Fort Saint Vrain was an 1837 fur

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

built by the

Bent, St. Vrain Company Bent, St. Vrain & Company was a fur trading and Indian trading business active from 1830 to 1849, in the Republic of Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and in the unorganized territory of the United States. Formation and operations Bent, St. Vrain & C ...

, and located at the confluence of Saint Vrain Creek and the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/ Mountain West. ...

, about 20 miles (32 km) east of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

in the unorganized territory of the United States, in present-day Weld County,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. A historical marker notes the place where Old Fort St. Vrain once stood, today at the end of Weld County Road 40, located about seven miles north of Fort Vasquez,

. Among those who helped to establish the fort was Ceran St. Vrain, after whom it was named.

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

, governor of the territory, granted the Bent, St. Vrain Co. a license to trade on November 8, 1836. Like neighboring forts, the structure was built as a two-story adobe structure whose walls encased an interior courtyard. It accommodated trade with Native American tribes and mountain men engaged in fur trapping. It resembled the adobe building and plaza reconstructed at Fort Vasquez and Bent's Old Fort. Marcellin St. Vrain, Ceran's brother, managed the

. He employed such notable people as James Beckwourth, a mountain man, and Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who was born to

Sacajewea Sacagawea ( or ; also spelled Sakakawea or Sacajawea; May – December 20, 1812 or April 9, 1884)Sacagawea
...

during the 1804-1806

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

. She accompanied the expedition with her husband, trader & trapper Toussaint Charbonneau as well as newborn Jean Baptiste, while filling the crucial role of translator to the Shoshone Indian tribe. After the

Taos Revolt The Taos Revolt was a populist insurrection in January 1847 by Hispano and Pueblo allies against the United States' occupation of present-day northern New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. Provisional governor Charles Bent and several ...

in 1847, the St. Vrain brothers both returned to St. Louis. After Ceran St. Vrain sold his shares of the Bent, St. Vrain Co., William Bent became sole proprietor by 1849. Bent moved to Fort St. Vrain temporarily before building a new Fort Bent in the Big Timbers area.

References

*Whiteley, Lee; ''The Cherokee Trail: Bent's Old Fort to Fort Bridger''; Lee Whiteley; 1999; Johnson Printing; Boulder, Colorado; *Brotemarkle, Diane; ''Old Fort St. Vrain''; Diane Brotemarkle; 2001; Johnson Printing; Boulder, Colorado; *Ubbelohde, Carl; Benson, Maxine; Smith, Duane A; ''A Colorado History: Third Edition''; 1972; Pruett Publishing Co; Boulder Colorado {{Authority control Landmarks in Colorado Fur trade Saint Vrain Buildings and structures in Weld County, Colorado Adobe buildings and structures 1837 establishments in the United States Buildings and structures completed in 1837 Trading posts in the United States