Bent's Fort

Though BENT'S FORT was published in hardcover by Doubleday back in 1954, this book can yet be used as a great introduction and study to both the Bent family and their fort on the Arkansas River. Neither Fort Union nor Fort Pierre, two of the largest centers of the mountain and plains fur trade, could come close to meeting its elegance. The fort was so impregnable that no Indian tribe in its right mind would ever try to attack it, and anyone inside its walls either stayed peaceable or they stayed outside. Situated at it was, the fort was convenient to both the Southern Cheyenne tribe but also to the weary travelers involved with the Santa Fe wagon trade. Among others who visited the fort were trappers and traders from as far away as the Rocky Mountains, and many other persons either lodged at the fort, worked at the fort or just generally hung around the fort. The fort's location has been re-established in recent years and a replica now stands where the original once stood. A sentinel of the prairie, the fort still stands forth drawing numerous visitors each year just as in the days of Ceran St. Vrain the Bents. Up to 200 men and 400 animals could easily be garrisoned within Bent's Fort, there were small rooms available for lodging, food available, even a blacksmith shop, and an odd assortment of tribes also: beside the Cheyenne who were kin to the Bents, could be found Arapahoe, Kiowa, Comanche, Osage, Ute, Gros Ventres, and mingled among these were also trappers, traders, bull whackers, Frenchmen from both St. Louis and as far away as Canada. This fort was the largest gathering point west of the last Missouri settlement. A settlement behind impregnable walls 14 feet high and 4 feet thick, that was self sufficient, one that dealt fairly and honestly with all traders, white or otherwise, and one especially trusted by the Indians, and a settlement that also made money for its owners. Though this study by David Lavender is indeed half century old the general historical perspective offered here is still valid and enjoyable. And in its inexpensive trade edition from The University of Nebraska Press a bargain for western readers interested in either the fort, the trappers-traders, the Indians, and/or Santa Fe trade wagons. So dig in and enjoy learning about this bastion of the plains. One of the more unique buildings of that era lasting up until 1849. Semper Fi.

For a book written in 1954, I was surprised at the thoughtfulness and consideration given the Indians. Over and over Lavender brings to the fore the emotional lives of the Indians, he makes clear how these immigrant whites mixed with Indians and Mexicans in a rather ho-hum no-big-deal, she's-my-wife manner, and he skewers those whites in power who brought the Sand Creek Massacre about. However he does not shrink from portraying Indian lives as more Hobbesian than many of us, steeped as we have been for decades in the "noble savage" myth, would like to admit was true, and pulls no punches in using the language of the time. My! how horrible for our own history to be given to us straight and unfiltered. Essential for Coloradoans; the names of many of the people in this book are now forever attached to the creeks, mesas, rivers, and mountains around us. Difficult to imagine that the border of Mexico was the south bank of the Arkansas River until 1848. Bent's Fort was rebuilt in the 70's, it's just east of La Junta. I have liked everything Lavender has written so far - this is another excellent entry in the list.

This is one of the all-time great histories. Well-written, as fascinating as any action-adventure fiction, but one comes away from reading this book with the feeling that you have really been there with the Bent. One of the many neglected stories of our history, and one that needed to be told. Lavender did a magnificent job with it.

One fantastic, engrossing book! Bent's Fort is in southeastern Colorado and this book gives the history of that area along with Taos and Sante Fe. Couldn't put the book down. The fort bordered what was then the United States and Mexico. We see how the Bent brothers establish a trading post along the Arkansas River in the 1830's and began a long career of not only in trading with the Indians and Mexicans, but also get involved in the uprising of hostilities between Mexico and the United States. The cultural descriptions of our Native Americans is very well done. It is a great read and as another reviewer said, it is as if the characters simply come alive and you feel as though you know them personally.

I flew through Bent's Fort in a week after it was recommended to me by a friend. I wasn't all that interested in the topic but I decided to read a few chapters and give it a try. I instantly became hooked. Bent's fort gives the reader an inside look into the West BEFORE it became the stuff of lore (i.e. Lincoln County War, Pat Garrett, Custer, etc.). Lavender starts with the mountain men roaming the Missouri and Rockies and their relationship with the Plains indians. His knowledge of the Indians (specifically the Cheyenne tribe), really brings the sometimes forgotten native people, down to a personal level. Most of the book centers around the Bent family and its fort located in SE Colorado between 1820 - 1870. With the Bent's into trading, much is also written about St. Louis, Santa Fe, Taos and the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers . What I really liked about the book is the personal level Lavender gets the Old west characters down to. It feels like you know William Bent, Kit Carson and Yellow Wolf. A great deal of the book also deals with Mexico and the trader's relationship with the country up to the Mexican War and after the US gained possession of the territory. One thing that really surprised me was the amount of small, sporadic fights that went on between the Indians, the Mexicans and the whites. Lavender writes about all the small skirmishes, what precipitated them, and how things cooled off into a peaceful state again. If you do plan to read Bent's Fort, I suggest you do so with an atlas handy. Lavender writes about hundreds of places in the Southwest and it's hard to get a gauge as to where the events occurred unless you have an atlas. Also, if you are reading this book for reference material, do not plan to cite dates of events. Because the Bent's did not keep journals, many of the years listed for when things happened are just educated guesses. It's fine for the reader but if you're working on a college paper, it could be a headache. I recommend this book to any history buff who wants to know what the West was like when it was first discovered by whites and how their relationships were with the Indians and Mexicans. Lavender also gives the reader a feeling on how it was to venture out to an unknown land and what chores were needed to do daily to survive. Just remember you atlas before starting!