As warm weather and longer days return to Colorado, Tesoro Cultural Center is excited to bring back the full intertribal Powwow competition, post-COVID, as part of the 22nd annual Indian Market & Powwow in June. The 22nd annual celebration will take place on the grounds of The Fort Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, with FREE on-site parking available for attendees.
Admission for this family-friendly event is $15 for … Read the entire post >
(Excerpted from Proprietress Holly Arnold Kinney’s “The Fort Cookbook”)
Antonio Archuleta from Taos, New Mexico, custom-made Spanish Colonial–style furniture for The Fort from the day we opened in 1963. He was also a master builder and brilliant wood carver, and much of our furniture displays his artistry—as does some of the furniture in Holly’s own home, where a king-size master bed, guest beds and a beautiful trastero (cabinet) with intricate carvings makes her smile every day.
In our opinion, there … Read the entire post >
(Includes excerpts from Proprietress Holly Arnold Kinney’s “The Fort Cookbook”)
In 1961, Sam’l and Bay Arnold had a dream to build an adobe home outside of Denver so their family could grow up surrounded by fresh air, horseback riding and fishing. While Bay was reading a book about Bent’s Old Fort, she was inspired to create a similar adobe castle in Morrison, Colorado.
The Arnolds hired William Lumpkins, a top architect in adobe construction, as well as a contractor from … Read the entire post >
Longtime fans of The Fort know there’s no better place to celebrate Independence Day than in Red Rocks country! Along with our tasty BBQ specials and classic Colorado views, Fourth of July at The Fort always includes the firing of our historic cannon.
But firing a 19th century cannon is a little different than setting off fireworks, so we asked The Fort’s cannoneer, Norman Hughes, to share more about his unique hobby.
How did you become a cannoneer?
My involvement … Read the entire post >
Behind-the-scenes tours of The Fort are the perfect socially-distanced activity for spring! With a guided tour from Tesoro Cultural Center, you can learn about the history of the original Bent’s Old Fort, which operated from 1833-1849 in present-day La Junta, Colo., and was known as the Mud Castle of the Plains.
How did this historic building influence the construction of its replica in Morrison, Colo., and how did The Fort come to be listed on the National Register of … Read the entire post >
Excerpted from Sam Arnold’s Eating Up the Santa Fe Trail.
In the early 1830s, the beaver fur trade in the mountains was still thriving, and fur companies built trade forts at strategic points along the trail to supply both free and company trappers, and to provide goods for the American Indian trade.
From 1824 to 1846, the Arkansas River served as the border between the United States and Mexico. It was logical that Missouri traders Charles and William Bent, along … Read the entire post >
Written by Sam’l Arnold and excerpted from Eating Up the Santa Fe Trail.
Tablets or slabs of chocolate have been cherished by New Mexican chocolate fanciers for nearly four centuries. In probate inventories, slabs of chocolate were listed among the estate assets of New Mexicans as early as the 17th century. Shortly after the Spanish invasion of Mexico in the early 16th century, Fray Bernardino de Sahagun listed orange, black and white chocolate, sometimes mixed with sweetening or … Read the entire post >
Written by Sam’l Arnold and excerpted from Shinin’ Times at The Fort
As the mountain men commonly said, “Meat’s meat, howsomever [sic] what kind, as long as it’s meat!” Learn more about the rather interesting types of meat consumed by fur traders and trappers, mountain men, travelers and American Indians alike during the mid-19th century.
Considered a holy meat by the Indians, buffalo tongue was thought by many to be the greatest gourmet delicacy of 19th… Read the entire post >
Written by Sam’l Arnold and excerpted from Shinin’ Times at The Fort
The last bison east of the Appalachians was killed in about 1830, although by that time, the great herds of the plains had hardly been touched by the relatively few American Indians living there. Colorado, for example, was believed to be home to fewer than eight thousand American Indians, and these were small bands of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Lakota and Ute tribes. Here, bison were far from … Read the entire post >
A lovely Christmas tradition in New Mexico is the use of farolitos. Instead of a Christmas tree, farolitos, or “little lanterns,” are lit to usher in the holiday season. These paper bags filled with sand and a candle are place along walks, around porches or on the roof lines of a building, shining a cheery yellow light into the chilly night.
Many people mistakenly call farolitos “luminarias.” In fact, luminarias are stacks of pitch pine, piled in … Read the entire post >
