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The Bridger Antelope Trap is an archaeological site in Uinta County, Wyoming, associated with local Indigenous hunting practices. As an important example of hunting and gathering strategies, the site provides important clues to native subsistance in the past. The Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office nominated the antelope trap for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The NRHP added the site to the Register on 21 January 1971.

Archaeological investigations, conducted in the late 1960s by Dr. George Frison of the University of Wyoming, indicated that hunters likely used the trap before 1850. However, its length of service is unknown; archaeologists believe that the site is associated with Indians of the Late Prehistoric Period. The Natives' technique, when hunting antelope, was to drive a herd into the long entrance of traps similar to the Bridger Antelope Trap. The opening, made of juniper wood, led to the trap proper, located at the base of a hill. This portion of the structure was circular and also constructed of juniper wood; hunters drove the antelope around the path until exhausted, at which time they would dispatch the exhausted prey.

The Bridger Antelope Trap covers close to 26 acres (110,000 m). Its entrance is arc-shaped and is close to 0.25 miles (400 m) in length, extending in a northeast-to-southwest direction across a smooth valley. The trap itself serves as an extension of the entrance and has a diameter of around 700 feet (210 m).

See also

References

1. "Bridger Antelope Trap". National Park Service. Retrieved January 21, 2022. Applicable Criteria: INFORMATION POTENTIAL
2. "Bridger Antelope Trap". Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved January 21, 2022. The site provides evidence of a unique example of food procurement on the Northwestern Plains.

External links

• Bridger Antelope Trap at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Uinta County, Wyoming
Other historic districts	Downtown Evanston Historic District Triangulation Point Draw Site District Union Pacific Railroad Complex Wyoming State Insane Asylum
Other properties	Black and Orange Cabins Bridger Antelope Trap ERT Bridge over Black's Fork Fort Bridger Piedmont Charcoal Kilns A. V. Quinn House St. Paul's Episcopal Church Uinta County Courthouse US Post Office-Evanston Main Brigham Young Oil Well
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Uinta County, Wyoming and List of National Historic Landmarks in Wyoming

• Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming
• Geography of Uinta County, Wyoming
• National Register of Historic Places in Uinta County, Wyoming