Historical Documents vs. the Archaeology: Lunette Blockades at Fort Bridger, Wyoming

A comparison of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data and available historical records on U.S. military fortifications at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, provides an opportunity to consider real-world necessities and attitudes born of isolation through the theoretical paradigm of conflict-event theory. What was actually built by military personnel living far from those who would critique them and with fewer resources than those stationed in the East could ever imagine can help provide insight into what life was truly like for those early pioneers in the West, and perhaps even help explain the “Western” attitudes toward life today.