BENT'S FORT

To highlight his report on the life of the traders and trappers of the Southwest in the mid 19th century, the author has focussed on the story of successful trader William Bent, who married a Cheyenne Indian and whose sons, in the end, turned on the white race and helped destroy the empire that he and his brothers had created. This story has an ironic drama in itself which has not been fictionalized here, and Lavender, who also wrote One Man's West and The Big Divide, draws on the known history of this period for his informed speculations about the life and adventures of real characters. A sound historical account which records harsh and heroic times with a fitting fortitude.