Beyond the Old Frontier

T'S

d to the first permanent settlement on its plains and the first permanent settler there. In the accounts of that

ents and whenc

Boston Tea Party." Silas was educated for the bar, and came to St. Louis in 1804 at the time the government of Louisiana was turne

wrote a report on the Japan current for an American scientific society. He delivered addresses on meteorology in St. Louis in 1879, and on climate as affecting cattle-breeding in the year 1884. Four oth

young.5 Very likely he was then a small boy only ten or twelve years old. It was there that Charles and William Bent became acquainted with Robert Campbell, of St. Louis, who remained a firm friend of the brothers throughout his life. William Bent could speak the Sioux la

s the date of William Bent's birth as 1809, whic

ttled near the Purgatoire, just below the present city of Pueblo, Colorado, in 1824; that is to say, two years before he and his brother began to erect their first trading estab

n what is now Colorado, and for a very long time he was not only

ation for courage being remarkable even among that class of daring men. He was tirelessly active in prosecuting the aims of his trade, making frequent trips to the camps of the various tribes with which he, and later his company, had dealings, and to the

his home, and there his children were born, the oldest, Mary, about 1836, Robert in 1839-his own statement made in 1865 says 1841-George in July, 1843, and Julia in 1847.

f the Chouteaus, established the early trading post near the Arkansas. After occupying this stockade for two years or more, they moved down below Pueblo and built another stockade on the Arkansas. Two years later they began to build the more ambitious post afte

VER, DELA

RGE

r the delay. Charles Bent was determined that the fort should be built of adobes in order to make it fireproof, so that under no circumstances could it be burned by the Indians. Besides that, adobes were much more durable and more comfortable-cool in summer, warm in winter-than logs would have been. When th

those not attacked. William Bent, St. Vrain, Kit Carson, and other white men who were there caught the smallpox from the Mexicans, and though none died the

y to the fort. He told them of132 what had happened, and warned them to return north and not to come near the post until sent for. The Cheyennes obeyed, and it was not until some time later, when all at Fort William had recovered and when the temporary stockade with all the infect

e fort was resumed. Not long before his death, Kit Carson stated that at one time

Arkansas River. Garrard says that the post was a hundred feet square and the walls thirty feet in height. Another account says that the walls ran a hundred and fifty feet east

° 3′ west from133 Greenwich. The exterior walls of this fort, whose figure is that of an oblong square, are fifteen feet high and four fe

ers, thirty feet in height and ten feet in diameter inside, with loopholes for mu

s. These were intended for use in case an attempt were made to take the fort by means of ladders put up against

ks. These doors were studded with heavy nails and plated with sheet-iron, so that they could never be b

n a pivot. Here certain members of the garrison, relieving each other at stated intervals, were constantly on the lookout. There was a chair for the watchman to sit in and a bed for his sleeping. If the watchman, through his glass, noticed anything unusual-for examp

were sometimes confined within this belfry, or at others were allowed to fly about free, returning of their own accord to sleep in the belfry. One of these eagles finally disapp

BENT'S

e later years of the post. It was long enough to accommodate a large billiard-table, and across one end of the room ran a counter, or bar, over which drinkables were served. These luxuries were brought out by Robert and George135 Bent, you

t right angles to the main enclosing walls of the fort, and these supporting wa

me the Indians, or at least the Cheyenne Indians, had free run of the post and were allowed to go upstairs, on the walls, and into the watch tower. The various rooms about the courtyard received light and air from the doors and windows opening out into this courtyard, which was gravelled. The floors of the rooms were of beaten clay, as was commonly the case in Mexican houses, and the roofs were built in the same fashion that long prevailed in the West. Poles were la

Fort Bent. As we passed the fort the American flag was raised in compliment to our troops and in concert with our own streamed most animatingly on

o faced the river. It was of wood, but was completely plated with sheet-iron. More than that, to prevent any one from climbing in by night, the tops of the walls had been thickly planted with cactus-a large variety which grows about a foot high and has great fle

tside the fort and opening the main gate of the corral. This door was wide and arched at the top. It was made large enough, so that in case of necessity-if

or sun-dried bricks. In winter when the river was frozen this ice-house was filled, and in it during the summer was kept all the surplus

g them not to go in there from the hot sun, as it was too cold and they might get sick. This negro cook, Andrew Green by name, a slave owned by Governor Charles Bent, was with him when he was kil

he Northern Indians; that is, with the Sioux and Northern Cheyennes, who seldom got down south as far as the Arkansas River, and so would not often come to Fort William. The Fort Adobe on the Canadian was built by request of the chiefs of t

hot, and was adorned with many little brass rings. Before peace was made between the Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches in the year 1840, the last three tribes were more or less afraid to visit Fort139 William, lest they should there meet a large camp of their enemies, and Colonel Bent and the traders were also especially anxious to avoid any collision at the fort. Eac

time, and their ruins have been seen until quite recently. Near the ruins o

eath there, at the hands of the Mexicans and Pueblos, in the year 1847. It is not certain when St. Vrain, Lee, and Benito Vasquez became partners in the business, nor how long they were interested

George Bent was a great friend of Frank P. Blair, whom he appointed guardian for his children. He died at the fort about 1848 of consumption, and was buried near his brother Robert in the graveyard which lay a short dis

ew Mexico and drove them across the plains to the Missouri market. In the forties, in company with several other men, he secured a large land grant from the Mexican government in the Arkansas valley above the fort and attempted to found a colony there. Mexican settlers were established on the lands. The colonists were inert, the India

as in the Mexican territory. In 1846 he guided Colonel Price's Missouri regiment across the plains to New Mexico, and was so popu

R CHARL

of the Santa Fé caravans he was as much liked as William Bent was among the trappers and Indians; indeed, on more than one occasion, he was elected captain of the caravan and conducted it safely to Santa Fé. These caravans of Missouri traders were richly laden for those days. The outfit of 1832 brought back from New Mexic

o with his little army in the fall. Having put Governor Bent and his civil government in control of affairs, the general left a few troops in and about Santa Fé, and with the rest of his forces marched for California. Hardly had he gone when rumors of a rev

lled in various wa

nt against the Navajo Indians, has made treaty of peace with them. Not having been officially notified of this treaty, I am not able to state

l authorities from the territory. I immediately brought into requisition every means in my power to ascertain who were the movers in the rebellion, and have succeeded in securing seven of the secondary conspirators. T

r northern counties of the territory, and the men considered as

conspiracy, I thought it advisable to turn them over to the military authorities in order that these pers

territory will, I think,144 conclusively convince our Government of the necessi

Bent's arrival. On the 19th of January a mob of Pueblos entered the town and attempted to force the American sheriff, Lee, to give up these three prisoners. Lee, being helpless to resist the Indians' demands, was on the point of releasing his prisoners when the prefect of the town, Vigil, a Mexican who had taken office under the American Government,

. Dunn, "and the Indians began tearing up the roof. With all the calmness of a noble soul he stood awaiting his doom. His wife brought him his pistols and told him to fight, to avenge himself, even if he must die. The Indians were exposed to his aim, but he replied, 'No, I will not kill any one of them; for the sake of you, my wife, and you, my children. At present my death is all these people wish.' As the savages poured into the room he appealed to their manhood and honor,

iately following the massacre, tells of Go

ther house. The wife of the occupant, a clever, though thriftless, Canadian, heard him, and with all her strength rendered him assistance, though she was a Mexican. He retreated to a room, but seeing no way of escaping from the infuriated assailants who fired upon him through a window, he spoke to his weeping wife and tre

were Stephen Lee, Narcis

ill all the Mexicans, but William Bent would not permit it. A party from Bent's Fort set out for Taos, but on the road were met by messengers announcing that Colonel Price had marched into Taos at the head of two hundred and

Arroyo Hondo, was a costly triumph to the Pueblos. H

the battle in

had been warned of the intended insurrection, but had treated the report with indifference and neglect, until one morning a man named Otterbees, in the employ of Turley, and who had been dispatched to Santa Fé with several mule-loads of whiskey a few days before, made his appearance at the gate on horseback, and hastily informing the in

summoned Turley to surrender his house and the Americans in it, guaranteeing that his own life should be saved, but that every other American in the valley of Tao

ever surrender his house nor his men, and that,

they numbered about 500, but the crowd was hourly augmented by the arrival of parties of Indian

, about twenty yards from one side of the square, and on the other side was broken ground, which rose abruptly and formed the bank of the ravine

s broke, and, scattering, concealed themselves149 under t

on every exposed portion of the building wher

the dust, and parties were constantly seen bearing off the wounded up the banks of the Ca?ada. Darkness came on, and during the night a continual fire was kept up on the mill, while its defenders, reserving their ammunition, kept their posts with stern and silent determination. The night was spent in running balls, cutting patches, and completing the defences of the building. In the morning the fight was ren

d to cross, and who happened to be a Pueblo chief, was dropped on the instant and fell dead in the center of the intervening space. It appeared an object to recover the body, for an Indian immediately dashed out to the fallen chief and attempted to drag him within the cover of the wall. The rifle which covered the spot again poured forth its deadly contents, and the Indian, springing into the air, fell over the body of his

ants, with a shout of rage, poured in a rattling volley, and two of the defenders of the mill fell mortally wounded.151 One, shot through the loi

fire to the mill, which blazed fiercely and threatened destruction to the whole building. Twice they succeeded in overcoming the flames, and, taking advantage of their being thus occupied, the Mexicans and Indians charged into the corral, which was full of hogs and sheep, and vented their cowardly rage upon the animals, spearing and shooting all that came in their way. No sooner, however, were the flames extingu

th knives and lances. Lying without motion under the fence, as soon as it was quite dark he crept over the logs and ran up the mountain, traveled day and night, and, scarcely stopping or resting, reached the Greenhorn, almost dead with hunger and fatigue. Turley himself succeeded in escaping from the mill and in reaching the mountain unseen. Here he met a Mexican, mounted on a horse, who had been a most intimate friend of the unfortunate man for many years.

53 and gutted, and all his hard-earned savings, which were considerable, and concealed in go

rched out of Santa Fé, attacked their pueblo, and levelled it to the ground, killing

ft only Colonel William Bent to carry on the business of Bent's Fort, and the trade with Mexico, togeth

e daughters is said to be still living (1909) in Mexico, very old. Tom Boggs married the ot

I

VRAIN AND

any. As already stated, besides Bent's Fort the Bent partners154 had a post on the South Platte at the mouth of St. Vrain's Fork, and one on the Ca

atte from the north and west, a few mil

ent of troops under the command of Kit Carson, who then bore a commission in the United States army. Carson had with him a number of Ute scouts. The fight was a severe one, and Carson, after burning one of the Kiowa villages, was obliged to retreat. In that battle the Indians fought bravely, and one of them

agons were never used by plains Indians, whose only vehicle was the travois, which consisted of two long poles tied together over the horses' withers, an

of troops along the Arkansas, not long before his death told the story of an ambulance presented to one of the K

them, his immediate following, kept out of that war. These were mostly the old warriors, but the younger men, who constituted a majority of the tribe,

had on his hands and which in156 some of its parts was nearly worn out. After inducing Major Sedgwick to have it condemned as unfit for service, Lieut. McIntyre had his blacksmith fix it up a little and presented it to the old chief. McIntyre fitted a couple of sets of old harness to a pair of To′hau sen's ponies and ha

lt themselves houses in the shelter of the Adobe Walls. The attack on the buffalo-hunters was made in the endeavor to drive these hide-hunters out of the bu

, the mountains were full of idle trappers, and a colony of these settled some miles above Bent's Fort, on the site of the present city of Pueblo, Col., where they did a little farming and a great deal of smuggling of liquor from Mexico to the plains country. The stagnation in the beaver trade, of course, affected the business of William Bent, who, since the death of his brother Charles, had not les

Arkansas River, about thirty-eight miles below old Fort William, and finished it the same year. This was the winter camp of the Cheyennes. At that time the Big Timbers extended up the riv

o call the new fort Fort Fauntleroy, after the colonel of the old Second Dragoons, but finally the place was rechristened Fort Wise, in honor of the Governor of Virginia. The following summer, 1860, the troops built a stockade half a mile above Bent's old stone buildings. When the Civil W

ans. Kit Carson lived on the same side of the river, and not far from the Bent stockade. Carson died at Fort Lyon, May 23, 1868, and his friend William Bent, at his

appers, in splendid deerskin hunting-shirts and leggings, with long fringes on159 the outer seams of the arms and legs, the shi

ure like an old baronial castle that has withstood the wars and desolations of centuries." To him the Indian women, walking swiftly about the courtyard and on the roofs of the houses, clad in long deerskin dresses and bright moccasins, were full of interest; while the naked children, with perfect forms and the red of the Saxon blood showing through the darker hue of the mother race, excited his enthusiasm. He wond

race; Mexican servants, hardly more civilized than the Indians; and all these seated on the ground, gathered around a great dish of dried meat, which constituted their only food. The prairie men who talked narrated their adventures in the North, the West, the South, and among the mountains, while othe

traders and clerks busy at their work; the patrols walking the battlements with loaded muskets; the guards in the bastion, standing with burning matches by the carronades; and when the sun set, the Indians retiring again to their camp outside, to

assed by, some enthusiastic employee charged it with too great a load of powder, and in saluting the General it burst. Some time after that an iron cannon was brought from Santa Fé, and during the day always stood

the fort was filled to overflowing with people: soldiers and officers, white trappers, Indian trappers, Mexicans, Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas, and Indian women, the wives of trappers from the far away Columbia and St. Lawrence. Every one was busy talking-a babel of tongues and jargon

illery, and of infantry but two companies. It was an army of 1,700 men, and yet to the Indians assembled at the fort it must have seemed indeed an army, for perhaps few of them had ever dreamed that there were half as many men in the whole "white tribe." The column drew near the fort, swinging to the left, forded the river to

L S. W

iginal dag

RSON,

d constantly to provide meat for163 the employees. Though the number of these varied, there might be from sixty

rs devoted themselves to hunting. Often game could be killed within sight of the post, but at other times it was necessary for the hunter to take with him a wagon or pack-animals, for he might be obliged t

Indians, these troubles were very rare; yet the vigilance of the garris

of good grass close at hand, so that the herd could be grazed within sight of the walls. Even so, however, the Indians occasionally swept off the stock,

6

CA

in the Capitol a

re heard this acc

n the best possible situation to be driven hastily to the corral, should the Indians, or other evil persons, swoop down upon them. And as there is constant danger of this, his horse is held by a long rope, and grazes around him, that he may be mounted quickly at the first alarm for a retreat within the walls. The faithful guard at Bent's, on the morning of the disaster I am relating, had dismounted after driving out his animals, and sat upon the ground, watching with the greatest fidelity for every call of duty; when these 50 or 60 Indians sprang from their hiding places, ran165 upon the animals, yelling horribly, and attempted to drive them across the river. The guard, however, nothing daunted, mounted quickly, and drove his horse at full speed among them. The mules and horses hearing his voice amidst the frightening yells of the savages, immediately started at a lively pace for the fort; but the Indians

onies by them, and thus saved them. The Crows had not gone many miles before they halted, and camped in a thicket on the margin of a little stream, thinking that a party of twelve men would not dare to follow them on foot; therefore, when they beheld Carson and his men coming on their trail they were greatly astonished. They left the stolen animals behind them, and came boldly out on the open prairie to annihilate the venturesome white men, but all of Carson's party had excellent rifles and one or two pistols apiece. Carson used to tell how surprised those Crows were when they charged down upon his men and w

go east as far as the valley of the Republican, for the purpose of gathering winter supplies of choke-cherries and plums. In the autumn the Suhtai and the Hill people-H?s′s?-o-mē′ta-nē-went up west into the foothills of the mountains to kill mule-d

their old friends and neighbors, the Crows, but when they did this they kept away to the westward, close to the mountains, in order to avoid the camps of the Cheyennes. Nevertheless, such travelling parties were occasionally met by the Cheyennes or Arapahoes, and168 fights occurred. It was in such a fight that an old woman, now (1912) known as White Cow Woman, or t

rder of the United States. In those days the Indians used to make raids into Mexican territory, sweeping off great herds of horses and mules

communication with peons in the Mexican settlements, and from them learned just which places were unguarded, where the best herds and most plunder were to be secured, and where the Mexican troops were stationed. The peon169 then led his war-party to the locality selected, and they ran off the herds, burned

ble with meat, at other times he went with the wagon-train to Missouri, acting as hunter for the outfit. The f

n, Howard Co., Mo., to whom he had been bound to learn the saddler's trade, on or about the first day of September last. He is supposed to have made his way toward the upper part o

avid W

klin, Oct

ployed by Bent and St. Vrain. From 1834 to 1842, he was constantly at the fort. He married a daughter of Charles Bea

in the militia of New Mexico or Colorado, and rose

T BENT

f any number of people were there, they often had balls or dances, in which trappers, travellers, Indians, Indian women, and Mexican women all took part. Employed about the post there was always a Frenchman or two who could

7

General Kearny in 1846. Took an active part

ire River to gather wild mint for mint-juleps to be drunk in honor of the day. For the brewin

and keeping the books. These we may call clerks, or store-keepers, and mechanics. Another group took care of the live-stock, herding and caring for the horses and mules, while still others

fly Americans, the hunters and laborers might be white men, Mexicans, or Frenchmen. Some of the Delawares and Shawnees-of whom Black Beaver was one of the most famous-were hunters and trappers, while others of their race were teamsters, and went back and forth with the trains between Westpor

aster, who was responsible for everything. It was loaded with robes. With the train went most of the teamsters and herders, together with some of the laborers. The journey was to last nearly six months. Each heavy wagon was drawn by six yoke of oxen, driven by a tea

e wagons were corralled, the bulls freed from their yokes, and, in charge of the night herders, who during the day had been sleeping in the wagons,173 were driven off to the best grass and there fed and rested until morning, when they were driven back to the corral to be t

r. Then camp was made, the wagons were again corralled, the herds turned out, and the principal meal of the day, which might be called breakfast or dinner, was prepared. Perhaps during the morning the hunters had killed buffalo or antelope, and this with bread satisfied the keen appetites of the men. If fres

of all the others, not leaving the place until the difficulty had been wholly overcome. Besides looking after a multitude of details, such as the shoeing of the oxen, the greasing of the wagons, which took place every two or three days, and the condition of the animals in the yok

broadly, a herd of horses and work-cattle. Also p

on the end of which several men threw themselves to raise the wagon, so that the wheel could be taken off. If

tlements, and returned full of goods. The front end of the wagon inclined somewhat forward, and about half-way down the front was a box, secur

ill game, and usually when the train came to the appointed camping-place, they were found there resting in the shade, with a load of meat. Sometimes, if they

pped for noon, and their cattle had been turned out and the meal eaten, these men w

eath. Forks or spoons were not known. Each man marked his own plate and cup, usually by rudely scratching his initials or mark on it, and when he had finished using it, he washed or cleansed it himself. Each mess chose its cook from among its members. The food eaten by these travellers, though simple, was wholesome an

were repulsed, and Red Sleeves, their chief, was killed. The fork is called by the Indians Red Sleeves' Creek, in remembrance of this affair. Charle

al, while the yokes and chains for each bull team were cared for by the driver of the team. Usually they were carried into

ry wood for the manufacture of bows. There was no hickory nearer than Council Grove, and if an I

s of white travellers came and stayed for a little while, and then went on again. During this time especial precautions were taken against trouble with the Indians. At night, the fort was closed early, and conditions sometimes arose under which admission to the fort might be refused by the tr

, if they wished to, ask questions, but they were not to take things in their hands. Toward the close of the day, as the sun got low, a chief or principal man went through the fort, and said to the young men who were lounging here and there: "Now, soon these people

bably Murray, declined to let them in, and when they endeavored to force their way into the post, he killed one of them, when the others went away

*

reater part of the laborers and teamsters had little or nothing to do, and spent most of the winter in idleness, lounging about the fort, or occasionally going out hunting. Besides the regular inhabitants there were many visitors, some of whom spent a long time at the for

asined trappers, in their fringed, beaded, or porcupine-quilled buckskin garments swung merry-faced, laughing Indian women in the rough but hearty dances of the frontier. To the employees of the fort liq

traders, who dealt out goods to the Indians in the post, receiving their furs in payment, and who were sent off to dist

sher, an American, Nō-mā-nī′, Fish; Hatcher, a Kentuckian, Hē-hīm′nī-hō-nāh′, Freckled Hand; Thomas Boggs, a Missourian, W?hk′ po-h?m′, White Horse; Jo

ndent or foreman at the fort, but had nothing to do with the trading

ng the traders. He usually remained at the fort, and was almost always left in charge when the train

. Besides this, often when villages of Indians came and camped somewhere near the post, the chiefs would request that a particular man be sent to their vil

, this transportation was by wagon, but if over rough country pack-mules were used. If on arrival at the camp the trader found that the trade was going to be large, and that he required more goods, he sent back his wagon, or some of his animals, to the post for addi

see to its distribution, and to be responsible that payment should be made for it, a lot of liquor would be sent out to a camp, packed in kegs of varying sizes. A trader coming into the villages would deposit his load in the lodge of the chief. The Indians wishing to trade would come to the lodge and offer what they had to trade, and each would be assigned a keg of a certain size, sufficient to pay for the robes, horses, or mules that he sold. Each Indian then tied a piece of cloth or a string to his keg, so as to mark it as his, and it remained in the chief's l

ates to be sold there; but a great trade also went on in horses and mules, of which the Indians possessed great numbers, and of which they were always getting more. These horses and mules were taken back to the settlements and sold there, but t

rds, and with them a celebrated rider known at the fort, and in later years to183 all the Cheyennes, as One-eyed Juan, whose sole occupation was breaking horses, a vocation which he followed until he was too old to get into the saddle. It was said of him that when he wished to s

er took a herd of horses which had been bought wild from the Comanches and broken by the Mexicans at the fort ov

d especially from the Comanches, were wild horses taken by the Comanches from the great herd

o California. On one occasion Hatcher, with a force of Mexican herders, was sent up there in charge of a great herd of horses and mules, and remained alongside184 the t

us to the trail, and there we can buy all we need from the emigrants. Moreover, they have great numbers of broken-down horses, and it would be a good idea to buy these for little or nothing, an

ew Green, the bourgeois's cook; the old French tailor, who

s or other festivities, managed these affairs. She was a large, very good-natured, and kindly woman, and is said to h

has already been spoken of as

rooms of the fort, where he used to make and repair clothing for the men. Much of

moulded of buffalo tallow, in old-fashioned tin moulds, perhaps a dozen in a set. The work of fixing the wicks in the moulds occupied considerable time. The tallow was then melted, the refuse skimmed from it, the fluid grease poured into the moulds,

which was more or less a jollification. During the afternoon and evening the black New Orleans molasses, which was used in the Indian trade, was boiled, and af

iefly on the wagons, which they kept in good order. For them winter was the busy season, for it

, most remarkable of all, great jars of preserved ginger of the kind which fifty or sixty years ago used to be brought from China. Elderly people of the present day can remember, when they were children,

rt for some years and used to clamber all over the walls and buildings. The creature was a great curiosity to the plains people, who had never before seen such an animal, and they never wearied of watching its climbing and its promenading along the walls of the fort. As it grew older it187 became cross,

re, and bred and did well. At one time George Bent brought out several peacocks, whose gay plumage and har

St. Louis. He had also a number of medical books, and no doubt these and such practical experience as came to him with the years made him reasonabl

place for the Indians in the Southwestern plains, and at dif

as, Comanches, and Apaches were camped about the fort the number of Indians was very large. It must be remembered that prior to 1849 the Indians of the Southwest had not been appreciably affected by any of the new diseases brought into the country by the

feasting, singing, dancing, and drumming were continuous. Though peace had just been made, there was danger that some of the old ill feeling that had so long existed between the tribes yet remained. Colonel Bent, with his usual wisdom, warned his employees that to these camps no spirits whatever should be traded. He recogni

ains of the United States. Unless some manuscript, the existence of which is now unknown, should hereafter be discovered, it

ge station, and a stopping-place for travellers, with a bar and eating-house; but soon after that, when the railroad came up the A

n others a wall four feet high, in which the adobe bricks were still recognizable. Here and there were seen old bits of iron, the fragment of a rusted horseshoe,

e walls of the old fort he has190 placed a granite stone to mark its site and to commemorate its history. He has given the land

thwest, will always be remembered as the one who placed on that f