Bents fort goodies

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Got these today at the fort. Very small horn for use while hunting.
 

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How long is that powder horn, and what are we looking at in the 2nd photo from the right?
 
Tin canteen. Tge horn is maybe 6 inches long but very thin. Ill take a pic of it next to my regular horn.
 
And I love those old 18th & 19th century bikes. Is the bike original or a bench copy? It appears H/C and P/C as far as I can tell. :cheers:

The photos of the fort are highly interesting and show the detail very nicely. Also, I have a small black horn similar to that one; they are perfect for woods toting "day horns".
 
How long is that powder horn, and what are we looking at in the 2nd photo from the right?
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The trading post sells these horns purchased from one of their suppliers - Crazy Crow Trading (they wouldn't tell you that). The second and third pictures are inside the fort at Bent's Fort.

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The second photo from the right shows a pair of Santa fe Sadldes (right and left corners), a bull boat
(made from a buffalo hide) in the middle with a small beaver hide and small accessories.

Bent's Old Fort is an 1833 fort located in Otero County in southeastern Colorado, United States. A company owned by Charles Bent and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain built the fort to trade with Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Plains Indians and trappers for buffalo robes.

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A well done rebuilt fort on the original foundation by the National Park Servive in June 1960.






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I was wondering if it was common "back-in-the-day" to carry such a small horn. How many grain of real black powder will it hold?
 
I was wondering if it was common "back-in-the-day" to carry such a small horn. How many grain of real black powder will it hold?
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That's an excellent question Marty, one that's asked all the time.

Most original horn sets (are always questionable if they were added to the pouch). The old dealers through time have always tried to make a complete set of items when selling a shooting pouch (the more accessories the higher the price).

Many of these small horns that I have looked at were at one time used as a salt horn, (then someone put black powder in them and then claimed to have been a priming horn). A good test that the old collectors used was taking a small diameter wire and rubbing the inside of the horn in question, then dumping out the scrapings and tasting it (if it had salt in it at one time you'll taste it).


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So how many grains of black powder might these "salt-shakers" hold?
 
Depends on the size of the horn, diameter, length, etc. I have some that will hold 75 grains or less of fine powder (like 4FFFF) up to several charges of 2FF at 80 grains each. From the size of the picture that Jonathan has, his is probably double that? Crazy Crow sells them with brass valve & 20 Gr. spout or larger. See: Powder Horns- Powder Horn Kits- Priming Horns- Priming Flasks- Scrimshaw Horns



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It most likely will hold 15-20 shots of 80gr 2fg. Its not huge, just big enough for a week long hunt where I might miss a time or 2 ;)
 
great thanks for sharing them with us!! I for one have never seen photo's of the fort.
 
Two Feathers also makes and sells custom powder horns. Along with his grest knives
 
Speaking of Bent's Fort, I went there when the Park Service didn't have it yet and it just opened. Stopped by several times over the years. Anyhow met several of the folks working there and as we had dressed for the occasion, had a great time as we were the only other folks there. A young man ( I was still mostly a "young man" then also) by the handle of "Lizard" was working there and I lost track of him over the years, anyone on site know him or his whereabouts? If I can figure out how, will up-load or down load a picture of us all in 1982 or so.
 
Speaking of Bent's Fort, I went there when the Park Service didn't have it yet and it just opened.
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You got that wrong for ownership, the National Park Service has always owned this property (before there was anything there). The National Park Service bought the property in the early 1960's when there was nothing other than the foot high foundation of the original fort that had been capped with concrete around 1940 by local farmers.

It took over 10 years for government funding with the ground breaking in the summer of 1972. A small group of us were invited to go down to the site and set up tipi's and lean tou's for this event. The Governor of Colorado - Dick Lamb appeared for the ground breaking, he stayed with us that night in our tipi (became friends and helped us later setup the Colorado State Muzzleloading Association getting us through the legal stuff).

It took several years for the opening of the fort because of the time it took for it to be done correctly off the orignial blue prints found at the museum in Pueblo in the 1950's. There is lot's of wrong infromation for dates when things happened with this fort.......

A Little History of Bent's
First known as Fort William, and then as Bent's Fort, the second stockade became one of the most prominent landmarks along the Santa Fe Trail. It was built of stone and a smaller trading post. The size was 180 feet long and 135 feet wide, with 15 foot high walls that were four feet thick. Cannons were in the bastions at the southwest and northwest corners. Cactus was planted on the tops of the walls to discourage climbers.
This trading post was a rendezvous for Fremont's expedition to the Rockies, Kearney's march to Santa Fe and Price's Mexico column. It lasted until 1852 when William Bent, bitter over his unsuccessful attempts to sell it at his price to the Federal government, moved his gear out in 20 wagons and blew up the first Bent's Fort.
The chronology continues with this, Bent's "New" Fort, 30 miles to the east and on a bluff overlooking the Arkansas River. Here he built a smaller version of his adobe establishment. It stood on a point so that it could be approached only from the north. The 16 foot high stone walls surrounded a dozen rooms and a large central court. A 55 foot long ware house was inside. Although it had no bastions, it retained the cannon of the earlier fort and these were mounted on the corners of the roof.
Bent's reputation of fair dealing followed him and his trade kept up at the same pace as before. Then in 1859, the Army moved nearby and hinted that it might like to stay. Noting the damper that this put on his trading, Bent suggested that the Army might like to buy him out. Major John Sedgwick concurred.
"I would strongly suggest that it be purchased," Sedgwick wrote in reference to the fort, "both for the convenience and the economy. It is offered for sale for $12,000, and I do not think that the government can put up such a work for that money."
In 1860 Bent's New Fort became Army, but only on a lease basis: at $65 a month. Contrary to some historians, the Army never bought the fort. It paid the rent for a couple of years, then determined that Bent was only a squatter on Indian lands without legal title.
I attended many events there over a 30 year period, have seen guys (employees) that worked there get their feet wet with the Parks Service and in time moved on to otherlocations owned by this sysytem. Fun places to hang out at ......







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Sorry, did get my ownership mixed up, Park Service got the site from the State, who got the site in 1950, 1960 Park Service got it and put on the Nat. Reg. of Historical Places in 1966. Finished construction for 1976, when I was there in 1979-80 it was run by volunteers. Been 12-15 years since last visit and plan on visiting agin this summer if I can swing by from a visit in Brush. I just remember the folks I visited working there were not Park Service employees and assumed the Colorado Historical Society still had something to do with it. My bad.
 
Colorado Historical Society was just used for their connections, nothing more than that at the time (no funds other than a name to get the National Parks Service's attention in Washington DC was what we we told by Lamb)..

You would not believe how hard it is to get funding for historical sites that were the reason this country is what it is today. My father gave the state of PA my great great grandmothers house that was a field hospital during the Rev. War - free for the taking with an acre of ground. The State of Pennsylvania had trouble getting my father the signed paperwork of this gift so he could write it off on his taxes !@#$%^. What a cluster that mess was .... now wish he would have kept the property, we would have rebuilt it as it was in the 1780's. :( :mad:


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Just to show the difference in the tiny horn i bought. Perfect for hunting. The very top horn I use for rendezvous as a back up horn. It carries almost 3/4lb of powder.
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It most likely will hold 15-20 shots of 80gr 2fg. Its not huge, just big enough for a week long hunt where I might miss a time or 2 ;)
That's all the powder you should ever need for the entire hunting season. For a day's hunt I only carry enough blackpowder for three shots.
Nice find FG.:thumbs up: I really like compact stuff when it comes to hunting.
Oh...by-the way... did you test it for salt?😁
 
Okay my guess was on the money! 16 shots today using 60gr and 70gr charges. Plenty for a 9 day hunt in the mountains! I figure with 2fg black powder set at 80gr volume, I'll be in the 15 shot range.

HA! That ain't no joke! It would be awesome for carrying salt.
 
HA! That ain't no joke! It would be awesome for carrying salt.

Have read accounts of our forefather's using a small horn like yours with a salt/pepper mix when traveling for any length of time. Biggest problem would be moisture with either powder or salt with such a small opening at the mouth of the horn.


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