Beginnings of the American Southwest

Beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries, the history of the American Southwest included foreign disputes, disagreements with Mexico, and all out war.  Before all that happened their were the Spanish, British and French...The Spanish who first roamed our Southwest were looking for gold (El Dorado) and found small Indian villages instead.  Spain therefore wasn't really interested in the region and basically gave up until the 16th century when Britain posed a threat.

Sir Francis Drake laid claim to central California in the name of the Queen in 1575. When the Spanish viceroy heard about that in Mexico City, he lost no time planning expeditions to secure northern lands and even wanted to go as far as the Phillipines (then owned by Spain).  Madrid, however didn't share his alarm and it would be two decades before Spanish ships were sent to California.

The first Spanish expedition was led by Juan de Onate in 1598.  Onate stopped in a small grove of cottonwoods near modern El Paso, calling the territory "New Mexico" which stretched from Texas to California.  Onate, with 150 settlers and their families, 8 Franciscan missionaries and 100 slaves, changed the culture of the native people. 

Next time - more of Onate's journey




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Today in Pioneer History:  "On May 23, 1701. at London’s Execution Dock, British privateer William Kidd, popularly known as Captain Kidd, is hanged for piracy and murder.

Inside a Trading Post

Once the yearly rendezvous ended, trading posts became the place to trade.  Bent's Fort was the key trading post in the Southwest.  Protected by 14' high adobe walls, 2 musket towers with cannons, Bent's Fort was an important part of the Southwest's history.  Inside the fort were the stock and horse corrals, the smithy, the trader's rooms and even rooftop billiard rooms.

Bent's Fort was unsurpassed in size and importance west of the Mississippi River.  It could hold 200 men, and 300 animals.  The 4' thick walls were topped with a blooming cacti, a belfry and a watchtower complete with a telescope.

The ramparts surrounded an area 137 by 178' enclosing warehouses, wagon sheds, clerk's office, meeting halls, staff apartments, and a central square of small guest rooms that opened onto an inner court.  In the courtyard was a well and a huge press for the prime export - skins to the East.

The fort was a crossroad for many Indian tribes - Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowi, Utes, and Gros Ventres.  Here Indians could trade for tools, trinkets like glass beads to decorate clothing or sheaths, and weapons.  For a time Kit Carson and Tom Fitzpatrick were the official game hunters for the fort.
The fort was also a haven for sick travelers.  On their way to Santa Fe long caravans stopped and were resupplied with flour, sugar, coffee, cloth, tobacco, weapons, and whiskey.

Who were the entrepreneurs of this establishment?  Two Bent brothers, Charles and William.  As young men they left the cutthroat trading of the Northwest and decided to try what is now Colorado.  Cheyenne (William had saved the life of two Cheyenne) helped choose the fort's location - near the intersection of the Arkansas and Purgatory Rivers which was the southern boundary of the fur trade territory and the heart of buffalo country.

William became the resident manager until late 1840 when the US Army decided it wanted to buy it but offered William so little for it (surprise!) that he just abandoned it and built a smaller fort 30 miles to the east. 

Next time...the Great Southwest
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On this Day in Pioneer History: "On May 19, 1836,  Comanche, Kiowa, and Caddo Indians in Texas kidnap nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker and kill her family. Adopted into the Comanche tribe, she lived a happy life until Texas Rangers recaptured her and forced her to return to live again among Anglo-Americans.