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Bent’s Old Fort: a replica of
the original fort |
Great Divide Pictures LLC
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Santa Fe Trail
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Segment 2: A Castle on the Plains
Standards-Based Themes: Economics
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Summary
Because it was situated about halfway from the start of the Santa Fe Trail on the Kansas-Missouri border and its end in Santa Fe, Bent’s Fort offered an oasis of civilization in the midst of the Great American Desert. From 1832 to 1848, the fort offered travelers good meals, safe accommodations, recreation, and an array of goods for sale and trade. |
Vocabulary
adobe
blacksmith
Great American Desert
oasis
trading post |
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| Bent’s Old Fort reenactment |
Great Divide Pictures LLC
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“The fort is crowded to overflowing. Colonel Kearny has arrived and it seems the world is coming with him.”
Susan Magoffin
Excerpt from her diary
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Pre-Viewing Focus
- What cultures came together to trade at Bent’s Fort?
- Listen for the names of other countries whose products were used or sold at Bent’s Fort.
- How much did the Bents pay for a buffalo hide? How much did they sell it for?
- What material was used to build the fort?
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| Inside Bent’s Old Fort |
Great Divide Pictures LLC
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Post-Viewing Discussion
- Nancy Russell called Bent’s Fort a "global economy." The narrator says that "the world was for sale" and that there was a "world market" on the prairie. Use the information about where items came from to explain these phrases.
- Explain why Bent’s Fort was an "oasis on the prairie" for travelers.
- How much potential profit could the Bents make on buffalo hides? How much actual profit do you think they made? What factors would make the actual profit lower than the potential profit?
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Manifest Destiny >
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