Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site

35110 Highway 194 E.
La Junta, CO 81050

Phone
Visitor Information
(719) 383-5010

WELCOME to Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site

Castle of the Plains

Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site features a reconstructed 1840’s adobe fur trading post on the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail where traders, trappers, travelers, and Plains Indian tribes came together in peaceful terms for trade. Today, living historians recreate the sights, sounds, and smells of the past with guided tours, demonstrations, and special events.

Activities
A 1/4 mile walk down the trail will bring you to the gate of the fort. Inside you can view the 20 minute documentary film, "Traders, Tribes and Travelers". Self-guided tours and the film are available throughout the year. 

Living history interpreters provide guided tours and demonstrations June 1 through September 1. Guided tours are available September through May at 10:30 am and 1:00 pm. Summer tours are at 9:30 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 2:30 pm. Organized group tours can be reserved by calling (719) 383-5026.

History

William and Charles Bent, along with Ceran St. Vrain, built the original fort on this site in 1833 to trade with plains Indians and trappers. The adobe fort quickly became the center of the Bent, St.Vrain Company's expanding trade empire that included Fort St.Vrain to the north and Fort Adobe to the south, along with company stores in Mexico at Taos and Santa Fe. The primary trade was with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians for buffalo robes.

For much of its 16-year history, the fort was the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements. The fort provided explorers, adventurers, and the U.S. Army a place to get needed supplies, wagon repairs, livestock, good food, water and company, rest and protection in this vast "Great American Desert." 

During the war with Mexico in 1846, the fort became a staging area for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny's "Army of the West". Disasters and disease caused the fort's abandonment in 1849. Archeological excavations and original sketches, paintings and diaries were used in the fort's reconstruction in 1976.

Did You Know?
Bent's Fort was on the boundary with Mexico in the 1830s and 1840s. It was 600 miles from the nearest town in Missouri.

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