For Teachers

Looking down on a costumed ranger interacts with a class inside the fort.
A class listens to a park ranger inside the fort.

NPS Photo

The history of Bent’s Old Fort, encompassing the interaction among diverse cultures, including American Indian peoples, along the borderlands of Mexico and the United States, provides an opportunity to explore ideas of security, sovereignty, and culture in the American West. This isolated trading post and its company stores in Santa Fe and Taos, brought the Plains and Pueblo Indians, Mexicans, and Americans together for trade. Business, family, and political relationships developed that forever changed their lives. A visit to the fort relates well to Colorado State teaching standards for history providing fine examples of historical relationships and inquiry, societal changes, economic systems, and social processes and how they shaped populations. Learn more about bringing a class field trip to the fort.

Last updated: December 4, 2023

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

35110 State Highway 194
La Junta, CO 81050

Phone:

719 383-5010

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