Page "Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site" Paragraph 4

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 American frontiersman Kit Carson was employed as a hunter by the Bent brothers in 1841, and regularly visited the Fort.

Likewise, the explorer John C. Frémont used the Fort as both a staging area and as a replenishment junction, for his expeditions.

During the Mexican-American War in 1846, the fort became a staging area for Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny's " Army of the West ".