Day 8 -- Lathrop Park to La Junta (via Bent's Old Fort) Colorado -- 95 Miles

People are always asking us where we're headed when they learn that we're traveling across the country and enjoying life on the road in our RV. And without fail, we always tell them that we're not headed anywhere in particular, we're just seeing America. "That must be nice," they'll usually say, a far-away look in their eyes. We know, at that point, that they are visualizing themselves in retirement someday, just hitting the road and going in whatever direction the wind blows; taking life as it comes.

In fact, I just had this conversation yesterday at the tire store with a twenty-something young man who was torquing the wheels onto the front axel of the rig. He was showing quite a bit of interest in owning an RV and we had quite a nice conversation as I gave him a verbal list of what to do and what to watch out for. He seemed really intersted, and I expect he'll get there someday.

Inside the tire store, Missy, the young lady who sold us the tires, was also a bit misty-eyed as she told me about her parents and about their great love of RVing which her dad had to give up when Missy's mother passed recently.

I know the topic is near and dear to just about everyone who has spent some time on the road, or camped alongside their favorite lake, or perhaps even vacationed with grandparents. It's why we encounter so many rigs on the road everyday. Just about everyone wants to get in on the action.

Just about the only concrete goal I had for this summer's trip was to visit a place I'd long read about in my researh on the Santa Fe Trail, and that was Bent's Old Fort. Starting in the 1830s, entrepreneurs hit upon the idea of hauling wagonloads of goods the 700 or 800 miles from Independence, Missouri to the Mexican village of Santa Fe, now NEW Mexico. Though the Mexican government wasn't totally thrilled with the idea, the need for goods of all descriptions was so great south of the border that officials tended to look the other way after exacting a few "taxes."

Litterally, one successful trip for an American who brought a small wagontrain of goods to Santa Fe could make that American a wealthy man. Hence, lots of budding businessmen tried it. And though many failed when their trains were attacked by one of the many native America tribes along the way, enough merchants were successful to make the journey to Santa Fe an unbeatable opportunity to become rich.

Keep in mind that at this point the United States basically ended at the Arkansas River about midway down in the state of Kansas today. Below that line, and west of Bent's Fort, just about all the land beloned to Spain, then Mexico. In the United States civilizaton pretty much ended at the north/south line of the Missouri River. From there to the west coast only fur trappers dared to venture.

So it was that three partners, Charles and William Bent, along with Cerah St. Vrain, decided that all those overland caravans traveling between Independence on the Missouri, and Santa Fe in Mexico, could surly use a place to stop and refurbish their supplies, replace worn-out animals, and rest if the journey had been difficult.

What was needed, the three partners decided, was a sturdy adobe fort that could serve a multitude of purposes, from a supply point for overlanders, to a home base where trappers could sell their furs, from a defensive position in case of Indian attack, to a place for friendly Indians to gather and trade for goods. The idea seemed foolproof.

Bent's Fort, which we visited today, is actually a reconstruction of the first of two forts that the Bent's built on the banks of the Arkansas River. According to guide books, the fort is faithfully reconstructed using original drawings so as to be as period correct as possible. From what Concetta and I saw today, they did a fantastic job right down to the furnishing of all the various rooms and workshops. I was especially impressed with the carpenter and blacksmith shops where all the tools one might expect to find in such shops were present and looked to be ready for their tasks.

I first started reading up on Bent's Fort and the Santa Fe trail when I wanted to know if the death of my two-times great grandfather's brother, Stephen Daley, who died August 15th, 1847, during the time of the Mexican War, had been working as a teamster on the trail. I believe that at the time that Stephen and my two-times great grandfather, John Daley, were working as teamsters in Missouri, and during the war teamsters were in great demand. Unfortunately, though I was able to find out that in the year 1847 some 15 teamsters had lost their lives somewhere on the Santa Fe Trail, the names of those teamsters were not recorded.