Fort Bridger, Wyoming

Saying goodbye to Matt and Patty we left Rock Springs and drove all of 77 miles to Fort Bridger, Wyoming and the Fort Bridger RV park. There we were pleasantly surprised as we found a nice and friendly rv park and a State Historic Site that we didn't even know existed/ We also wanted to visit a rock shop in Kemmerer and look for Muddy Creek agates so we parked for three days in a small but friendly place.
We headed to the fort after lunch and because it was mostly outside we were able to take Molly along. We drove there so we could use our state parks sticker and there was actually a gate person who would have charged us had we not had the truck and stickers. Parking our truck,  we headed to the first set of buildings, among which were a school house, a pony express stable, an ice house.

The school house was the first school ever built in the state of Wyoming. I noticed the class size of four was a lot smaller then the 25-30 students I was supposed to teach. The buildings were in pretty good shape and they they were the location of the store operated by the Carter family, the first millionaires in Wyoming.
Many of the original buildings had disappeared when the fort closed in 1890. It was a pretty common tale in Wyoming as when something was abandoned it was usually hauled off for the materials. We did see several old buildings around town that looked suspiciously like buildings in the fort.
Further down we crossed the creek and there the old fort had been reconstructed. The original fort had been burned when Johnsons Army approached in 1857. It had been appropriated by members of the Church of the Latter Days Saints,(there are several different versions claiming legal ownership and sales papers), during the Mormon War.
Inside the stockade we were treated to a demonstration and talk by the volunteer blacksmith. I was surprised by the simplicity and design of the double bellows that fed air to the forge. I wanted to start beating iron but it was not to be. The next buildings we visited  were the museum, officers quarters and commanders house. There we saw the antique love seat that was an identical match to the one that used to be in Renitas family home.
The next day we left for Kemmerer, first getting back on interstae 80 and then heading north through the samll town of Carter, Wyoming. Just north of Carter we found the agate site but didn;t stop as we were going to return the same way. A little further down the road we were halted by a cattle drive of about 100 cows and calfs and three cowboys and cowgirls. It seemd like a commercial from the Wyoming tourism board as so we stopped and waited while the cattle were pushed past us.
Arriving in Kemmerer we found Bobs Rock shop. Bob's speciality is local petrified wood and he has about as fine a display as we have seen anywhere. We discused methods for removing rind from Blue Forest Wood and so now we have heard of four different methods from four different collectors.
Unfortunatley Bob chained smoked and we left the shop smelling like we had been in a bar or casino, but it was still worth the visit to see such a fine collection,(He has the largest blue forest tree and root ball specimen we have seen so far).

Heading back to Carter we met the cattle drive and were led through the herd by a cowgirl who shook a pop bottle full of rocks.  As antelope hunting season is in full swing and we heard shots as we stopped at the agate site so we donned orange headbands. We actually found some interesting agate, at least enough for several tumblers and so we drove the rest of the trip back home happy that we had moer rocks for the fifth wheel,(by the way I did weigh the rig and we can still hold another ton of rocks).
We enjoyed our trip to the fort and a brief view of life on a fort during the 1880's. The rock shop and agate hunt was also another good excursion. If you are ever on interstate 80, crossing the high desert, you might consider staying a couple of nights at Fort Bridger. Clear skies.