Bent's Old Fort is an 1833 fort located in
Otero County in southeastern
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, United States. A company owned by
Charles Bent
Charles Bent (November 11, 1799 – January 19, 1847) was an American businessman and politician who served as the first civilian United States governor of the New Mexico Territory, newly acquired by the Military Governor, Stephen Watts Kearny, ...
and
William Bent
William Wells Bent (May 23, 1809 – May 19, 1869) was a frontier trader and rancher in the American West, with forts in Colorado. He also acted as a mediator among the Cheyenne Nation, other Native American tribes and the expanding United St ...
and
Ceran St. Vrain
Ceran St. Vrain, born Ceran de Hault de Lassus de Saint-Vrain (May 5, 1802 – October 28, 1870), was the son of a French aristocrat who immigrated to the Spanish Louisiana in the late 18th century; his mother was from St. Louis, where he was b ...
built the fort to trade with Southern
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
and
Arapaho
The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
Plains Indians
Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...
and trappers for
buffalo robes. For much of its 16-year history, the fort was the only major white
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
permanent settlement on the
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
between
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
and the Mexican settlements. It was destroyed in 1849.
The area of the fort was designated a
National Historic Site under the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
on June 3, 1960. It was further designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
later that year on December 19, 1960.
[
][
]
The fort was reconstructed and is open to the public.
History
The adobe fort quickly became the center of the Bent, St. Vrain Company's expanding trade empire, which included
Fort Saint Vrain
Fort Saint Vrain was an 1837 fur trading post built by the Bent, St. Vrain Company, and located at the confluence of Saint Vrain Creek and the South Platte River, about 20 miles (32 km) east of the Rocky Mountains in the unorganized territ ...
to the north and
Fort Adobe
Adobe Walls is a ghost town in Hutchinson County, northeast of Stinnett, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was established in 1843 as a trading post for buffalo hunters and local Native American trade in the vicinity of the Canadian River. It late ...
to the south, along with company stores in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
at
Taos
Taos or TAOS may refer to:
Places
* Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States
* Taos County, New Mexico, United States
** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico
*** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
and
Santa Fe. The primary trade was with the Southern
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
and
Arapaho
The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
Indians for
buffalo robes.
From 1833 to 1849, the fort was a stopping point along the
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
. It was the only permanent settlement not under the jurisdiction and control of Native Americans or
Mexicans
Mexicans ( es, mexicanos) are the citizens of the United Mexican States.
The most spoken language by Mexicans is Spanish language, Spanish, but some may also speak languages from 68 different Languages of Mexico, Indigenous linguistic groups ...
. The U.S. Army,
explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
s, and other travelers stopped at the fort to replenish supplies, such as water and food, and perform needed maintenance to their wagons. The American frontiersman
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...
was employed as a hunter by the Bent brothers in 1841, and regularly visited the Fort. Likewise, the explorer
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
used the Fort as both a staging area and a replenishment junction, for his expeditions. During the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
in 1846, the fort became a staging area for Colonel
Stephen Watts Kearny
Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelled Kearney) ( ) (August 30, 1794October 31, 1848) was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican–American Wa ...
's "Army of the West".
Ralph Emerson Twitchell
Ralph Emerson Twitchell (1859–1925) was an American attorney, historian, and politician who served as the mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico and chairman of the Rio Grande Commission, which drafted a treaty between the United States and Mexico le ...
makes the following statement.
Bent's Fort is described as having been a structure built of adobe bricks. It was 180 feet long and 135 feet wide. The walls were 15 feet in height and four feet thick and it was the strongest post at that time west of Ft. Leavenworth. The construction of this fort was commenced in 1828 ... at a point on the Arkansas somewhere between the present cities of Pueblo and Canon City, having been disadvantageously located. Four years were required in which to complete the structure. On the northwest and southeast corners were hexagonal bastions, in which were mounted a number of cannon. The walls of the fort served as walls of the rooms, all of which faced inwardly on a court or plaza. The walls were loopholed for musketry, and the entrance was through large wooden gates of very heavy timbers.
Destruction
In 1849 when a great cholera epidemic struck the Cheyenne and other Plains Indians, William Bent abandoned Bent's Fort and moved his headquarters north to
Fort Saint Vrain
Fort Saint Vrain was an 1837 fur trading post built by the Bent, St. Vrain Company, and located at the confluence of Saint Vrain Creek and the South Platte River, about 20 miles (32 km) east of the Rocky Mountains in the unorganized territ ...
on the South Platte. When he returned south in 1852, he relocated his trading business to his log trading post at
Big Timbers
Big Timbers is a wooded riparian area in Colorado along both banks of the Arkansas River that is famous as a campsite for native American tribes and travelers on the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail.
Description
The Spanish knew this area as ...
, near what is now
Lamar, Colorado
Lamar is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Prowers County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,804 at the 2010 United States Census. The city was named after Confederate s ...
. Later, in the fall of 1853, Bent began building a stone fort on the bluff above Big Timbers,
Bent's New Fort
Bent's New Fort was a historic fort and trading post along the banks of the Arkansas River in what is now Bent County, Colorado, about nine miles west of Lamar, on the Mountain Route branch of the Santa Fe Trail. William Bent operated a trading ...
, where he conducted his trading business until 1860.
When the fort was reconstructed in 1976, its authenticity was based on the use of
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
excavations, paintings and original sketches, diaries and other existing historical data from the period.
In popular culture
* The Fort was used as Fort Laramie in the 1979 CBS mini-series ''
The Chisholms
''The Chisholms'' is a CBS western miniseries starring Robert Preston, which aired from March 29, 1979, to April 19, 1979; and continued as a television series from January 19, 1980, to March 15, 1980.Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', New York: ...
'', starring
Robert Preston.
* In
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman.
Biography
Fraser was born to Scottish parents in Carlisle, England, ...
's 1982 novel, ''
Flashman and the Redskins
''Flashman and the Redskins'' is a 1982 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the seventh of the Flashman novels.
Plot introduction
Presented within the frame of the supposed discovery of a trunkful of papers detailing the long life and caree ...
'', the anti-hero Flashman is present at the destruction of Bents' Fort.
* Bent's Fort is featured briefly in
Larry McMurty
Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. 's 1985
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning novel ''
Lonesome Dove
''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series, but the third installment in the series chronologically.
The story revolves around the relationships b ...
'', as well as in the 1989
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-winning
four-part TV miniseries adapted from the book.
* Bent's Fort in the spring of 1834 is a major setting for
Terry Johnston's 1988 novel ''One-Eyed Dream''.
* Bent's Fort is featured briefly in episode 3 of
James Michener
James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...
's ''
Centennial
{{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation)
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at a ...
'' miniseries in 1978.
* Bent's Fort inspired video game developer
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...
to recreate its likeness in the 2010 game ''
Red Dead Redemption
''Red Dead Redemption'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. A spiritual successor to 2004's ''Red Dead Revolver'', it is the second game in the ''Red Dead'' series. ''Red Dead Redempt ...
'' as Fort Mercer in the Rio Bravo region.
* A restaurant named "The Fort" in
Morrison, Colorado
The Town of Morrison is a Colorado municipalities#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The population was 428 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Red R ...
, near Denver has architecture and decor adapted from Bent's Old Fort, with motif and cuisine inspired from the region in the 1830s.
Restaurant Website
Gallery
File:Bent's Old Fort entrance sign, CO IMG 5703.JPG, Bent's Old Fort entrance sign in Otero County, Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
File:Outside view, Bent's Old Fort, CO IMG 5704.JPG, Bent's Old Fort outside view
File:Gentlemen's lodging, Bent's Old Fort IMG 5705.JPG, "Gentlemen" who stopped by the fort while traveling the Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
stayed in the upstairs quarters.
File:Row of rooms inside Bent's Old Fort CO IMG 5706.JPG, Row of rooms on the right side of the fort
File:Recreation room at Bent's Old Fort IMG 5707.JPG, The recreation room, mostly for playing cards, was located on the second floor of the fort.
File:Clothes washing at Bent's Old Fort, CO IMG 5708.JPG, Clothes washing area at Bent's Old Fort
File:Entrance view from inside Bent's Old Fort, CO IMG 5709.JPG, View of the entrance from inside Bent's Old Fort
See also
* List of National Historic Landmarks in Colorado
This is a list of National Historic Landmarks in Colorado. There are 26 National Historic Landmarks in Colorado, two of which extend into New Mexico..
__TOC__
National Historic Landmarks in Colorado
See also
*Bibli ...
* First Battle of Adobe Walls
The First Battle of Adobe Walls was a battle between the United States Army and American Indians. The Kiowa, Comanche and Plains Apache (Kiowa Apache) tribes drove from the battlefield a United States Expeditionary Force that was reacting to at ...
* Owl Woman
Owl Woman (Cheyenne name: ''Mis-stan-stur''; died 1847) was a Cheyenne woman.Varnell, p. 7., a daughter of White Thunder, a well-respected medicine man of the Cheyenne tribe. She was married to an Anglo-American trader named William Bent, with ...
Notes
References
*David Fridtjof Halaas and Andrew E. Masich, ''Halfbreed: The Remarkable True Story Of George Bent - Caught Between The Worlds Of The Indian And The White Man'', Da Capo Press (March 15, 2005), hardcover, 458 pages,
Further reading
* ; for juvenile audience
*
* ; reprinted in 1972 by University of Nebraska Press,
*
External links
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
Bent's Old Fort: Amphibians and Reptiles
nited States Geological Survey
Photos of Bents Fort provided by Rocky mountain Profiles
Architectural drawings and documentation
at Historic American Buildings Survey
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
{{authority control
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
Archaeological sites in Colorado
Forts in Colorado
Living museums in Colorado
Museums in Otero County, Colorado
National Historic Landmarks in Colorado
National Historic Sites in Colorado
Protected areas established in 1960
Protected areas of Otero County, Colorado
Santa Fe Trail
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
1960 establishments in Colorado
National Register of Historic Places in Otero County, Colorado