Last updated: June 10, 2024
Place
Cook's Quarters
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Tactile Exhibit
This rooms' proximity to both the dining room and the kitchen makes this a logical area for a cook. This room can also be viewed as a quasi-pantry and a "place where children might come at times." There are references to several cooks by name, and in addition, Farnham wrote in 1839 that "the owners and their servants have their [own]... apartments."
William Boggs, at the fort in 1844 remembered "Old Bill" as "Wm. Bent's old French Cook." However, it is the enslaved Charlotte Green who has received the greater notice for her "slap-jacks and pumpkin pies" - foods that were "celebrated from Long's Peak to the Cumbres Espanoles." Garrard remembered "...listening to Charlotte, the glib-tongued, sable fort cook, retailing her stock of news and surmises..."
The walls of this room were plastered yellow and later brick red. The charred remains of a book, written in French was found, and also several pieces of slate. Some of the slate was etched - one showing portions of a leg and foot clad in fringed trousers and a moccasin is particularly intriguing.
An eastern style pie safe sits against the wall, while a small nook borders the NW corner. A pine table laid with oilcloth sits near the wall and several small containers and jugs are scattered across shelves and sit on the fireplace mantelpiece. Along the south wall is a reproduction of the Charles Bent grain chest. The original piece is catalogued to the park's museum collection and is currently on loan to the History Colorado Museum.
This room is likely one of those described by Magoffin as "...occupied by boarders as bed chambers." This room with the adjoining dining and kitchen areas is interpreted as a "block" of the compound where food consumption, storage, and preparation were carried forth.
William Boggs, at the fort in 1844 remembered "Old Bill" as "Wm. Bent's old French Cook." However, it is the enslaved Charlotte Green who has received the greater notice for her "slap-jacks and pumpkin pies" - foods that were "celebrated from Long's Peak to the Cumbres Espanoles." Garrard remembered "...listening to Charlotte, the glib-tongued, sable fort cook, retailing her stock of news and surmises..."
The walls of this room were plastered yellow and later brick red. The charred remains of a book, written in French was found, and also several pieces of slate. Some of the slate was etched - one showing portions of a leg and foot clad in fringed trousers and a moccasin is particularly intriguing.
An eastern style pie safe sits against the wall, while a small nook borders the NW corner. A pine table laid with oilcloth sits near the wall and several small containers and jugs are scattered across shelves and sit on the fireplace mantelpiece. Along the south wall is a reproduction of the Charles Bent grain chest. The original piece is catalogued to the park's museum collection and is currently on loan to the History Colorado Museum.
This room is likely one of those described by Magoffin as "...occupied by boarders as bed chambers." This room with the adjoining dining and kitchen areas is interpreted as a "block" of the compound where food consumption, storage, and preparation were carried forth.