Jim Bridger was one of the greatest explorers, traders, and trappers of the American West. At the age of 18, he left Missouri on a journey to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Later he blazed the trail for what would become the route of the Overland Stage, the Pony Express, and the Union Pacific Railroad. Bridger also established a popular outpost for settlers on their trek to the West and became an important part of an expanding nation.