Frontiersman, born in Madison Co, Kentucky, USA. His father died when he was nine and he received no schooling. Apprenticed to a saddlemaker (1825), he ran away to join an expedition to Sante Fe, NM. He became an experienced trapper and Indian fighter, and c.1836 married an Arapaho woman he called Alice. After her death, he met John C Frémont and served as guide for his first two expeditions (1842, 18434). After a third expedition and the conquest of California (18467), Carson was selected to carry the reports back to Washington. When the Senate refused to confirm a commission in the regular army, he served as an agent for the Ute Indians (185361) and dictated the narrative of his life and adventures. During the Civil War he led the 1st New Mexican Volunteer Infantry, mostly in battles against Native American peoples; his most famous episode involved leading captured Navahos on a 300-mile long walk. Breveted to rank of brigadier-general, he remained in the army and was assigned to command Ft Garland in Colorado (18667), but his health soon failed.
Early life
Born in Madison County, Kentucky, Carson was raised in Franklin, Missouri, where his family moved before his second birthday. At fifteen, Carson left an apprenticeship to a saddle maker and traveled west to New Mexico.
In addition to his work as a trapper, Carson served as a guide, military scout, Indian agent, soldier (rising to the rank of brigadier general), and rancher during his time in the southwest. In 1842, Frémont described Carson with the following words: “I was pleased with him and his manner of address at this first meeting. 74) Descriptions in Frémont's popular report of his expeditions made Kit Carson famous.
After ending his career as a trapper, Carson became a hunter for Bent's Fort. In the meantime, Carson re-settled in Taos, New Mexico.
Military service
Carson was active in military service, reaching the brevet rank of brigadier-general. Under indirect orders from Fremont, Carson presided over the cold-blooded killing of three innocent Californio citizens at Point San Pablo: the two young De Haro twins and the elder Jose de los Reyes Berreyessa. Carson also fought in the Battle of San Pascual, where Gen.
Civil War
When the U.S. Civil War erupted in April 1861, Kit Carson resigned his post as federal Indian agent for northern New Mexico and joined the New Mexico volunteer infantry which was being organized by Ceran St. Vrain. Carson, with the rank of Colonel of Volunteers, commanded the third of five columns in Canby's force. Carson's command was divided into two battalions each made up of four companies of the First New Mexico Volunteers, in all some 500 men. Colonel Carson's column spent the morning on the west side of the river out of the action, but at one o'clock, Canby ordered them to cross, and Carson's battalions fought until ordered to retreat. Carson lost one man killed and one wounded. In his battle report, however, he did commend Carson, among other volunteer officers, for his "zeal and energy".
After the battle at Valverde, Colonel Canby and most of the regular troops were ordered to the eastern front, but Carson and his New Mexico Volunteers were fully occupied by "Indian troubles".
Navajo campaign
The new commander of the Federal District of New Mexico, Brigadier General James H. Carleton, ordered Carson to lead an expedition against the Navajo Indians, who continued to raid Pueblo Indians and European newcomers throughout the Rio Grande Valley. The Navajos should be told, Carleton instructed Carson, "You have deceived us too often, and robbed and murdered our people too long, to trust you again at large in your own country.
Under Carleton's direction, Carson instituted a scorched earth policy, burning Navajo fields and homes, and confiscating or killing their livestock. Carson was pleased with the work the Utes did for him, but they went home early in the campaign when told they could not confiscate Navajo booty.
Carson also had difficulty with his New Mexico volunteers. Carson urged Carleton to accept two resignations he was forwarding, "as I do not wish to have any officer in my command who is not contented or willing to put up with as much inconvenience and privations for the success of the expedition as I undergo myself." Carson rounded up and took prisoner every Navajo he could find. In January 1864, Carson sent a company into Canyon de Chelly to attack the last Navajo stronghold under the leadership of Manuelito.
Southern Plains campaign
In November 1864, Carson was sent by General Carleton to deal with the Natives in western Texas. Carson and his troopers met a combined force of Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne numbering over 1,500 at the ruins of Adobe Walls. In what is known as the battle of Adobe Walls, the Native force led by Dohäsan made several assaults on Carson's forces which were supported by ten mountain howitzers. Carson inflicted heavy losses on the attacking warriors before burning the Indians' camp and lodges and returning to Fort Bascom. Chivington boasted that he had surpassed Carson and would soon be known as the great Indian killer. Carson was outraged at the massacre and openly denounced Chivington's actions.
In October 1865, General Carleton recommended that Carson be awarded the brevet rank of brigadier-general, "for gallantry in the battle of Valverde, and for distinguished conduct and gallantry in the wars against the Mescalero Apaches and against the Navajo Indians of New Mexico."
Colorado
When the Civil War ended, and with the Indian campaigns successfully concluded, Carson left the army and took up ranching, finally settling in Fraksvill, Colorado.
Carson died at the age of 59 from an aneurism in the surgeon's quarters in Fort Lyon, Colorado, located east of Las Animas. His headstone inscription reads: "Kit Carson / Died May 23rd 1868 / Aged 59 Years."
Reputation
Many of the early images and recollections of Carson by his peers and early writers portray him in a positive light. Albert Richardson, who knew him personally in the 1850's, wrote that Kit Carson was "a gentleman by instinct, upright, pure, and simple-hearted, beloved alike by Indians, Mexicans, and Americans" (Richardson, p.
Oscar Lipps also presented a positive image of Carson: "The name of Kit Carson is to this day held in reverence by all the old members of the Navajo tribe.
Carson's contributions to western history have been reexamined by historians, journalists and Native American activists since the 1960s. If history has to single out one person from among the Mountain Men to receive the admiration of later generations, Carson is the best choice. 210)
Some journalists and authors during the last 25 years present a less benign view of Carson. Virginia Hopkins stated that "Kit Carson was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands of Indians" (Hopkins, p. Her viewpoint is contrasted with that of Tom Dunlay, who wrote in 2000 that Carson was directly responsible for less than fifty Indian deaths and that, as Carson was not there at the time, Indian deaths on the Long Walk or at Ft. 14.)
Marley Shebala, senior news reporter and photographer for Navajo Times, Jan. 19, 2006, quoted the Fort Defiance Chapter of the Navajo Nation as saying, "Carson ordered his soldiers to shoot any Navajo, including women and children, on sight." James Carleton’s orders to Carson on Oct. 12, 1862 concerning the Mescalero Apaches: "All Indian men of that tribe are to be killed whenever and wherever you can find them: the women and children will not be harmed, but you will take them prisoners and feed them at Ft.
Popular culture
The legend of Kit Carson began before he died, and has continued to grow through the years through dime novels, poems, movies, television, comic books and television. These wildly fictional tales tend to portray Carson as a heroic figure slaughtering two bears and a dozen Indians before breakfast, and when mixed with a few real historic events, the result is that Kit Carson becomes larger than life.
In a 1990 song titled "Kit Carson", songwriter Bruce Cockburn depicts Carson's legacy in a less benign light:
Kit Carson was a hero to some With his poison and his flame But somewhere there's a restless ghost That used to bear his nameMuseum and place names
The Kit Carson Home and Museum in Taos, New Mexico is open to the public for a small entry fee.
A partial list of places named after Carson:
Carson City, the capital of Nevada Carson National Forest, in northern New Mexico Carson Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains Carson River, flowing from California to Nevada, ending in the Carson Sink Carson Trail, a branch of the California Trail Carson Valley, Nevada Kit Carson County, Located in Eastern Colorado Kit Carson Memorial State Park, Taos, New Mexico Kit Carson Park, Escondido, California Kit Carson Peak in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of southern Colorado Kit Carson Way is a major expressway in Klamath Falls, Oregon Fort Carson, an Army post in Colorado Springs Mount Kit Carson, Spokane County, Washington
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