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Bent’s Fort activities for 2016 - http://www.nps.gov/beol/planyourvisit/calendar.htm
September 17 - Hispanic Heritage Day
Dec 2,3 - Bent's
Traditional Christmas Celebration
I hope folks have had the opportunity
to get out on the ground this year. Please send a short
description of your adventures for inclusion on this page.
June
4 and 5, Bent's Old Fort in Colorado held their Fur Trade
Encampment. Saturday was the big day at the fort, we had
675 visitors. I worked in the carpenter shop building a
prototype of a bellows that is small enough for the
fort's rooms fireplaces. I a d 2 interactions worth
reporting. I was ripping a 8/4 piece of wood so that I had
2 4/4 peices still joined at the nozzle end. The board was
about 10 inches wide so it was taking a while. I was
sawing away when a dad ans his son, about 10 years old
came in the shop. The dad said to the boy, that his grand
dad built his house using a saw like I was using, a cross
cut and hammer. The boy couldn't believe the
granddad didn't use a circular saw. I asked the boy if he
wanted to try ripping the wood. He said yes. I took a
little bit to get the wood positioned so he could saw comfortably.
After a few minutes I repositioned the wood for him to cut
from the other side, he continued to work a lot longer
than I expected. His dad finally told him the he didn't
need to complete the cut. So he stopped. If he comes back,
I'll build a box he can stand on to make it easier.
Later
I was attaching the leather to the side of the bellow. A
little girl came in and after watching me a bit, asked me
if it was going to work, I still had about 5 inches to
tack down, but said I didn't know so I worked the bellows
and she was standing in front of the nozzle, got a
"blast" of air the blew her hair back. Not sure
who was more surprise, her or I that it actually worked.
Sunday
the fort held the walk on the Santa Fe trail, with the
oxen pulling a freight wagon and the Dearborn being pulled
be horses. The folks walked along side for about 3 miles.
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