(1802-1870) – Trader, frontiersman, businessman, and soldier, St. Vrain established Bent’s Fort, Colorado along with William and Charles Bent. A descendant of French aristocrats, St. Vrain was born on May 5, 1802 as Ceran de Hault de Lassus de St. Vrain near St. Louis, Missouri. Though St. Vrain spent much time traveling and at Bent’s Fort, he also maintained a home and multiple business interests in Taos, New Mexico. St. Vrain ran the company stores in Taos and Santa Fe and served as American consul in Santa Fe during the 1830’s. Both St. Vrain and the Bent brothers became very influential as they were highly regarded for their business acumen and gentlemanly ways, and during these influential times, made occasional trips to Washington D.C. St. Vrain withdrew from the trading partnership in 1850 in order to diversify his other business interests and in 1855, moved to Mora, New Mexico, where he built a flour mill that supplied Fort Union, New Mexico and Fort Garland, Colorado. He also began publishing the Santa Fe Gazette newspaper. He served briefly as a colonel in the First New Mexico Cavalry in 1861. He continued to live in Mora until his death on October 28, 1870.