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The road that Bozeman would blaze has been called Montana Road, Jacobs-Bozeman Cut-off, Bozeman Road, Powder River Road to Montana, Big Horn Road, Virginia City Road, Bonanza Trail, Yellowstone Road, Reno Road, Carrington Road, and Bozeman Trail. The route had sufficient water and good grass for the livestock. At the same time Bozeman was getting up his next wagon train, Jim Bridger was also organizing a train to follow a route he had blazed through the Wind River Canyon and the Bighorn Mountains. He claimed it was shorter though it didn't
have much grass for livestock. Soon a competition was gearing up between Bozeman and Bridger to blaze the fastest trail to the mines.
Bozeman left from Caspar and arrived at Virginia City about August 3, 1864. Apparently Bridger beat him by a couple of weeks. On the route, Bozeman passed by the future location of Fort Phil Kearney and saw buffalo. He crossed Goose Creek, Tongue River, Muddy River, and the Little Big Horn. They followed the Yellowstone near Billings up to Clark's Fork. He returned safely to Bozeman, a town now named for him, with a new trail being blazed that would get much use over the years to come.
