L a Junta, CO - Bent's Old Fort

Up early since we not only have a long drive today but, at the end of the drive is Bent’s Old Fort, a trading post in the mid-1800’s that we want to tour. To get there we headed due south and, since this part of Colorado is so flat, the road was as straight as a ruler. It was flat, planted with grains and almost treeless. We spoke with a woman at the Fort who told us that they had 2” of rain that year.

4 hours later, a long 4 hours later, we arrived at the Fort. Now, this is not really a fort, it was really a trading post built by the Bent Brothers, William and Charles and their partner, Ceran St. Vrain in 1833. However, it had many aspects of a fort: walls 9” thick, few windows on the outside, round turrets on opposite corners to keep watch on all sides of the fort, an interior well, heavy doors that could be closed, large storerooms and fully stocked repair shops. It was actually 1/4 block in size and two stories tall.

It was built of adobe bricks and the Bents brought in Mexicans for the actual construction. Here is a picture of the adobe bricks along with one of the molds they used. Note the lack of windows on the outside of the actual fort.

However, the Bents realized that they could only trade and make a profit if they treated all fairly, and promoted peace within the area they traded. They had an extensive trading empire, having located their fort on an established trade route and right on the border between Mexico and America. William Bent married Owl Woman, a Cheyenne woman, and managed the fort. His brother, Charles, managed the Santa Fe end of the business and married into a prominent Taos family. Obviously both married well to promote trade and their business in the area.

Since it was the only American outpost in this area, it was a haven for all those who traveled along the trading routes. It was the only place between Independence, MO where most travelers first stocked up and started across the vast prairies and Santa Fe, Mexico, their destination. Here they could replenish their supplies, get their wagons repaired, enjoy some company, refresh their livestock and just relax for a bit before their final push. And, they could enjoy dancing the fandango which was quite a popular entertainment at the fort.

Gary was intrigued by the window gaskets they used. Obviously, they used buffalo hide to be weather strip the fort. Since Home Depot didn’t carry foam weather stripping, they had to make due with buffalo hide strips. As you can see in the picture, they also used buffalo hides to caulk between the ceiling and the walls.

Here’s a picture of the center courtyard surrounded by various rooms: storehouse, trading room, kitchen, dining room and some living quarters. In the center of the courtyard is a ‘buffalo hide’ press, which was used to make the buffalo hides into a more compact bundle for shipping east. Kind of like putting clothing in plastic bags for storage and using a vacuum to suck out the air and make the package smaller. If you close your eyes, you can imagine Cheyenne Indians bringing in buffalo robes, traders packing their goods for travel along the Santa Fe Trail, the company doctor tending to some injuries, Mexican laborers repairing the adobe walls, a foreign journalist discussing the fort with William Bent, two men in the middle working the buffalo press while others carry off the hides already pressed and packaged. French, American, Mexican, Cheyenne and Arapaho are all being spoken here. It’s a hubbub of activity.

Explorers, journalists, mountain men and foreign visitors also visited the fort to observe its culture and spread the word throughout the US and world. In its 16- year heyday from 1833 - 1849, there were approx. 40 - 60 employees from different cultures and who spoke different languages.

The 3 partners began trading in beaver but, when beaver hats fell out of style in the 1830’s, they migrated towards buffalo. Their traders ranged throughout the west and into what today is called New Mexico. As a result of their business acumen, their reputation for fairness and their ability to bridge many different cultures, they were an instrument of Manifest Destiny, bringing more and more Americans into and settling the West.

The original fort is long gone but extensive archeology at the site has revealed the original walls and rooms of the first floor. In addition, Lieutenant James W Abert of the American Army and a topographical engineer, made drawings and took measurements of every room while he was a visitor at the fort in 1846 and these precise records have been used to build a faithful reconstruction of the original fort.

We spent some time talking with the volunteer in the gift shop there who, with her husband, had been ranchers in the area. She told us that they had little water on their land since the water rights had been sold forever to Denver by a previous owner of the land. An interesting concept. We owned an acre in New Hampshire on which we had drilled a well. Could we have sold the water rights to our neighbor so that any new owner would have to drill his or her own well? I don’t know. But, then I guess this is why people are selling shale oil rights to large oil companies who are now drilling on their land.

After we had toured the fort, we decided to take the walk around the fort as our exercise for the day. We breezed by the sign at the beginning of the trail although Gary read aloud that the park closed at 4:00 and the gates would be locked. Luckily I was listening (for once I was actually listening to him), looked at my watch and realized that it was 3:45 and we would never get the path walked before 4:00. Oops, we turned 180 degrees and headed back to the RV so we would not be locked in.

We returned to the nearest town, found the Walmart, asked if they would allow us to park there overnight and parked for the evening.