From the 1820s to the 1840s, this region near the border of the U.S. and Mexico lay along the Arkansas River, which served as the international boundary between the two nations. Trappers, explorers, profiteers, and native, Hispanic, and Euro-American peoples came into this borderland, drawn by profitable trade opportunities. From 1833 until 1849, Bent’s Fort was a cultural crossroads where business prospered and peace held sway, and Bent’s Old Fort, now reconstructed, stands as a reminder of a time when the permanent forts were specks in the vast loneliness.