Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
La Junta, Colorado
Little is known about Owl Woman, daughter of Gray Thunder, Cheyenne keeper of the sacred arrows, and wife of William Bent, Indian trader. "Mis-stan-stur" was sketched by Lt. J. W. Abert as she sat on the billiard table at Bent's Fort. In his 1845 journal he describes:
"In the evening I got a fine sketch of 'Mis-stan-stur,' (Owl Woman), a Cheyenne squaw, who although she has been married several years and has two children, yet shows signs of having been a remarkably handsome woman. Having a white man for her husband, she has not been obliged to work, therefore her hands are in all their native beauty, small, delicately formed, and with tapering fingers; her wavy hair, unlike the Indians generally, was fine and of silken soften. She put on her handsomest dress in order to sit for me. Her cape and under garment were bordered with bands of beads, and her beautiful leggins, which extended only to the knee, were so nicely joined with the moccasin that the connection could not be perceived, and looked as neat as the stockings of our eastern belles, and the modest attitude in which she sits is characteristic, but will be best conceived by the sketch."
Owls are creatures of the night
Ghosts on the wing
Predators whose silent approach is not heard.
The old Cheyenne sitting
under the cottonwoods
waiting to trade
will tell you that mistai,
are not natural animals.
Their feathers, correctly worn,
may impart power to see in the dark
and move quickly and silently through it.
But run to your home and hide
if you hear the call
of the mistai in the night.
Bent's Old Fort is a ghost from the past.
But, things are different now from then.
No more are eagles in the tower prison.
No more are meadowlarks caged for their song.
If you are lucky,
you can hear the call
of the great horned owl
in the evening
when night begins to fall.
Watch the hawk over the river soar.
Wait for the cranes in autumn.
Now, as then, birds are symbols to man.
Indians revered them,
took their names as gifts...
* - species known to nest on the refuge
# - 1840's
c - common R - resident
u - uncommon M - migrant
r - rare
s - casual: present in some years, Sp - spring
absent in others S - summer
a - accidental F - fall
e - extirpated W - winter
GREBES
___ Pied-billed Grebe sM
CORMORANTS
___ Double-crested Cormorant --
HERONS
___ American Bittern --
___ Great Blue Heron# cM, uWR
___ Great Egret sM
___ Snowy Egret --
___ Green Heron rSp, FM
___ Black-crowned Night-Heron --
IBIS
___ White-faced Ibis --
GEESE, DUCKS
___ Snow Goose cM
___ Canada Goose# cM
___ Wood Duck* uR
___ Green-winged Teal# uM
___ Mallard* cR
___ Northern Pintail uM
___ Blue-winged Teal* cR
___ Cinnamon Teal uR
___ Northern Shoveler cM, uR
___ Gadwall --
___ American Wigeon rM
___ Redhead --
___ Ring-necked Duck --
___ Lesser Scaup uM, sWR
___ Common Merganser uM
___ Ruddy Duck rM, rWR
VULTURES
___ Turkey Vulture# rM
HAWKS, EAGLES
___ Osprey sM
___ Mississippi Kite uSR
___ Bald Eagle# uWR
___ Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk)* uSR
___ Sharp-shinned Hawk --
___ Cooper's Hawk uWR
___ Northern Goshawk sM
___ Swainson's Hawk uM
___ Red-tailed Hawk*# uSR
___ Ferruginous Hawk* uSR
___ Rough-legged Hawk rWR
___ Golden Eagle rM
FALCON
___ American Kestrel cR
___ Merlin cW
___ Prairie Falcon rWM
QUAIL, PHEASANTS, TURKEYS
___ Ring-necked Pheasant* cR
___ Wild Turkey*# cR
___ Northern Bobwhite# cR
___ Scaled Quail sR
RAILS
___ Black Rail sM
___ Virginia Rail sM
___ Sora uM
___ American Coot rM
CRANES
___ Sandhill Crane# rFM
PLOVERS
___ Killdeer* cR
AVOCETS
___ American Avocet rSpM
SANDPIPERS
___ Greater Yellowlegs --
___ Lesser Yellowlegs --
___ Solitary Sandpiper sSpM
___ Willet --
___ Spotted Sandpiper --
___ Long-billed Curlew rM
___ Western Sandpiper sSpM
___ Least Sandpiper --
___ Common Snipe sSR
___ American Woodcock sM
___ Wilson's Phalarope sSpM
GULLS, TERNS
___ Franklin's Gull --
___ Ring-billed Gull --
___ California Gull cSpM, rSR
___ Forster's Tern --
___ Black Tern sSpM
DOVES
___ Rock Dove (Domestic Pigeon)* cR
___ Mourning Dove* cR
ROADRUNNERS, CUCKOOS
___ Yellow-billed Cuckoo rSR
___ Greater Roadrunner# e
OWLS
___ Barn Owl rM
___ Great Horned Owl* uR
___ Burrowing Owl e
___ Long-eared Owl sM
NIGHTJARS
___ Common Nighthawk cR
HUMMINGBIRDS
___ Broad-tailed Hummingbird --
___ Rufous Hummingbird --
KINGFISHERS
___ Belted Kingfisher uM
WOODPECKERS
___ Lewis's Woodpecker uR
___ Red-headed Woodpecker* cR
___ Red-naped Sapsucker M
___ Downy Woodpecker uR
___ Hairy Woodpecker uR
___ Northern Flicker (Common Flicker) cR
FLYCATCHERS
___ Western Wood-Pewee rM
___ Say's Phoebe* uR
___ Ash-throated Flycatcher uM
___ Cassin's Kingbird sSM
___ Western Kingbird* cR
___ Eastern Kingbird* cR
LARKS
___ Horned Lark uR
SWALLOWS
___ Northern Rough-winged Swallow --
___ Bank Swallow --
___ Cliff Swallow sSR
___ Barn Swallow* cR
JAYS, MAGPIES, CROWS
___ Blue Jay* uR
___ Black-billed Magpie*# uR
___ American Crow rR
___ Chihuahuan Raven --
___ Common Raven# rM
CHICKADEES
___ Black-capped Chickadee uR
NUTHATCHES
___ Red-beasted Nuthatch --
___ White-breasted Nuthatch sWM
WRENS
___ Bewick's Wren --
___ House Wren* uSR
___ Marsh Wren rWR, rSM
THRUSHES
___ Eastern Bluebird sSpM
___ Western Bluebird rM
___ Mountain Bluebird rM
___ Townsend's Solitaire --
___ Swainson's Thrush --
___ Hermit Thrush cSpM
___ American Robin* cR
THRASHERS
___ Northern Mockingbird*# cR
___ Sage Thrasher --
___ Brown Thrasher uR
SHRIKES
___ Northern Shrike rWR
___ Loggerhead Shrike sSpM
STARLINGS
___ European Starling* cR
VIREOS
___ Solitary Vireo sSpM
___ Warbling Vireo --
___ Red-eyed Vireo --
WARBLERS
___ Yellow Warbler --
___ Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) sM
___ Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon) sSpM
___ Blackpoll Warbler sM
___ MacGillivray's Warbler sM
___ Common Yellowthroat cR
___ Wilson's Warbler sM
___ Yellow-breasted Chat rM
TANAGERS
___ Western Tanager rM
GROSBEAKS
___ Black-headed Grosbeak rSM
___ Blue Grosbeak cR
SPARROWS, BUNTINGS
___ Lazuli Bunting* cR
___ Indigo Bunting rM
___ Dickcissel sM
___ Green-tailed Towhee uM
___ Rufous-sided Towhee uM
___ Cassin's Sparrow --
___ American Tree Sparrow cWR
___ Chipping Sparrow cM
___ Clay-colored Sparrow cM
___ Brewer's Sparrow --
___ Field Sparrow uM
___ Vesper Sparrow uM
___ Lark Sparrow* cR
___ Lark Bunting uM
___ Savannah Sparrow uM
___ Grasshopper Sparrow --
___ Song Sparrow --
___ Swamp Sparrow rWR, uSM
___ White-crowned Sparrow cSpM
___ Dark-eyed Junco rM
BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES
___ Red-winged Blackbird* cR
___ Western Meadowlark*# cR
___ Yellow-headed Blackbird uSpM
___ Rusty Blackbird sSpM
___ Brewer's Blackbird uSpM
___ Great-tailed Grackle uM
___ Common Grackle cM
___ Brown-headed Cowbird# cSR
___ Orchard Oriole sM
___ Bullock's Oriole* cSR
FINCHES
___ House Finch cM
___ Pine Siskin --
___ Lesser Goldfinch aM
___ American Goldfinch cM
WEAVER FINCHES
___ House Sparrow* cR
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site is administered by the National Park
Service. For additional information contact:
Biological Resources Technician
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site
35110 Highway 194 East
La Junta, Colorado 81050-9523
Telephone: 719/384-2596
This resource is based on the following source:
Bent's Old Fort Historical Association. 1995. Birds of Bent's Ford, a
checklist. National Park Service. Unpaginated.
This resource should be cited as:
Bent's Old Fort Historical Association. 1995. Birds of Bent's Ford, a
checklist. National Park Service. Unpaginated. Jamestown, ND:
Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.govbentfort.htm
(Version 22MAY98).
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/chekbird/r6/bentfort.htm
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Page Last Modified: Friday, 01-Feb-2013 18:58:31 EST
Menlo Park, CA [caww54]