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Bent's Old Fort along the Arkansas river in Southern Colorado.
Bent's Old Fort is a historical fort located in Otero County in southeastern Colorado. A company owned by Charles Bent and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain built a fort in 1833 to trade with Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Plains Indians and trappers for buffalo robes. For much of its 16-year operation as a trading post, the fort was the only major white American permanent settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements. It was initially abandoned by William Bent in 1849.
The fort was meticulously reconstructed in 1976 and is open to the public. The area of the fort was designated a National Historic Site under the National Park Service on June 3, 1960. It was further designated a National Historic Landmark later that year on December 19, 1960 |
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