The Colorado fur trade reached its height in the mid-1830s, with William Bent's Forts on the Arkansas River serving as a hub for the flourishing bison-robe trade. This industry brought Indigenous nations like the Cheyenne and Arapaho into more direct and consistent contact with whites, as they were able to trade bison hides for steel cookware, weapons, horses, and other foreign goods. While beneficial in the short-term, the fur trade exacerbated problems facing Indigenous nations because it encouraged over-hunting of the bison.