Last updated: December 4, 2025
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Mountain Men at Bent's Fort
New Mexico History Museum Photo Archives Negative No. HP.2015.11.1
Quick Facts
Significance:
the influence and adaptability of mountain men to the changing economic landscape of early America
Mountain Men at Bent’s Fort
“Jeremiah Johnson. Some say he’s dead. Some say he never will be.” The ending to Sydney Pollack’s 1972 movie trailer starring Robert Redford hints at a reality we encounter at Bent’s Old Fort. Stories long outlast their characters, especially for the mountain men of the American West.
Rugged Path to Business
As young men, Charles Bent, William Bent, and Ceran St. Vrain gained experience as beaver trappers for the Missouri Fur Company and Astor’s American Fur Company. St. Vrain also clerked for the successful fur trader, Bernard Pratte and guided trading expeditions into Mexico. This gave Ceran a well-rounded view of the business. In just a few years, these three men collectively understood the fur trade business from each facet. They personally knew how to secure a supply as well as how to market and distribute it. With each new contact they made, from trapper to trader to company owner, their network of trade connections grew. By 1828, all three men, recipients of an academic education as well as a practical one, had become well acquainted. They determined they had learned enough about the market to branch out on their own. Seizing the opportunity to trade with both Mexico and Native American nations on the Southern Plains, the Bent, St. Vrain and Company set up several trading posts in the southwest. From multiple locations they would hustle their merchandise along the Santa Fe Trail to markets far beyond.
The Transition from Mountain Man to Merchant
Traveling to Santa Fe via the mountain branch route automatically took traders past the enterprise at Bent’s Fort. William Bent managed the only walled structure in the territory at the time, so travelers simply couldn’t miss it. Further, it served as an international boundary marker. The Arkansas River, just yards away acted as the dividing line between the United States and Mexico. This placement was key to inviting trade. North from Bent’s Fort, traders could follow the eastern slope of the Rockies to reach Fort St. Vrain near Platteville, CO. Those who intended to do Mexican trade could expect both Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain to receive their business in Santa Fe or Taos. Valuing the profit and protection of society over isolation, these three partners replaced their temporary buckskin with the woven fabrics of a merchant. Nevertheless, their experience in the field was deeply valuable to their understanding of western travel, regional culture, available natural resources, and material economics.
Market Shift
The 1833 fort was unique for its time. Its customers doubled as its suppliers. The local Cheyenne and Arapaho brought the bargaining energy and skill to make business work. Merchants and traders from Mexico joined those from other Native American nations to further secure their livelihoods. Among the regulars at the post, you might have spied a transient mountain man or two, but not for a seasonal gathering or rendezvous. Bent’s Fort was not a Green River, Bear Lake or Pierre’s Hole kind of meeting place. Business here was highly connected to trade networks out of places like St. Louis, New Orleans, and Boston. Imports crossed the Pacific and the Atlantic to boost Bent’s inventory. However, Bent’s main export didn’t vary. The constant trade good here was the buffalo robe. Because these robes were acquired from the Cheyenne and Arapaho, other animal furs touted by mountain men were far less critical to success. Profit could be made without them. Plus, by this time beaver trapping had nearly died out. Nevertheless, mountain men still visited the post in southeast Colorado to retool themselves, apply their brains and brawn to other pursuits, earn a few dollars, and move on.
New Employment for Mountain Men
There are several names of famous mountain men written on the personnel lists at Bent’s Fort: Thomas Fitzpatrick, “Uncle Dick” Wooten, James Beckwourth, “Old Bill” Williams, Kit Carson, Jack Hatcher, Joseph R. Walker, and “Peg-leg” Thomas Smith to name a few. In the 1830s-40s, each of these men were employed here – a departure from the self-sufficient lifestyle we see in the movie adaptation of Jeremiah Johnson. Bent hired these men for short periods of time as hunters or to harvest important resources like timber. This useful service kept the business afloat to feed and warm hungry traders and to repair their carts and wagons. Some former mountain men continued their work for the Bent, St. Vrain, and Company as interpreters and traders. Others served abroad as guides, explorers, marksmen, freighters, or like the Bents decided to go into business themselves.
Remembering Mountain Men
Like we do today, mountain men adapted to their time. Those at Bent’s Fort continued their lives across the West in ways that grew their legend. They shifted their interests, told a few tales and chose their own direction during a moment when America was deciding the limits of its scope. As we remember the full life of Robert Redford and the mostly fictional characters he has portrayed, Bent’s Old Fort also remembers the real characters and development of the early American West. Some say it’s dead. Some say it never will be.