! been expressed ; outlines boundaries "None o! us Is p<'rfect, and provides that seduslon now conFor even thoae;· said Grimes, both desirable and necesRary. sidered "Upon the stralgh'l and narrow way Detour, alas, sometimes." cities and suhurl.Jun towns, small Ip • ~ where the custom often prevails of Question I ha vlng the front yards in a block like "Settle a question of etiquette for one big lnwn, it might brenk the genme.'' eral scheme to put in a front hedge, [ "\Yell?" but shruhhery should be so mas~ed in "lily married daughi~r ls my house foundation planting as to single out guest." that house as beautiful beyond all tile others left unplanted, regardless of "Go on." And, where the hac:k size or cost. ''Can one properly ask a house yards. also have been thrown Into one, guest to help with the housework?'' or separated by almost lm·isihlc wire fences, that shrubbery following the Just Boys house foundation cuuhl be carrier! "Sign of!', ya big stifl'; this Is my around to th~ rear and extennecl onto station." l the Ia" u far enough to make a se"Aw, you·re full o' static; sign orr cluded outdoor room. yourself. You ain't even remote conTaller shrubs, with a few of the trol." smaller trees, might be used In e-xecuting this lclea without interferlnr Optimism with the whole l.Jiock scheme, lint "I won't have :\Ir. Jones kissing you beautifying the whole as seen from like that, Mabel.'' a distance. "But, dad, give him a chance. He's only just beginning." Plant for Permanence "You are unj]l«t to n1t>," a man cornNOT UP-TO-DATE pln inetl to his wife's family when they ' r"monstrated ~·lth him over his b~· h:nior. "You do riot know me. I nm a good fellow, anti if ypu knew me better you would unuerstnnd me.'' Unfortunately !or these peovle who complain of such Injustice and of not being "understood," the world judges us not by what we think or profesf!! of It hilr•ws only what we our~:;elves. demonstrate about ourselYes-by our own actions. For tbougfi the ·saying may be old it is true-"A<Illons speak . loudl.'r than words." This man mal"'·ied nntl t11en tried to renege on- tl~ re~ponslblllt!es he had He: ucted in a way which a~sumed. force(! everyone to despise him and "Why do you speak of so excelthen he said: "If you knew me you . a novelist as old-fnshlo;ned ?" lent would know whut a good ·fel1ow I am.'' "\Vhy, one doesn't find 'macabre,' He took _~tood care of himself but JW.giPdec] hiS Wife, SUbjeeting ber tO 'banal' or 'ineluctable' used in bls And then I puges once.'' hard~hlp and humiliation. l1e l'ald: "If you knew me you would 1 know that I am a fine fellow!" Divided Responaibilitie• lie spent everything he had upon 'l'he politician wears a smile. His task he Is not shirking. liimself and left his wife In want at .a 1 speaks a piece In public while He time. when sl1e was most entitled to We common folks are working. And • he considered hefore ITimself. then he said: "You do not like me beNot All There cau~P you do not k-now me I" Coroner-Was this mon found dead He and all others who think they the rntlroad trnck a total stranger? on are the best fellows In the world, bot (who bas been told to be Witness by their a!'tlons prove· themselves to statements)-No, sor ·his in car~ful he ~omething · quite different, should lntolrely. He was a gone was leg His be told that when the offender comes Lam. sor.-Hurvard stranger, partlnl before the bar of justice he Is not lOOn. ·sentenced according to the w.ay in whi!'il he l'econuneml>~ himself, but acC.Gntrast cording to the net which he Is known to have committed. And ·the. same Rub-Why do you stick so close to thing hnltls good of that ultimate seut the straight nnd ntu:row? of judgment one might tElll him, if he Dub-lt JI).akes )'OU enjoy the d&is interested in what happens when tours -so much._ he comes -knocl<lng at the gate. To return to lmmetUI\te things, s_uch His Income people should he told that we resp~ct t nlllrry, it will be a ever She-11' what is worthy of re'>pect, we love has at leuat f0101" Income whose man what Is lonthle, we hate what Is hate- · it. in ciphers ful, and nothing can change the eiTect He-That's good, dear. My lncom~ that does not chm1ge the cau>le. is all ciphers-as many us you like.The Progressive Grocer. I Leading Source of Ivory The tusk of the African elephant is That,s It the best and greuteRt source of the I "That's Quill, the poet who got $1W 1\·ory ot commerce, and it is estimated &. f<prlng poem." for that 70.000 of these animals are kllled "A poem? I don't hell eve lt.'' each year for the purpu~;e ol securing "It's a poem to advertise a new k!uil the tusks. Some tusk11 teach a length motor car spring." ot of nine feet and wei~;tl:l more than 200 I DOUnds. Above all things I would urge that permanent planting, llkc tTees nnd shrubs tllld vines, be u~ed. T!1ey are the background of uny gan!Pning, !lilY· where. and old-fashioned plants arc always happy looking. Even people who rent a hou e should feel enough Interest In making the city Itself beautiful to plant one tree or shrub or vine each ,.,f>nson. It costs so little and they could get such fun out of only one year of Wfltchlng It grow. and if they stayed longer than a year they would find that nothing gl\·es you such a feeling of home us watching something you have planted grow each year into greater beauty.Cllicago l'o:;t. City's Growth George B. Ford, ~peaking to 2,000 • delegates at the national chamber ot commerce meeting in ·wa>;hlngton: asked why cities grow and then :<ought to am;wer his own que ·tlon. lie mentioned four cuuses of growth -natural advantage of position, nearness to raw materials, nearness to market and presence of skill derived from experience. All these are cau:-:es for indus-· trial development, he explained, and "produce population growth only because Industrial development leads to po{mlat!on growth. , . . Cities grow because of industrial activity." . Flowers in City Yards A novel suggestion of grent importance concerns the abandonment o.tl grass in c·lose-in city yards, and the use of raved areas, surrounded hy beds In which plants are gwwn. The fact · that plimts and many flowers can be grown successfully under conditions where lawns will fall is not generally kno)vn. .In cultivated bed:; It ls relatively easy to HUl>ply water and renew J.!lant foods; and species ot plants may be selected which best endure city conditions. Style Used in Buildin'g English architecture is particularl.r adaptal.Jle to a hou:;e set close to the street, the editor of the Home Del!llgner and Garden Brautlful points out; for the roof recedes away from the eye, thereby rnhanclng the appearance of the building by apparently duclng the height. r• |