Bent's Fort

Bent's Old Fort is a National Historic Site in Bent County, Colorado. William and Charles Bent, along with Ceran St. Vrain, built the original fort on this site in 1833 to trade with Plains Indians and trappers. The adobe fort quickly became the center of the Bent, St. Vrain Company's expanding trade empire that included Fort St.Vrain to the north and Fort Adobe to the south, along with company stores in Mexico at Taos and Santa Fe. The primary trade was with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians for buffalo robes. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1472x966, 220 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Bents Old Fort National Historic Site Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1472x966, 220 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Bents Old Fort National Historic Site Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... National Historic Site is a designation for a protected area of historic significance. ... Bent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. ... Born in St. ... Charles Bent (1799-1847) was appointed as the first Governor of the newly acquired New Mexico Territory by Governor Stephen Watts Kearny in September, 1846. ... Ceran St. ... 1833 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Plains Indians were a group of tribes who lived in a region of North America called the Great Plains. ... Taos (IPA: ) is a city located in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico. ... Motto: Nickname: Map Political Statistics Founded 1607 Incorporated Santa Fe County Mayor Larry A. Delgado Geographic Statistics Area  - Total  - Land  - Water 96. ... The Cheyenne are a Native American nation of the Great Plains. ... Scabby Bull, Arapaho 1806 Arapaho camp, ca. ... Binomial name Bison bison Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies B. b. ...

For much of its 16-year history, the fort was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements. The fort provided explorers, adventurers, and the U.S. Army a place to get needed supplies, wagon repairs, livestock, good food, water and company, rest and protection in this vast "Great American Desert." During the Mexican-American War in 1846, the fort became a staging area for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny's "Army of the West". The Santa Fe Trail was a historic 19th century transportation route across southwestern North America connecting Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. ... Official language(s) none, English most common Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 21st 69,709 mi²; 180,693 km² 240 mi; 385 km 300 mi; 480 km 1. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Combatants United States Mexico Commanders Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Stephen W. Kearney Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia Strength 60,000 40,000 Casualties KIA: 1,733 Total dead: 13,283 Wounded: 4,152 25,000 (Mexican government estimate) The Mexican-American War was fought... Stephen Watts Kearny (August 30, 1794–October 31, 1848) was a United States Army officer, noted for action during the Mexican American War. ...

For much of the 20th century there have been two main opposing theories for the 1849 destruction of the Fort. In his book Colorado (1889), George Bancroft attributes the Fort's demise to an attack by local indigenous tribes; "Bent's fort was also captured subsequently and the inmates slaughtered". This theory has since been largely discounted. Historians now lean towards the explanation that William Bent himself attempted to sell the Fort to the U.S. Army and, when he failed to extract a sum he felt the sale warranted he mined the fort with gunpowder and explosive charges and "blew it to pieces" on August 21, 1849. Certainly eye-witnesses who saw the fort after its abandonment tend to describe damage and destruction as being greater than would have been the case had the Fort simply fallen prey to abandonment and neglect. George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian and statesman. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Smokeless powder Gunpowder, whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance that burns very rapidly, releasing gases that act as a propellant in firearms. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ...

Archeological excavations and original sketches, paintings and diaries were used in the fort's reconstruction in 1976. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ...

External links

• National Park Service

Coordinates: 38.042886° N -103.430786° E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically); large version (pdf) The geographic (earth-mapping) coordinate system expresses every horizontal position on Earth by two of the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system which is aligned with the spin axis of the Earth. ...

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