A Babel-Tongued Multitude

A Babel-Tongued Multitude. . , We have here a happy intermixture of nations and languages. French, Spanish, Indian and English salute your ears at one and the same time, and I am often at my wit's end to understand all the appeals made to me by such a Babel-tongued multitude. ~Alexander Barclay, Fort Superintendent~ , The Spirit of a Place , At Bent's Fort, everyone worked to keep the fort running and make it successful as a commercial enterprise. For some the fort was home; for others it was a welcome respite from the rigors of the Santa Fe Trail. After enduring trail hardships, visitors came face-to-face with a fort brimming with the trappings of society! Tables, chairs, tablecloths, plates, silverware, chandeliers, glass window panes, musical instruments, billiard, plentiful dry goods and liquor-each item was calculated to impress, each element set Bent, St. Vrain and Company apart. With all the dancing, gambling, and toasting, Theodore Davis later wrote that Bent's Fort was "the very merriest of all the trading posts on the frontier.", Peace, Security and Wealth , From the fort's Council Room to the tepees on the plains, peace was pursued as good business practice. Even the fort's placita, or plaza, functioned not only as a center of trade, but as the center of a diverse frontier community. When the Cheyenne danced, with onlookers encircling the plaza, it became a spiritual center. , Kids at Work , I have a lot of chores to do every day. It is not very much fun to grind corn into flour, clean chamber pots and scoop animal manure. While I work I sing songs of prairie, sky and buffalo in my native tongue. ,