Last updated: June 10, 2024
Place
The Trade Room
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Tactile Exhibit
This trade room catered to trappers, traders, the fort's labor force and travelers from the ranks of soldiers, explorers, and adventurers.
The shelves are stocked with shoes and boots, paper and ink, saddles and harness, ammunition, soap, medicines, fish hooks, manilla rope, buttons, thread and ribbon. You also see bolts of calico, blankets, a nest of clay pipes, knives and hatchets, kettles, meat hooks, guns, yarn, needles, flint, coffee, chocolate, corn and other goods. Original Bent, St. Vrain and Company ledgers were perused to determine the types of goods displayed.
Many purchases done here were a simple exchange of goods. Animal furs and robes could be bartered for anything. Business was also done through credit, with many a trapper or employee having to pay for their hasty purchases six months or even a year later.
The shelves are stocked with shoes and boots, paper and ink, saddles and harness, ammunition, soap, medicines, fish hooks, manilla rope, buttons, thread and ribbon. You also see bolts of calico, blankets, a nest of clay pipes, knives and hatchets, kettles, meat hooks, guns, yarn, needles, flint, coffee, chocolate, corn and other goods. Original Bent, St. Vrain and Company ledgers were perused to determine the types of goods displayed.
Many purchases done here were a simple exchange of goods. Animal furs and robes could be bartered for anything. Business was also done through credit, with many a trapper or employee having to pay for their hasty purchases six months or even a year later.