The Butte Archives is happy to announce that it will resume its popular Brown Bag Lunch lecture series Tuesday, September 7, with a lecture and book signing by Jerry Enzler, author of Jim Bridger: Trailblazer of the American West.

Even among iconic frontiersmen like John C. Frémont, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger stands out. A mountain man of the American West, straddling the fur trade era and the age of exploration, he lived the life legends are made of. His adventures are fit for remaking into the tall tales Bridger himself liked to tell. Here, in a biography that finally gives this outsize character his due, Jerry Enzler takes this frontiersman’s full measure for the first time—and tells a story that would do Jim Bridger proud.

Tapping sources uncovered in the six decades since the last documented Bridger biography, Enzler’s book fully conveys the drama and details of the larger-than-life history of the “King of the Mountain Men.” This is the definitive story of an extraordinary life.

Jerry Enzler served as founding director of the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium for thirty-seven years. He has written and curated national exhibitions and films and has published historical articles on Jim Bridger, river history, and other topics.

The presentation will begin at noon and run about an hour at the Archives, 17 W. Quartz Street. The Archives recommends masks for the safety of our patrons. Guests may bring a sack lunch, however, the archives will not provide coffee and water at this time. Books may be purchased directly from the author at the lecture.

For more information, contact the Archives at 782-3280.