Bents Creek
Borger, Hutchinson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(About 1.5 miles east) Named for Charles (1799-1847) and William Bent (1809-1869), famed for frontier trading with mountain men and "wild" Indians. As early as 1835 they came from their headquarters near present La Junta, Colo., to trade with the Kiowas and Comanches along the Canadian River, in this vicinity. They built at least three posts along the river and tributary creeks; most permanent post was Fort Adobe, built 1843-1844. In the ruins of this fort (NE of here) Kit Carson fought his last big Indian battle (1864), and buffalo hunters and Indians fought the Battle of Adobe Walls in 1874. (1971)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Named for brothers Charles and William Bent, whose Colorado-based trading empire reached deep into the Texas Panhandle. From the mid-1830s they and their men rode out from their post near present-day La Junta to trade with the Kiowa and Comanche along the Canadian River, eventually raising several posts here—most notably the adobe-walled Fort Adobe of 1843–44. Those crumbling walls later framed two famous frontier fights: Kit Carson's hard-pressed 1864 clash and the 1874 Battle of Adobe Walls between buffalo hunters and Plains warriors.
Why it matters
The site marks the collision of the Santa Fe trade, the Plains nations, and the buffalo-hunting frontier that would decide who controlled the Southern Plains.
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Related people
- · Charles Bent
- · William Bent
- · Kit Carson
Related events
- · Battle of Adobe Walls
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Fifteen miles to the Site of the Battle of Adobe Walls
Borger, TX
Fifteen miles from this marker lies the site of the first Battle of Adobe Walls, fought on November 25, 1864, when Kiowa and Comanche warriors met U.S. troops led by Colonel Christopher 'Kit' Carson. Carson attacked the villages but, badly outnumbered, was forced to withdraw in what proved to be the famous scout and frontiersman's last fight. The clash was one of the largest engagements between the Army and the Southern Plains nations.
First Battle of Adobe Walls
Stinnett, TX
In the closing months of the Civil War, thousands of Comanche and Kiowa warriors — allied with the Confederacy — clashed with a Federal column of some 372 men led by the famed scout Col. Kit Carson near the ruins of an old trading post on the Canadian River. Though Carson mounted what he called the greatest fight of his career, the vastly outnumbered soldiers were forced to withdraw, making this one of the largest Indian engagements of the war. A decade later, some of the same warriors would face buffalo hunters at the 1874 Battle of Adobe Walls, a fight that helped open the Panhandle to settlement.
Battle of Adobe Walls
Stinnett, TX
On November 25, 1864, Colonel Christopher "Kit" Carson led a column of U.S. troops against a large force of Kiowa and Comanche near the ruins of an old trading post known as Adobe Walls. Sheltering behind the crumbling walls, Carson's men fought a hard engagement before withdrawing from the far more numerous warriors. It proved to be the famed frontiersman's last battle.
Exploration Route of Lt. James W. Abert
Masterson, TX
In 1845, just as Texas was joining the Union, the U.S. government sent West Point topographical engineer Lt. James W. Abert and a 33-man party to map the Canadian River. Camping near this spot, Abert was visited by Kiowa who said they were at war with Texans but welcomed him once he proved to be an American, and his maps and notes on the river's geography and its native peoples became valuable to the young state and nation.