The
Bent brothers
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William
Bent
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Charles
Bent
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William Bent (1809 - 1869), an owner and manager of Bent's Old Fort. Later built Bent's New Fort at Big Timbers and served as an Indian Agent in 1859 - 1860. | Charles Bent (1798 - 1847), an owner of Bent's Old Fort. Murdered at his home in Taos, while serving as Governor of New Mexico. |
Click here for the family tree of William Bent. | Click here for the family tree of Charles Bent. |
Languages
of the Trade
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Without
communication, the Bent St. Vrain Company could not have understood native
customers and vice versa. Whatever form speaking may have taken - spoken
words, hand signs, drawings, flashing mirrors, smoke, or the exchange
of gifts - communication was intended to pass thoughts and feelings, wants
and desires, from one group to another. Communication was essential to
the success of trading posts.
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Among
the people employed at Bent's Fort were interpreters William Guerrier and
John Smith. These men bridged the gap between Indian and English speakers.
Lieutenant Abert noted Guerrier as the Cheyenne translator at Bent's Fort
in 1845 and said "A long residence amongst them (Indians) had enabled him
to repeat all their graceful and expressive gestures." Smith was described
by Lewis Garrard in 1846 as "...adept in the knowledge of Cheyenne tongue."
Lieutenant Abert noted that Smith "...speaks the Cheyenne language better,
perhaps, than any other white person in the country."
Years spent amongst the tribes had provided these white traders an opportunity to learn both spoken words and signs, though their interpretation was sometimes considered poor by the Indians. At the urging of Congress and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, interpreters traveled with Chiefs to places like St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Washington. John Smith accompanied Southern Cheyenne leaders to the White House three times, interpreting before Presidents Millard Fillmore, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses Grant. During his stay at Bent's Fort, Lieutenant James Abert wrote that he spent "several hours in the daily study of (the Cheyenne) language" and "found the English alphabet sufficient to represent all the sounds they utter ..." He believed the difficulty In learning Cheyenne was due to "the habit the Indians have of swallowing the last syllable of every word, so that many persons would hardly notice... and therefore omit it when attempting to speak ... and are not understood by the Indians." He observed the Cheyenne "numerical terms are beautifully arranged, each one of the digit[s] [are] expressed by the different name, and the tens ... by affixing certain terminations to the digits." |
Table
of Cheyenne Words from Abert's Cheyenne grammar notes at Bent's Fort,
September 5, 1846.
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Cheyenne
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English
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o
ne a vo kist
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beads
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te
ha nay
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comb
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ve
o mi turn
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vermilion
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mah
kite
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iron
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my
to took
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kettle
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wo
pe she o nun
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blanket
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wo
po mah
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salt
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mi
tun o
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gun
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ke
koi ana no
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ax
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pini
ha con
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flour
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nast
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one
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nish
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two
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nah
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three
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knave
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four
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none
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five
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nah-so-to
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six
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ne-so-to
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seven
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nah-no-to
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eight
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so-to
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nine
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mah-to-te
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ten
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Cheyenne,
Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, Ute, and Lakota were among the languages spoken
in the Bent trading empire. These multiple languages made trade difficult
and gave rise to the use of signs as a Lingua Franca of the plains.
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The use of signs was widespread and a combination of 75 to 100 signs could carry on a lengthy "conversation." Fingers, hands, and arms could be clasped, shaken, stiffened, lowered, bounced, crossed, and curved. Experienced sign talkers could communicate time, numbers, the seasons, nature, and emotions. There were also signs for people - Chiefs, elderly, warriors, children, men and women. | ||
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Many
native languages were used throughout the west. Traders, missionaries,
and the U.S. Government all had a need for communication with the Indians.
During the era of Bent's Fort, Anglo men, and later their mixed blood
sons and daughters translated Indian dialects at the behest of merchants,
travelers, and Indian agents. Spoken words and signs helped facilitate
the exchange of customs and materials that established the fort as a significant
site of American History.
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Author:
Matt Masten beol_interpretation@nps.gov
Last updated: 7-22-99
http://www.nps.gov/beol/learn_people.htm