Bent's Old Fort Courtyard, Colorado Poster

"Bent's Old Fort Courtyard, Colorado" by Catherine Sherman. Bent's Old Fort in southeastern Colorado is an adobe structure with wooden beams and log ends constructed in the architectural style of Pueblo buildings. A wooden staircase leads to the second level, while in the foreground a wheelbarrow awaits being filled with chopped wood. A dried pepper ristra hangs from a beam. Bent's Old Fort (sometimes called Fort William) is an 1833 fort in Otero County in Colorado. The fort was built as place to trade with Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Plains Indians and trappers for buffalo robes. From 1833 to 1849, the fort was a stopping point along the Santa Fe Trail. It was the only permanent settlement not under the jurisdiction and control of Native Americans or Mexicans. The U.S. Army, explorers, and other travelers stopped at the fort to replenish supplies, such as water and food, and perform needed maintenance to their wagons. The fort was destroyed in 1849, but later reconstructed as an historic site. In 1960, the fort was designated a National Historic Site under the National Park Service and a National Historic Landmark.