Royalty-free images by Mike1 — No. 160 of over 1200 images
Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, near La Junta, Colorado, September 5, 2018
Built by fur and Indian trading business Bent, St. Vrain & Company in 1833, Bent’s Fort—then called Fort William—was a very strongly built trading post at a strategic location on the Sante Fe Trail near the north bank of the Arkansas River. Proximity to the Rockies brought trappers in with their beaver pelts. Also near the hunting grounds of various Plains tribes, such as Arapaho, Kiowa, and Southern Cheyenne, the post traded tobacco, axes, firearms and other goods for the Indians’ buffalo robes, horses and mules.
When built, the fort was on the border across the Arkansas River from Mexico. In May 1846, the U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico. A month later, General Stephen W. Kearny Army West of the left Fort Leavenworth and by the end of August, his forces had gained control of New Mexico. Kearney established a joint civil and military government, appointing Charles Bent, then living in Taos, as acting civil governor.
On Jnuary 14, 1847, Governor Bent traveled to his home in Taos without military escort. After his arravial he was skalped alive and assasinated by a newly formed group of Hispanics and Taos Indians.2
Post Endnotes
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- I am sharing some of my public domain images in periodic blog posts.
- Wroth, William. “Charles Bent, Biographical Sketch.” New Mexico History. Accessed October 4, 2021. http://www.aztecnm.com… Bent.pdf.
Series Notes:
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