KIT CARSON.
Kit Carson, as he was familiarly known and called, was born in Madison
County, Ky., on the 24th of December, 1809.
During the early days of Carson's childhood his father moved from
Kentucky to Missouri, which State was then called Upper Louisiana, where
Kit Carson passed a number of years, early becoming accustomed to the
stirring dangers with which his whole life was so familiar.
At the age of fifteen years he was apprenticed to a Mr. Workman, a
saddler. At the end of two years, when his apprenticeship was ended,
young Carson voluntarily abandoned the further pursuit of a trade which
had no attractions for him, and from that time on pursued the life of a
trapper, hunter, and Indian fighter, distinguishing himself in many ways
and rendering invaluable service to the Government of the United States,
in whose employ he spent a large part of his life, in which service he
had risen to the rank of colonel and was breveted brigadier-general
before his death, which occurred at Fort Lyon, Colo., on the 23d of May,
1868, from the effects of the rupture of an artery, or probably an
aneurism of an artery in the neck.
Carson as a trapper, hunter, and guide had no superior, and as a soldier
was the peer of any man.
The following from the life of Kit Carson will be found most interesting
reading regarding this great scout:
"With fresh animals and men well fed and rested, McCoy and Carson and
all their party soon started from Fort Hall for the rendezvous again,
upon Green River, where they were detained some weeks for the arrival of
other parties, enjoying as they best might the occasion, and preparing
for future operations.
"A party of a hundred was here organized, with Mr. Fontenelle and Carson
for their leaders, to trap upon the Yellowstone and the headwaters of
the Missouri. It was known that they would probably meet the Blackfeet,
in whose grounds they were going, and it was therefore arranged, that
while fifty were to trap and furnish the food for the party, the
remainder should be assigned to guard the camp and cook. There was no
disinclination on the part of any to another meeting with the Blackfeet,
so often had they troubled them, especially Carson, who, while he could
be magnanimous toward an enemy, would not turn aside from his course if
able to cope with him; and now that he was in a company which justly
felt itself strong enough to punish the 'thieving Blackfeet,' as they
spoke of them, he was anxious to pay off some old scores.
"They saw nothing, however, of these Indians; but afterward learned that
the smallpox had raged terribly among them, and that they had kept
themselves retired in mountain valleys, oppressed with fear and severe
disease.
"The winter's encampment was made in this region, and a party of Crow
Indians which was with them camped at a little distance on the same
stream. Here they secured an abundance of meat, and passed the severe
weather with a variety of amusements, in which the Indians joined them
in their lodges, made of buffalo hides. These lodges, very good
substitutes for houses, were made in the form of a cone, spread by means
of poles spreading from a common center, where there was a hole at the
top for the passage of smoke. These were often twenty feet in height and
as many feet in diameter, where they were pinned to the ground with
stakes. In a large village the Indians often had one lodge large enough
to hold fifty persons, and within were performed their war dances around
a fire made in the center. During the palmy days of the British Fur
Company, in a lodge like this, only made instead of birch bark, Irving
says the Indians of the North held their 'primitive fairs' outside the
city of Montreal, where they disposed of their furs.
"There was one drawback upon conviviality for this party, in the extreme
difficulty of getting food for their animals; for the food and fuel so
abundant for themselves did not suffice for their horses. Snow covered
the ground, and the trappers were obliged to gather willow twigs, and
strip the bark from cottonwood trees, in order to keep them alive. The
inner bark of the cottonwood is eaten by the Indians when reduced to
extreme want. Besides, the cold brought the buffalo down upon them in
great herds, to share the nourishment they had provided for their
horses.
"Spring at length opened, and gladly they again commenced trapping;
first on the Yellowstone and soon on the headwaters of the Missouri,
where they learned that the Blackfeet were recovered from the sickness
of last year, which had not been so severe as it was reported, and that
they were still anxious and in condition for a fight, and were encamped
not far from their present trapping grounds.
"Carson and five men went forward in advance 'to reconnoiter,' and found
the village preparing to remove, having learned of the presence of the
trappers. Hurrying back, a party of forty-three was selected from the
whole, and they unanimously selected Carson to lead them, and leaving
the rest to move on with the baggage, and aid them if it should be
necessary when they should come up with the Indians, they started
forward eager for a battle.
"Carson and his command were not long in overtaking the Indians; and
dashing among them, at the first fire killed ten of their braves; but
the Indians rallied and retreated in good order. The white men were in
good spirits, and followed up their first attack with deadly results for
three full hours, the Indians making scarce any resistance. Now their
firing became less animated, as their ammunition was getting low, and
they had to use it with extreme caution. The Indians, suspecting this
from the slackness of their fire, rallied, and with a tremendous whoop
turned upon their enemies.
"Now Carson and his company could use their small arms, which produced a
terrible effect, and which enabled them to again drive back the Indians.
They rallied yet again, and charged with so much power and in such
numbers, they forced the trappers to retreat.
"During this engagement the horse of one of the mountaineers was killed,
and fell with his whole weight upon his rider. Carson saw the condition
of the man, with six warriors rushing to take his scalp, and reached the
spot in time to save his friend. Leaping from the saddle he placed
himself before his fallen companion, shouting at the same time for his
men to rally around him, and with deadly aim from his rifle, shot down
the foremost warrior.
"The trappers now rallied around Carson and the remaining five warriors
retired, without the scalp of their fallen foe. Only two of them reached
a place of safety, for the well-aimed fire of the trappers leveled them
with the earth.
"Carson's horse was loose, and as his comrade was safe, he mounted
behind one of his men and rode back to the ranks, while by general
impulse the firing on both sides ceased. His horse was captured and
restored to him, but each party, now thoroughly exhausted, seemed to
wait for the other to renew the attack.
"While resting in this attitude, the other division of the trappers came
in sight, but the Indians, showing no fear, posted themselves among the
rocks at some distance from the scene of the last skirmish, and coolly
waited for their adversaries. Exhausted ammunition had been the cause of
the retreat of Carson and his force, but now, with a renewed supply, and
an addition of fresh men to the force, they advanced on foot to drive
the Indians from their hiding places. The contest was desperate and
severe, but powder and ball eventually conquered, and the Indians, once
dislodged, scattered in every direction. The trappers considered this a
complete victory over the Blackfeet, for a large number of their
warriors were killed, and many more were wounded, while they had but
three men killed and a few severely wounded.
"Fontenelle and his party now camped at the scene of the engagement, to
recruit their men and here bury their dead. Afterward they trapped
through the whole Blackfeet country, and with great success, going where
they pleased without fear or molestation. The Indians kept off their
route, evidently having acquaintance with Carson and his company enough
to last them their lifetime.
"With the smallpox and the white man's rifles the warriors were much
reduced, and the tribe, which had formerly numbered 30,000, was already
decimated, and a few more blows like the one dealt by this dauntless
band would suffice to break its spirit and destroy its power for future
and evil.
"During the battle with the trappers the women and children of the
Blackfeet village were sent on in advance, and when the engagement was
over and the braves returned to them so much reduced in numbers, and
without a single scalp, the big lodge that had been erected for the war
dance was given up for the wounded, and in hundreds of Indian hearts
grew a bitter hatred for the white man.
"An express, dispatched for the purpose, announced the place of the
rendezvous to Fontenelle and Carson, who were now on Green River, and
with their whole party and a large stock of furs, they at once set out
for the place upon Mud River, to find the sales commenced before their
arrival, so that in twenty days they were ready to break up camp.
"Carson now organized a party of seven and proceeded to a trading post
called Brown's Hole, where he joined a company of traders to go to the
Navajo Indians. He found this tribe more assimilated to the white man
than any Indians he had yet seen, having many fine horses and large
flocks of sheep and cattle. They also possessed the art of weaving, and
their blankets were in great demand through Mexico, bringing high prices
on account of their great beauty, being woven in flowers with much
taste. They were evidently a remnant of the Aztec race.
"They traded here for a large drove of fine mules, which, taken to the
fort on the South Platte, realized good prices, when Carson went again
to Brown's Hole, a narrow but pretty valley, about sixteen miles long,
upon the Colorado River.
"After many offers for his services from other parties, Carson at length
engaged himself for the winter to hunt for the men at this fort, and, as
the game was abundant in this beautiful valley, and in the cañon country
farther down the Colorado, in its deer, elk, and antelope reminding him
of his hunts upon the Sacramento, the task was a delightful one to him.
"In the spring Carson trapped with Bridger and Owens, with passable
success, and went to the rendezvous upon Wind River, at the head of the
Yellowstone, and from thence, with a large party of the trappers at the
rendezvous, to the Yellowstone, where they camped in the vicinity for
the winter without seeing their old enemy, the Blackfeet Indians, until
midwinter, when they discovered they were near their stronghold.
[Illustration: KIT CARSON'S GRAVE.]
"A party of forty was selected to give them battle, with Carson, of
course, for their captain. They found the Indians already in the field
to the number of several hundred, who made a brave resistance until
night and darkness admonished both parties to retire. In the morning,
when Carson and his men went to the spot whither the Indians had
retired, they were not to be found. They had given them a 'wide berth,'
taking their all away with them, even their dead.
"Carson and his command returned to camp, where a council of war decided
that, as the Indians would report at the principal encampment the
terrible loss they had sustained, and others would be sent to renew the
fight, it was wise to prepare to act on the defensive, and use every
precaution immediately; and accordingly a sentinel was stationed on a
lofty hill near by, who soon reported that the Indians were upon the
move.
"Their plans matured, they at once threw up a breastwork, under Carson's
directions, and waited the approach of the Indians, who came in slowly,
the first parties waiting for those behind. After three days a full
thousand had reached the camp about half a mile from the breastwork of
the trappers. In their war paint, stripes of red across the forehead and
down either cheek, with their bows and arrows, tomahawks and lances,
this army of Indians presented a formidable appearance to the small body
of trappers who were opposed to them.
"The war dance was enacted in sight and hearing of the trappers, and at
early dawn the Indians advanced, having made every preparation for the
attack. Carson commanded his men to reserve their fire till the Indians
were near enough to have every shot tell; but, seeing the strength of
the white men's position, after a few ineffectual shots, the Indians
retired, camped a mile from them, and finally separated into two
parties, and went away, leaving the trappers to breathe more freely,
for, at the best, the encounter must have been of a desperate character.
"They evidently recognized the leader who had before dealt so severely
with them, in the skill with which the defense was arranged, and if the
name of Kit Carson was on their lips, they knew him for both bravery and
magnanimity, and had not the courage to offer him battle.
"Another winter gone, with saddlery, moccasin-making, lodge-building, to
complete the repairs of the summer's wars and the winter's fight all
completed, Carson, with fifteen men, went past Fort Hall again to the
Salmon River, and trapped part of the season there, and upon Big Snake
and Goose creeks, and selling his furs at Fort Hall, again joined
Bridger in another trapping excursion into the Blackfeet country.
"The Blackfeet had molested the traps of another party who had arrived
there before them, and had driven them away. The Indian assailants were
still near, and Carson led his party against them, taking care to
station himself and men in the edge of a thicket, where they kept the
savages at bay all day, taking a man from their number with nearly every
shot of their well-directed rifles. In vain the Indians now attempted to
fire the thicket; it would not burn, and suddenly they retired, forced
again to acknowledge defeat at the hands of Kit Carson, the 'Monarch of
the Prairies.'
"Carson's party now joined with the others, but concluding that they
could not trap successfully with the annoyance the Indians were likely
to give them, as their force was too small to hope to conquer, they left
this part of the country for the north fork of the Missouri.
"Now they were with the friendly Flatheads, one of whose chiefs joined
them in the hunt, and went into camp near them with a party of his
braves. This tribe of Indians, like several other tribes which extend
along this latitude of the Pacific, have the custom which gives them
their name, thus described by Irving, in speaking of the Indians upon
the Lower Columbia, about its mouth:
"'A most singular custom,' he says, 'prevails not only among the
Chinooks, but among most of the tribes about this part of the coast,
which is the flattening of the forehead. The process by which this
deformity is effected commences immediately after birth. The infant is
laid in a wooden trough by way of cradle; the end on which the head
reposes is higher than the rest. A padding is placed on the forehead of
the infant, with a piece of bark above it, and is pressed down by cords
which pass through holes upon the sides of the trough. As the tightening
of the padding and the pressure of the head to the board is gradual, the
process is said not to be attended with pain. The appearance of the
infant, however, while in this state of compression, is whimsically
hideous, and its little black eyes, we are told, being forced out by the
tightness of the bandages, resemble those of a mouse choked in a trap.
"'About a year's pressure is sufficient to produce the desired effect,
at the end of which time the child emerges from its bandages a complete
flathead, and continues so through life. It must be noted, however, that
this flattening of the head has something in it of aristocratic
significance, like the crippling of the feet among the Chinese ladies of
quality. At any rate it is the sign of freedom. No slave is permitted to
bestow this deformity upon the head of his children. All the slaves,
therefore, are roundheads.'"
In December, 1846, after a severe battle with the Mexicans and the
condition of General Kearney and his men had become desperate, a council
of war was called. After discussing a variety of measures, Carson showed
himself "the right man in the right place." He said, "Our case is a
desperate one, but there is yet hope. If we stay here we are all dead
men; our animals can not last long, and the soldiers and marines at San
Diego do not know of our coming, but if they receive information of our
condition, they will hasten to our rescue. I will attempt to go through
the Mexican lines, then to San Diego, and send relief from Commodore
Stockton."
Lieutenant Beale of the United States Navy at once seconded Carson, and
volunteered to accompany him. General Kearney immediately accepted the
proposal as his only hope, and they started at once, as soon as the
cover of darkness hung around them. Their mission was to be one of
success or of death to themselves and the whole force. Carson was
familiar with the customs of the Mexicans, as well as the Indians, of
putting their ears to the ground to detect any sound, and therefore knew
the necessity of avoiding the slightest noise. As it was impossible to
avoid making some noise wearing their shoes, they removed them, and
putting them under their belts crept over bushes and rocks with the
greatest caution and silence. They discovered that the Mexicans had
three rows of sentinels, whose beats extended past each other, embracing
the hill where Kearney and his men were held in siege. They were
doubtless satisfied these could not be eluded, but they crept on, often
so near a sentinel as to see his figure and equipment in the darkness,
and once, when within a few yards of them, discovered one of the
sentinels, who had dismounted and lighted his cigarette with his flint
and steel. Discovering this sentinel, Kit Carson, as he lay flat on the
ground, put his foot back and touched Lieutenant Beale, as a signal for
him to be still, as he was doing. The minutes the Mexican was occupied
in this way seemed hours to our heroes, who momentarily feared they
would be discovered. Carson asserted they were so still he could hear
Lieutenant Beale's heart beat, and, in the agony of the time, he lived a
year. But the Mexican finally mounted his horse and rode off in a
contrary direction, as if guided by Providence to give safety to these
courageous adventurers.
For full two miles Kit Carson and Lieutenant Beale thus worked their way
along upon their hands and knees, turning their eyes in every direction
to detect anything which might lead to their discovery; and, having
passed the last sentinel and left the lines sufficiently far behind,
they felt an immeasurable relief in once more gaining their feet. But
their shoes were gone. In the excitement of this perilous journey
neither had thought of his shoes since he first put them in his belt,
but they could speak again and congratulate themselves and each other
that the great danger was passed, and thank heaven that they had been
aided thus far. But there were still many difficulties in their path,
which was rough with bushes, from the necessity of having to avoid the
well-trodden trail, lest they be discovered. The prickly pear covered
the ground, its thorns penetrated their feet at every step, and their
road was lengthened by going out of the direct path, though the latter
would have shortened their journey many a weary mile.
All the day following they pursued their journey onward without
cessation, and into the night following, for they could not stop until
they were assured relief was to be furnished their anxious and perilous
conditioned fellow soldiers.
Carson pursued so straight a course and aimed so correctly for his mark
that they entered the town by the most direct route, and answering
"friends" to the challenge of the sentinel, it was known from whence
they came, and they were at once conducted to Commodore Stockton, to
whom they related their errand, and the further particulars we have
already narrated.
Commodore Stockton immediately detailed a force of nearly two hundred
men, and, with his usual promptness, ordered them to go to the relief of
their besieged countrymen by forced marches. They took with them a piece
of ordnance, which the men were obliged themselves to draw, as there
were no animals to be had for this work.
Carson's feet were in a terrible condition, and he did not return with
the soldiers; he needed rest and the best of care or he might lose his
feet; but he described the position of General Kearney so accurately
that the party sent to his relief could find him without difficulty, and
yet had the commodore expressed the wish, Carson would have undertaken
to guide the relief party upon its march.
Lieutenant Beale was partially deranged for several days from the
effects of the severe service, and was sent on board a frigate lying in
port for medical attendance, and he did not fully recover his former
health for more than two years.
The relief party from Commodore Stockton reached General Kearney without
encountering any Mexicans, and very soon all marched to San Diego, where
the wounded soldiers received medical assistance.