LIFE IN THE FAB WEST 229 



Bent's Fort is situated on the left or northern bank 

 of the river Arkansa, about one hundred miles from the 

 foot of the Rocky Mountains on a low and level bluff 

 of the prairie which here slopes gradually to the water's- 

 edge. The walls are built entirely of adobes or sun- 

 burned bricks in the form of a hollow square, at two 

 corners of which are circular flanking towers of the 

 same material. The entrance is by a large gateway 

 into the square, round which are the rooms occupied 

 by the traders and employes of the host. These are 

 small in size, with walls coloured by a whitewash made 

 of clay found in the prairie. Their flat roofs are 

 defended along the exterior by parapets of adobfc, to 

 serve as a cover to marksmen firing from the top ; and 

 along the coping grow plants of cactus of all the vari- 

 eties common in the plains. In the centre of the 

 square is the press for packing the furs ; and there are 

 three large rooms, one used as a store and magazine, 

 another as a council-room, where the Indians assemble 

 for their "talks," whilst the third is the common 

 dining-hall, where the traders, trappers, and hun- 

 ters, and all employes, feast upon the best provender 

 the game-covered country affords. Over the culinary 

 department presided of late years a fair lady of 

 colour, Charlotte by name, who was, as she loved 

 to say, "de onlee lady in de dam Injun country," 

 and who, moreover, was celebrated from Long's Peak 

 to the Cumbres EspaHolas for slapjacks and pumpkin 

 pies. 



Here congregate at certain seasons the merchants of 



