Frontier Forts and Western Trails Quiz

Pacific Trails

• By 1847, two major alternative routes through Utah and Wyoming led to Northern California, starting from Jim Bridger's Fort Bridger (established 1842) in present-day Wyoming.
• Fort Bridger was situated on the Green River, where the Mormon Trail turned southwest over the Wasatch Range to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Salt Lake Cutoff

• The Salt Lake Cutoff (established 1848) went north and west of the Great Salt Lake and rejoined the California Trail in the City of Rocks in present-day Idaho.
• The cutoff was approximately 190 miles (310 km) long.

Oregon and California Trails

• The main trails crossed the Yellow River on several ferries and trails, leading to or bypassing Fort Bridger.
• The trails then crossed over a range of hills to the Great Basin drainage of the Bear River (Great Salt Lake).
• Past present-day Soda Springs, Idaho, the trails initially turned northwest, following the Portneuf River (Idaho) valley to Fort Hall.
• Fort Hall was a British Hudson's Bay Company post (established 1836) on the Snake River in present-day Idaho.

Trail Junction

• From Fort Hall, the trails went about 50 miles (80 km) southwest along the Snake River Valley to a "parting of the ways" trail junction at the Raft and Snake rivers.
• The California Trail from the junction followed the Raft River to the City of Rocks in Idaho near the present Nevada-Idaho-Utah tripoint.