A Lot of Bents and a Kit

First there was William Bent. He was the father of the six other Bents who followed in his footsteps, and the founder of the business he left to them. He came to the west in the early 1840's, and settled near what is now La Junta, Colorado, on the north side of the Arkansas River.

His business was trading.  He was a merchant, and he was a diplomat.  He learned to understand the Indian and Mexican cultures around him and through his ability to communicate and provide what others wanted he successfully began trading goods from Europe and Eastern America to his customers, and getting goods through them from Asia and Central and South America, and furs of all kinds from the Indians, to send back.  His ox pulled wagons were legendary for outworking any other kind of dray animal in hauling huge amounts of goods back and forth on their three month journeys over what would become known as the the Santa Fe Trail.


Today we stayed one more day about 2 hours from Colorado Springs down in the southeast corner of the state. And we visited William Bent's settlement. This is probably the most important location, homestead, fortified trading post in all of Western America. Bent's Old Fort (as distinguished from the Bent's New Fort Trading Post he built closer to the US Cavalry at the new Fort Lyon, a few miles east of the original fort site.

That fort is marked by a stone pillar.  The original fort, up into the 1970's, was similarly marked along the highway about half a mile north of its location.  Then, for the American Bicentennial, the National Park Service and a large team of archaeologists and experts in the history of the area began a monumental task.

On the exact site, upon the original preserved foundations of the old adobe, many roomed caravansary was built what stands today. A most exacting replica of the original sanctuary of trade.

Bents Old Fort stands today as it did almost 180 years ago.  Each of the many rooms are meticulously decorated to fit the persons who we know used each one during the life of the fort.

Though never attacked by a mass of warriors often disagreements between Indian tribes would break out so that the gates would have to be closed and shots fired from the parapets of two round towers cannon before the fray would end.

Packed with people of many languages and cultures it was possibly the most eclectic community, changing every few days as people came and went in all directions, since the Venice of Marco Polo's day.

In the photo above Carrie is driving a shuttle from
the parking lot to the fort.
No vehicles of any kind are allowed
within a quarter mile of the walls.

Today we got to meet Carrie, who was one of the several very correctly costumed guides in the fort.  She has only been working as a docent here since June so she does not play the part of a specific historical character, but she says if she learns enough about the fort and a character she will one day.  If so, she'll probably have to play a Mexican, as the Park Service wants only Indians to play their roles, and the only white woman known to ever set foot in  the fort was a 19 year old wife of a wealthy trader who only stayed less than two weeks.

All of the most influential men and women of the southwest stayed, lived, or worked at the fort in its day.  Just a few of them include the persons depicted on the sign to the right.

Kit Carson had trapped and scouted for the US Army by the time, in his mid-twenties, he signed on as a hunter and then driver-guard for William Bent.  They became fast friends, and over the years as Kit went from heroic Indian fighter to Indian peacemaker (he did much to save both the Navajo and Ute nations from genocide by  misguided or Indian hating whites) he was always welcome in any Bent home.

The site of Carson's final home, and first grave site, is at Boggsville, south of Lamar, Colorado, near Fort Lyons, and Bent's New Fort.

We visited these locations today, and the complete photo record is available on my Facebook Page.

---

At the end of the day we arrived at Pikes Peak Traveland back in Colorado Springs to pick up the coach. We have a couple of things to touch base with them on tomorrow morning and then, God willing, we'll be able to head out east. First stop: Kit Carson.

This has been a long time blending various shop visits with touring, relaxing, and being RETIRED.  We were told not to treat our new lifestyle like a vacation, and we think we've pretty much succeeded!

Seriously, we have done and seen so much that is new and exciting in these first two months.  And we have and are learning so much about living full time in an RV.  But each day the coach is more home than any other place to us.  And each day we thank God for the chance to meet so many new people, and learn about so many new ways to live on this earth.

-Ken