On March 20, 1822, he saw an interesting article in the paper. Major Andrew Henry, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, needed 100 good men to go up the Missouri River with him on a trapping expedition. Bridger signed on as a trapper and Indian fighter. Also on the trip were other soon-to-be-famous men, such as Tom FitzPatrick, Hugh Glass, Mike Fink, William Sublette, and Etienne Provost.
It was a treacherous trip. The weather could be hot and humid or cold and hailing. There were all kinds of obstacles in the water. At one point they lost one of their boats and $10,000 worth of supplies, about half of all they had. At some point, the trappers lost almost all their horses when some tricky Assiniboines stole them. They spent the winter at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. They traded with the Indians for needed goods. Bridger took advantage of this and had the Indian women make him some good moccasins and buckskins. Soon he learned how to do it himself. After that he never wore "white man's" clothes again.
They went trapping in March but kept running into Indians. At one point, a messenger told them that the rest of their party that had gone back east had run into a large war party, and 13 men had been killed. Major Henry's party joined with the military in a battle with the Rees Indians. Finally, a peaceful end was reached.
The men headed back into the mountains to get ready for winter. Hugh Glass and another man led the expedition. Unexpectedly the two men were attacked by a huge bear. By the time the other men could get to him, Glass was quite mauled. The other man got away. The expedition couldn't wait for Glass to mend as they would likely be caught out in the winter without
