Edward Dorris R.I.P.

Edward Dorris was a stagecoach driver who died July 21, 1865, aged 31 years, of heat stroke and was buried just outside Bent’s Old Fort.  The original fort was built in 1833 (then called Fort William) by brothers Charles and William Bent and their partner Ceran St. Vrain as a private commercial outpost for seasonal trade.  It was not military fort; at least it at first.  Due to its location and the brothers’ success as peacemakers, in 1846 it was used by the Upper Platte and Arkansas Indian Agency for maintaining Indian relations and later as a staging point for the war with Mexico.  A new trading post was built by the surviving brother, William, 40 miles downriver.  The gravestone and fort are located eight miles east of La Junta, Colorado and operated by the National Park Service.