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BENT'S HOUSE is built of adobes, or unburnt brick, one story high, in form of a hollow
square, with a courtyard in the centre. One side is appropriated as his sleeping
apartments, the front as a store-house, while the others are occupied by the different
persons in his employ. He has a large number of horses and mules.
Col. Fremont procured from him fresh animals for all the men, leaving behind us those
which were thought unable to go through. At this time Mr. Bent had but a small quantity of
sugar and coffee; he supplied us, however, with all he could spare, and a considerable
quantity of dried buffalo meat, moccasins and overshoes for all the men; a large
buffalo-skin lodge, capable of covering twenty-five men, and one small one for Col.
Fremont; buffalo robes for each man besides stockings, gloves, tobacco, etc.
I breakfasted with Mr. Bent and Doctor Ober, on baked bread, made from maize ground,
dried buffalo meat, venison steaks, and hot coffee; a treat that I had not enjoyed for a
very long time.
Col. Fremont having entirely recovered his health, decided not to take the doctor over
the mountains, but made arrangements with Mr. Bent to send him home by the first train of
wagons; one of our white men, a Mr. Mulligan, of St. Louis, also remained, as an assistant
to the doctor. I had formed quite an attachment to Doctor Ober; he was a gentleman of
extensive information, and his intellectual capacity was of the highest order. I have
ridden by his side for many a mile, listening to his explanations of the sciences of
geology and botany. When we passed a remarkable formation, he would stop and compare it
with others of similar character in different parts of the world. I regretted very much
the necessity there was for his remaining behind, but it was well for him that he did so;
his age and make would have incapacitated him from enduring the privations and hardships
which we had to encounter.
The weather continuing so cold I found it inconvenient to use my oil colors and
brushes; accordingly I left my tin case with the doctor, who promised to take charge of
them for me to the States.
When the weather is very clear, you can see the snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains from
Bent's house, which is seventy miles distant. Our friend the doctor wanted to obtain a
nearer view of them, and proposed that I should accompany him. We started on a clear
morning, for that purpose. I took my apparatus along; we rode thirty miles, but the
weather becoming hazy, it entirely shut out our view of the mountains. We returned to camp
late at night, after a tiresome day's ride.
The Arkansas River where we first struck it, which was at the crossing of the Santa Fe
trail, is almost entirely bare of timber; the trunks of several giant cottonwood trees,
which had probably been landmarks for early travellers to Mexico, still reared their
enormous heads high into the Heavens, defying alike the storms of winter, and the axe and
fire of the hungry pioneer, who in vain attempted to hew and burn them down. I measured
one of them, its circumference was eighteen feet. We travelled up the river a great many
miles, without seeing any timber at all, and relying for firewood on the drift logs, we
found along the banks.
There are a great many islands in the Arkansas River, on which some few young
cottonwoods are growing. We frequently encamped on these islands.
At "Big Timber," there is a considerable quantity of oak, and cottonwood of
large growth. Game of all kinds abounds in it.
Bent's house is a trading post. Indians of the different tribes bring in their venison,
buffalo meat, skins, and robes, which are exchanged for various descriptions of
manufactured goods. Mr. Bent also receives the annual appropriation from Government, for
the neighboring tribes of Indians which are distributed at this point. Bent's Fort, which
is situated about thirty miles further up the Arkansas, was recently destroyed by the
Indians, and has not been rebuilt, from the scarcity of timber in its vicinity. All the
material saved from the fort, was removed to Mr. Bent's house, on Big Timber. After a
sojourn of a week, near Bent's trading house, the whole of which time was employed in
refitting and preparing proper camp equipage for the journey over the mountains, we bade
an affectionate adieu to our worthy doctor; and started in high spirits, the lofty summit
of Pike's Peak in the distance glittering in the morning sun.
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