Show Era of the Mountain Men Ended When S Fort Was Destroyed Once the Rendezvous of Many a Famed Fur Trapper and Trader in m th the Days When Whan Beaver Was King This Citadel of the Plains Was Blown Up by Its Us Owner Angered at a Niggardly Governments Government's Refusal to Pay Him a F Fair ir Price for It It e C Western Newspaper r Union By Dy ELMO SCOTT WATSON lIEN HEN Gen Stephen W. W W WHEN Y Kearny marching to the conquest of New Mexico in the summer of 1846 stopped at Bents Bent's Fort Forton on the Arkansas Col William William Wil Wil- liam Bent the owner of that Cita Citadel el of the Plains welcomed welcomed wel wel- the famous leader of the dragoons In a n fashion befitting befitting be be- fitting the historic importance importance importance tance of the occasion He spread a bountiful feast for Kearny and his officers and served them with mint juleps the the only mint juleps with ice between and the Coast The reception was a great success except for one unfortunate unfortunate unfortunate circumstance Colonel Col Col- Colonel onel Bent had ordered that a salute be fired as the soldiers approached the fort But that old brass cannon which had stood guard before the gate for many years welcoming welcoming wel wel- coming chiefs and terrifying warriors wi with th its roar seemed t to know that the old days J r 1 fi I I WILLIAM I BENT I were over When it was fired I in salute to General Kearny it burst And that writes Stanley Vestal in his book Mountain Men published recently by the Houghton Hough- Hough ton Mifflin company was a coincidence co co- co- co incidence incidence and and also a symbol an omen For when the N Neds eds arrived arrived ar ar- ar rived the time had come for the mountain men to go The ration ration ra ra- ra tion of the United States Slates soldier was then largely of pork Farmers Farm Farm- ers in those days commonly referred referred referred re re- re- re to pig as Ned and he- he cause the soldiers lived on pork the mountain men contemptuously contemptuous ly called them Neds eds too This bursting of the cannon was not only a symbol of the passing of the mountain men but it was also an omen of what was to be bethe bethe bethe the end of this fort after two decades decades dec dec- ades of stirring history Its build build- er er William Bent Gent was a scion of an English English- family which had come to Massachusetts in 1638 He lie was was the grandson of Silas Bent a member of the Boston Tea Party and the son of another er Silas Bent who had removed to St. St Louis in 1804 1604 Enter Fur Trade There Silas Bent reared a family fam- fam ily of seven sons and four daugh- daugh I and since St. St Louis soon became became became be be- came the fur capital of the world it was only natural that some of the tre Bent brothers would presently l Ie he e engaged in that busi busi- ness Four of them William them William George Robert and Charles Charles did did and when they formed a partnership partnership partner partner- ship with two sons of an old French family Ceran and Marcelin Marcelin Mar- Mar celin celm St. St Vrain they established what was destined to become one of the most famous trading fur-trading companies in the West William Bent and Ceran St. St Vrain were the guiding spirits of this enterprise enterprise enterprise enter enter- prise and of these thes two Bent was foremost So in 1829 1629 when they started Parted to build a permanent trading post poston on the north ride fide of the Arkansas river which was then American territory it was considered appropriate appropriate ap appropriate ap- ap to name it Fort Wilham William Wil Wil- liam ham in honor of its founder William William Wil Wil- liam Bent However even before before be be- fore the post was completed in 1832 the mountain men had begun begun begun be be- gun to refer to it as Bents Dent Fort Forton on the Arkansas and that was the name by which it was best known thereafter The fort was in the form of a rectangle by IDa feet The walls were 18 feet high and built of sun-dried sun adobe bricks seven feet thick at the base and tapering tapering taper taper- ing to two feet at the top The main mails defensive works were two round towers or bastions bastion one olle on the northeast and the other on the southeast corner These were i L- L r r F r rt t I i a BENTS BENT'S FORT ON TilE THE ARKANSAS Frs m tb the hleb II by Ll LI Lied il J. J W. W Ab Abed rt IRIS ten feet in diameter 30 feet high and for rifles The main entrance was a 30 foot gate closed by a pair oUm mense plank doors covered with sheet iron Over the gate was a sentry box above which floated the Stars and Stripes A six six pound pound brass cannon kept company with the flag and guns of smaller size were mounted on the walls The interior was arranged after the Mexican style style style-a a big court or plaza with the offices and quarters quarters of the occupants built alongside alongside along along- side the fort walls and facing inward inward in in- ward on the plaza There were rooms for employees guests storerooms large and small corrals cor car rals rats for animals and vehicles a astore astore astore store or traders trader's room kitchen dining rooms and a blacksmith shop In the center of the court was a hide press for pressing robes and furs into bales No other post post not not even Red RedCoat RedCoat Coat McKenzie's famed Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone Yel Yel- was was so well built it was according to the military men the only fort in the West There the Bents and St St. Vrain had made a fortune The trappers trappers trappers trap trap- pers brought furs the Indians buffalo robes and meat the Mexicans Mex Mex- leans silver and gold bullion the Americans brought trade goods of every sort horses and mules and cattle from the States At times the whole of the southern Arapahos all of he and were encamped about the fort fort and though it contained men from every quarter quartet of the continent r n n. n I CHARLES BENT ENT Bent Dent maintained such order that no man ever lost his life lite within the walls But now though some might close their eyes against the hateful hateful hateful hate hate- ful fact those days were ended William Bent needed no prophet to tell him that A pioneer in in all things he knew that his day was over The Neds had come burst his cannon cut down his timber burned off his grass and brought a swarm of emigrants on their trail Already it had been years since buffalo had been seen within with with- in a days day's ride of Old Fort Bent The game was going In 1849 cholera swept the Plains and destroyed de de- half haU the Indians Bent traded with the rest were headed headed head head- ed for reservations within a few seasons The Neds and emigrants brought disease famine war and despair to the tribesmen and those who lived by serving them And if anything more had been needed to make William Bent conscious of disaster the murder of his brother Charles sufficed Charles Bent who had made his home in Taos and had charge of the affairs of the Bent Dent and St. St Vrain company in that region had been appointed governor of New Mexico after its bloodless conquest by General General Kearny Kearny lIe He was wall murdered on January 19 1847 by the Indians and Mexicans Mexicans cans who had risen in revolt against their new rulers rulers rulers-a a revolt which was put down and sum sum- manly punished by t force of mountain men led It'd by Ceran eran St. St Vrain and a detachment of United Unit Unit- United ed States troops commanded by Col Sterling Price later famous as a general in the Confederate army J II During the Mexican war Colonel Colonel Colonel Col Col- onel Bent had put his fort at the disposal of the federal government government govern govern- ment as a commissary and a hospital hospital hospital hos hos- pital and it was a haven of safety and rest for many a California gold seeker in the days of 49 As M the tide of emigration across the plains increased and with it a arising arising arising rising tide of Indian hostility Uncle Sam began buying forts wherever he could find them inthe in inthe inthe the Indian country Because military experts rated Bents Bent's Fort as the best on the frontier its owner believed that Uncle Sam would be willing to pay him for it He lie hadn't yet learned how niggardly a goyt government gov can be when it comes either to rewarding men who have served it well or buying their property at a fair tion The best offer the fedel federal al authorities would make for his fort was and not a penny more Bents Bent's Decision At last disgusted and decisive as as always Colonel Bent one day ordered his wagons hooked up loaded whatever he cared to cart away upon them and sent the tile wagons down river Then having made sure the vicinity of the fort was cleared of men and animals he turned back and entered entered en en- the big gate He would not leave his old home to be occupied by bv hostile nor abandon it t to have it taken fake over by Neds who would not pay his price He had made up his mind to destroy it it As he walked across the echoIng echoing echo echo- echoing ing patio for the last time and passed through those empty rooms littered here and there therewith therewith therewith with abandoned objects not worth taking away William Bent must have had other feelings than anger anger an an- ger in his heart There his children children chil chil- dren had grown up there his family his brothers had lived I and worked beside him It had I been the only permanent home he owned More than that It had been his castle his castle his stronghold Inthe in inthe inthe the wilderness wilderness and and the model of other frontier posts on half haU a con con- There he had dominated all men There he had made his fortune And outside in the graveyard grave yard guarded from the wolves by growing cactus his flesh and blood lay buried burled But all that was past now Colonel Bent Dent smashed In the heads of the powder kegs in the forts fort's bastions Then he set fire to the building Afterward he went out closed the gate and locked it He mounted and rode away When the flames reached Ir ta r i iv v I CERAN ST. ST VRAIN the powder the Old Fort became a heap of rubbish Days later travelers found the smoking ruins and imagined that Indians had destroyed it They little knew William Bent or the breed he ran with That breed was the mountain men of the old fur trade days and their era came to an end for all time when Bents Bent's Fort on the Arkansas went up in smoke and flame 1 UL Here Col Cot Bent had been a ft feudal baron reigning over a verItable veritable veritable ver ver- empire and dispensing lordly hospitality to visitors Among the travelers in the early days who visited this fort and left accounts of their stay there were such men as Col Henry Dodge Thomas Farnham Frederick Ruxton of the British army Col Philip St. St George i I Cooke Rufus Sage and Francis J Parkman the historian There I Charles Fremont organized two of his expeditions to California Call Cali fornia and on his return from one bf of them stopped long enough to participate in a Fourth of July celebration George Bent was the host on this occasion and it is recorded recorded re re- re corded that he gave Fremont a banquet at which French cognac and champagne cooled by ice from th- th the Icehouse in the fort flowed freely I I But it wa was wa as a rendezvous of the early-day early trappers and traders traders trad trad- ers that Bents Bent's Fort is most ine in in- i There the mountain men had come as to a home for both the fort and the men were shaped by bya a life Ute that was swiftly passing away They had in one short generation generation gen gen- explored half haU a continent conti conti- nent cleared Its streams of beaver tamed the redskins and opened a thousand trails for less courageous courageous cou cou- feet They had lived with gusto and often enough died fighting And they were truly American figures men figures men of all aU breeds and conditions of of old American Colonial stock French Irish Scotch Welsh English German Dutch Spanish Mexican Mexican can Injun Negro Kanaka and mixed mixed but but all with similar notions no no- notions the same habits and code No more cosmopolitan group has existed in American territory Who were these mountain men whose stirring deeds are told in inthis inthis inthis this new book by one of the best best- k I KIT CARSON Informed and most interesting writers about the old days in the I West Among them are such notables as John Colter Hugh laugh Glass Jedediah Smith Old Bill Williams Thomas Fitzpatrick I Jim Bridger Jim Baker Joe Meek Uncle Dick Wootton Kit Carson Uncle John Smith and a host of others to whom Vestal in his preface p pays ys this tribute Day of or Heroic Deeds Few passages of history can show so bright a pattern of darIng daring dar dar- ing deeds high heroism and useful useful useful use use- ful service to American tion These were the boys boys' who trapped the beaver fought the brought home the bacon created the wealth in the pockets of the dandies in ruffled shirts Strong self reliant undisciplined as so 80 many savages they visited the settlements St. St Louis or Taos throwing away their beaver with a reckless generosity nothing short of magnificent And their services to the United States were no less magnificent than their daring d deeds eds and their reckless reckless reck reck- less spending For when the territory of the United States expanded westward and the military forces moved into the wilds to conquer and control control control con con- they found a hardy race of pioneers already there already familiar with every range and river past-masters past in dealing with red Indians and wild beasts able to guide and direct the official official of of- called so-called expeditions expedition These were the mountain men a breed of heroes yet not heroic by intention or profession but only in the nature of circumstances circum stances and as part of their days day's work These mountain men far more than the soldiers and the statesmen were the real means of seizing holding and settling our vast Far West They were the men of destiny whose skill and courage enabled those Americans Americans Amer Amer- who followed their trail to conquer a continent within half hail a hundred years For a generation their exploits filled the minds of their By the end of that time their task was almost done By Bythe Bythe Bythe the mid century the time old-time fur trade was rubbed out out the western west ern half halt of the continent had been explored conquered in great creat part settled or settled or was held by the military That survey and that conquest were largely the work of the mountain men Those mountain men have left America an ideal of manhood to cherish a memory to be e ud of Here tin in the destruction I of ol Bents Bent's Fort ends their story t. t |