Bent’s Old Fort Campout Review

Scouts: Eli, Bjorn, Lex, Luke, Andrew, Vince, Aidan, Jackson D, Alexander and Cooper 

Adults: Heather, Chris, Brett

We overnighted Friday at the Koshare Indian Museum where we slept under a giant wooden Kiva.  This location is where the famed Koshare Indian Dancers (a boy scout staffed group) perform, unfortunately they were not performing at the time of our trip.  The adults all used ear plugs and had a great night of sleep.  Reports from the scouts indicate some ghost stories being told followed by other sleepover shenanigans.

The next morning, we went to Bent’s Old Fort and explored the rebuilt trading fort.  The scouts were one and all captivated by the most foreign creature that they had never seen before, yes a cat, untold minutes were spent fawning over a cat.  The Fort staff astutely confirmed we were city slickers and warned us we would be slack jawed by the docile goats, peacocks and chickens in the back of the fort. 

We had a fabulous tour guide who helped relate the role the fort played as the only trading post along the Santa Fe trail between St Louis (a 50 day trek away) and Santa Fe.  The tour explained how the economics of trading worked and how it related to today’s economy. And oh gosh, wouldn’t you know, another cat showed up so there went another 10 minutes….  The scouts also learned about the different classes of citizens at the fort and how a slave ranked among others. 

You should be proud of your child, as they were complimented by the staff for being well mannered and attentive. 

We had lunch at the fort and I am happy to report that we covered all the food groups, yep meat, cheese, bread and chips (veggies and fruits are reportedly no longer foods according to the middle and high schoolers in the group).

We took a detour to go home and stopped by the site of the Sand Creek Massacre.  We thought this would give the scouts a tangible different perspective on the old west and see the impacts on the native Americans.  The troop had a good discussion on history, learning from our ignorance and seeing facts from a different perspective.  We also discussed the recent change of Mt. Evans name to Mt. Blue Sky and how it related to this massacre.  This site is sacred to the native tribes and the troop did a great job of being respectful.  Thankfully, there were no cats at this location or we might not have got home till midnight.

If we do this trip again in a few years, I would suggest we try to match it to when the tarantula migration happens in La Junta, try to see the dancers perform, and doing the hike to see the dinosaur tracks using the short cut trail (6 miles vs 11 miles round trip).  I likely wouldn’t suggest the massacre site as it added a lot of driving time.

Photos are online as usual at https://www.bsatroop640.com/photos/ and if you need the password, email .