Bent's New Fort

from Solomon Nunes Carvalho's journey West in 1853 depicts a view of the Cheyenne village at Big Timbers. A pair of figures stand to the left; drying hides hang on the right. Courtesy of Library of Congress. In 1849, William Bent built a wooden stockade for a fort and trading post. It was a U-shaped structure of three connected log cabins. The open side faced the Arkansas River. or sandstone trading post and fort in the summer and early fall of 1853. Built near the Cheyenne and Arapaho camping ground, Big Timbers, the fort was a little smaller than the adobe Bent's Old Fort, which had been destroyed by fire by Bent in 1849 during a severe cholera epidemic that decimated the southern Cheyenne. The new building, with 16-foot walls, had twelve rooms built around a central courtyard. For defense, cannons sat in the corners of the roof and there were parapets. The new fort was built on a hill overlooking the Arkansas River with a view for miles of the Santa Fe Trail. In a defensive position, it was situated between a limestone cliff to the east and a rock bluff to the south. The fort was staffed by about ten Native American, French-Canadian, Mexican, and white American men. Described as a "motley crew", some of the men had been trappers. Most had at least one Native American wife. ==History==

, Southern Arapaho leader, some time between 1868 and 1874 Sufficient merchandise had arrived so that Bent could resume trading with Native Americans. However, Bent had not been able to sustain trading to the same levels of the 1830s and 1840s at the Old Fort. The steady stream of westward travelers had reduced wildlife, including buffalo. For instance, the Arapaho, led by Little Raven, who camped near the fort had difficulty sustaining life by 1857 and children had distended stomachs from starvation. Hunger, plans for a railroad to cut through Cheyenne and Arapaho hunting grounds, and the increased pressure of settlers resulted in apprehension among Native Americans. Annuity goods were provided by treaties in exchange for reduced access to ancestral land, such as hunting grounds. In July 1860, the Army rented the facility and used it for storage of annuity goods for the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The Army was located at the fort until 1867 when it moved to the new Fort Lyon fort following flooding of the Arkansas River. The site was not used after the Army relocated. When Bent leased the fort to the Army, he moved to south side of the Arkansas River at the mouth of the Purgatoire River near Boggsville and built a stockade called Purgatory Stockade. He lived there until his death in 1869. All that remains are ruins of the foundation of the former fort. The fort is on private land. ==See also==