| Bent's
Old Fort La Junta , CO |
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Trading such items as tobacco, beads, cloth, pipes, gunpowder, cooking pots, dried foods, tools and bells for beaver pelts, Indian buffalo robes and horses, the Bents and St. Vrain became very wealthy. They bought out other trade shops (or shot the owners if they wouldn't sell) and cornered the market from Wyoming to Texas to Mexico. The fort was, for the most part, a peaceful gathering place for many cultures and was often used as a meeting hall for peace talks between Native American tribes. It was abandoned in 1849 after a cholera epidemic and the great changes that were taking place in the diet, clothing, communication and travel of the Native Americans and the white settlers of the west. |
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The fort was used as a staging area for America's invasion of the northern province of Mexico. Military supplies were stored in the rooms and soldiers slept at the fort. |
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;) "The
traders tricked the Indians into trading with them for more than things
were worth. They showed them how easily the Indian things could break, then
how sturdy theirs were. Steel knives were much stronger than blades made
from stone. The Indians were glad to have better tools, but sometimes the
white men asked for too much in trade. They became very rich on the Indians'
buffalo hides."--Amanda |
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;) "Even
though John Simpson Smith only had a 4th grade education, after he worked
at the Fort and got in the government, he made more money than the president.
Just by making trades with the Indians and selling 'bricks of tea',
the genaral store made what is equal to $9.7B in today's money. They charged
up to 4,000% more than they paid for goods. Smith could speak Engligh, Spanish,
Arapahoe, Cheyenne and other Indian languages. He secured peace treaties
between tribes."--Harrison |
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;) "This
$100K billiard ball table is an exact replica of the one that used to be
here. This wasn't originally on the building, but the builders put it on
when they realized that the people were getting bored. There is also a small
wine 'cellar' in the back of this room. Once, a woman spillied a
soda on the green, causing her to pay a fine and having them replace it,
which was very costly."--Harrison |
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PLEASE DONATE GENEROUSLY TO HELP THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA
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Taking
advantage of location, brothers William and Charles Bent and their partner,
Ceran St. Vrain, established a trading fort between the U.S. and Mexico
on the north bank of the Arkansas River. Built in 1831-33 by Mexican
workers, the fort attracted trappers heading to and from the Rocky Mountains,
many Native American tribes that used the area for hunting, and settlers
traveling the Santa Fe Trail. 
;)
;)
