Jim Bridger, Mountain Man

Bozeman, Montana

There are several Jim Bridger statues around the country, but this one may be the most realistic. Sculptor Jim Ott told us, "I used the portrait on his gravestone and added a beard." Ott also invited some Mountain Man reenactor friends to pose for him, so that he could depict Bridger's clothes and gear as accurately as possible.

As a teenager, Bridger was infamous for abandoning Hugh Glass after he'd been half-eaten by a grizzly, but Glass did not kill Bridger in revenge, and Bridger went on to a long career as a frontiersman in places such as Montana.

Ott's statue of him was unveiled in September 2004. "I wanted to do a sculpture that was representative of the area," Ott said. "I thought Jim Bridger would be better than doing an elk or a bear."