Charlotte and Dick Green

, opened in 1821, generally followed old routes established by Native Americans, and then used by Spanish, Mexican, and American frontier men. Along with the El Camino Real, the Santa Fe Trail was part of a trade network linking Europe, New York, and St. Louis with Mexico City for well-armed and organized caravans. Free African Americans, or those escaping slavery, stopped at forts as they traveled into the western frontier. Some worked as laborers, cooks, laundresses, and skilled artisans at the forts. James Beckwourth, a former enslaved man and a well-respected mountain man, worked at Bent's Fort. Customers were explorers, travelers, traders and military troops Native Americans met up with others, traded buffalo robes and furs for goods, and met with governmental officials at the fort. It was a place where travelers could rest, have equipment like wagons repaired, and obtain supplies and fresh livestock. There were about 20 people who operated the trading post. Charles Bent and his wife Ignacio Jaramillo operated mercantile businesses in Santa Fe and Taos, where they had a house. ==Biography==

Bent's Fort The Greens—Charlotte and Dick, and Dick's brother Andrew—were bonded by William and Charles Bent and traveled with them from St. Louis, through the Kansas Territory to Bent's Fort. Dick and Andrew handled maintenance and chores at the fort, and the Greens and Owl Woman, William Bent's wife, may have been managers of the fort. Charlotte, also called "Black Charlotte", was known throughout the southern Rocky Mountains for her food and entertainment. She was remembered by explorers John C. Frémont and George Ruxton. He was taken back to Bent's Fort. For his actions, William Bent set the Greens free in 1848. Later years and death The Greens left Bent Fort in a wagon train bound for Missouri in May 1848. Charlotte lived in St. Louis in 1850, and it is believed that both Andrew and Dick died in Missouri, with Dick likely succumbing to injuries he sustained in New Mexico before 1850. ==See also==