Bent's Fort Celebrates an Anniversary

Bent's Fort as it might have looked in 1846

Bent's Fort celebrated an anniversary of sorts the weekend of June 5th.  The fort marked its 50th year as an official National Historic Site, part of the National Park Service.  And what a weekend!  Costumed "interpreters" - including barefooted kids - brought the year 1846 to life.  Fiddles screeched, cooking fires burned, and horses whinnied.  It reminded me of my first visit to the fort in the summer of 1993, when I caught the Western history "bug" and bad - but that's a good thing.

The fort's bookstore manager, Elaine Leadabrand, had invited me and I was happy to join the anniversary festivities.  In my writing I try to demonstrate for young readers how similar their lives are to those of folks from the past, but on the morning of June 5th I was reminded of one noticeable difference: the pace of life.  On the way to the fort I managed to get myself positioned right behind a dozen or more mountain men on horseback who were also headed to the fort's rendezvous.  For the record, mountain men on horseback travel five miles per hour tops, even when accompanied by the county sheriff.

My years of teaching high school ingrained my neurological system with a keen sense of timing.  I'm never tardy for a class...or an appointment.  But I'd never been behind a band of 1846 mountain men on the way to class, either.   At nine o'clock, the hour I'd promised to be at the fort, I saw a road sign that read "Bent's Fort 10 miles."  Doing the math, I knew I would be quite late, but after about 20 minutes of the 1846 pace, during which I literally stopped to smell the sage brush, the mountain men found an open field and rested their horses.  I was back to 2010 and 55 miles per hour. 

My late arrival was no problem, but I sure got a good dose of perspective that morning about time and distance in the 1800s.  It's a lesson I will definitely incorporate in my writing from now on.  As remote as Bent's Fort is, there was already a parking lot full of visitors there that morning, including a former student of mine and his parents.  Wow, you never know who you'll run into in 1846.  In fact, I talked with many families who share an interest in Colorado's history and the Santa Fe Trail; and I enjoyed making my small contribution, playing and singing "the greatest hits of the 1840s."  It was the first time I had actually sung those songs on the Santa Fe Trail!  I hope it won't be the last.

 

Read the history in Bent's Fort: Crossroads of Cultures on the Santa Fe Trail http://www.amazon.com/Bents-Fort-Crossroads-Cultures-Santa/dp/0865410623/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312643600&sr=1-1