Meanwhile Reuben Benton was highly prosperous in St. Louis. With the
money which he had saved from the sale of his skins he had been able in
a modest way to go into the business of buying furs when they were
brought to the trading-post by the trappers. In this way he had been
able to maintain a home of his own, in which his father remained a
member as long as he lived.
Whenever Kit Carson returned to St. Louis, although there were
occasions when he was highly honoured by people of the highest
standing, he did not forget the man who had been with him as a boy on
his trapping expeditions in the Far West. The friendship between the
two deepened with the years, and among those who were loudest in their
praises of the scout when he had become most famous was Reuben Benton
of St. Louis.
There came a time in the life of Kit Carson, after he had left
Lieutenant Fremont, when he thought he would be able to settle down and
become a farmer. Not long before this time he had married a Spanish
girl, whose beauty was famous all along the border. On the great ranch
which he purchased he erected a house in which his wife was to make her
home, and there he was busily engaged in building barns that would be
adequate for the stock he expected to raise.
Abruptly, however, there came a message from Fremont urging Carson to
rejoin him at once; and the scout was unable to decline. Perhaps he did
not wish to. At all events, he sold his farm, provided for his wife
during his absence, and then set forth with one companion to join
Fremont’s expedition.
The Indians had told many stories of the region known as the Great
Basin, a desert so bleak and perilous that no human being might expect
to cross it safely. This was the region now to be explored by Fremont
and his followers. Fortunately they discovered that the reports had
exaggerated the difficulties as well as the desert nature of the
region.
All this, however, was not known until after the work of the explorers
had been completed. So fearful were the men that the reports they had
heard were well founded that they were extremely cautious in all their
movements.
Kit Carson, with a few men as hardy as he, kept well in advance of the
main party. Whenever they discovered a place where water was to be had
and there was grass for the horses, there they built fires, the smoke
of which served as an invitation to the other members of the party
behind them to advance.
At last they made their way into northern California and there
encountered their first serious difficulty with the Indians. The little
band was attacked by one thousand of the savages, but fortunately the
redmen were ignorant of the use of rifles, and as soon as the guns were
discharged they fled in wild confusion.
About this time the object of the expedition speedily changed. There
was war declared upon Mexico and immediately Fremont and his followers
enrolled themselves as soldiers of their country. Other men joined them
and soon there were sufficient soldiers to form a regiment. Lieutenant
Fremont was extremely eager that the President should be informed
concerning his plans and work. The only way by which word could be sent
him was by messenger, and there was no messenger like Kit Carson.
Accordingly in response to the fresh appeal of Fremont, Carson set
forth as a messenger to carry the dispatches to the capital of the
nation. His letters, however, were very brief, for Fremont relied upon
Kit Carson’s own ability to explain conditions as they existed on the
Pacific Coast.
Before the scout had completed his journey he met a body of soldiers on
their way to California. General Kearny was in command of them, and as
soon as he was informed of the purpose of Kit Carson he at once urged
him to permit some one else to carry the dispatches to the President
while the scout himself should return with the men. Kit Carson,
however, was a man who did not consider any task completed until he
himself had personally done all that had been assigned to him. When, at
last, General Kearny ordered him to do as he had suggested there was no
other course but to obey, and accordingly the scout returned with the
men. It was not the last time, however, that he was sent over the
perilous way with messages for the men at Washington.
On his arrival he was amazed to find that the people of the capital
already knew of his life in the West. To the modest scout this was a
great surprise. He did not understand how any one could have heard of
his work among the fur-bearing animals and the Indians of the West.
Perhaps he was more surprised than any of his friends to find himself
so much in demand. When one of the United States Senators said: “To me
Kit Carson and truth mean the same,” we may be sure the modest scout
was almost overwhelmed by the words of praise.
When his last journey to Washington was ended the scout was glad to
return to his family at Taos. There he had a house built of adobe, in
which there was always a welcome for his friends. Even the Indians came
and went with more freedom than they visited any of the homes of the
white men. Affectionately the redmen called him “Father Kit,” and the
confidence of the good Indian was as strong as was the fear of the
Indian who had done wrong. About forty miles distant from Taos Kit
Carson had his ranch. There his family spent much of their time and
there, too, there was always a welcome not only for his old friends,
but for visitors as well.
Lieutenant Fremont had now become a colonel and his name was famous
throughout the United States. He, too, visited the scout of whom he had
been so fond, and in his letters, which are still in existence, he
relates what a good time he had at the home of Kit Carson, the famous
scout, trapper, guide, and messenger.
Kit Carson looked well to his farm, but his love of hunting was still
strong. Indeed, it is said that his table was kept well supplied by the
aid of his own rifle with game throughout most of the year.
If Kit Carson believed that his roving days were ended now, he was soon
to learn of his mistake. Of all his expeditions, however, only two can
be mentioned here. On one of these, with some other men, mostly
Mexicans, he drove nearly seven thousand sheep from Taos to California.
Across the desert, through the lofty mountain ranges, the strange
procession led by Kit Carson slowly made its way. At last, when the
drovers arrived at their destination, they were able to sell their
sheep for such high prices that every man received an ample reward for
his labours. It was at this time that Kit Carson insisted upon going
down the Sacramento to San Francisco. It had been many years since he
had seen the settlement, and meanwhile the gold fever had drawn men of
all kinds to the little place until it had increased very rapidly in
its population.
The scout, after his arrival, looked about him in amazement.
Thirty-five thousand people were living in the place, which he had
known only as a little hamlet. Even here his fame had preceded him and
there were many of the reckless men who tried to induce the famous
scout to join them in their wild dissipations. With the same quiet
strength which he had shown in his early life, Kit Carson steadfastly
refused the invitations, and when he departed, his record was as clean
as when he had first come.
Another time Carson with a large band of the men who once had trapped
with him returned to the scenes of their early experiences. Again the
men were trapping the beaver, and their success amazed even themselves.
Many of the trappers had become so possessed with the desire to find
gold that they had neglected or forgotten the wealth to be won by
trapping. As a consequence the success of Kit Carson’s band was
marvellous, and when they returned they felt more than repaid for their
labours.
It was on this expedition that Kit Carson lassoed a huge grizzly bear.
The lasso, however, was not sufficiently strong to tame the savage
beast, and at last the men, for the sake of their own safety, killed
the grizzly. The following day, which was the Fourth of July, there was
a great feast in which bear-steak was one of the chief articles of
food.
It was not long before the war between the States broke out. And again
Kit Carson found that it was impossible for him to remain quietly in
his home on the ranch near Taos. In response to the call of the men who
knew and loved him he consented to serve as the colonel of a regiment
which was raised in New Mexico.
In the campaign which followed there is a quaint statement that perhaps
the most striking service rendered by the brave colonel was when his
regiment one time was ordered to attack the Navajo Indians, who had
thought the time was fitting for them to rebel against the white men.
It is related that with a few of his chosen men Colonel Kit departed
from his camp early one morning and attacked and scattered the warring
Indians and then returned to the camp before the soldiers who had been
left there under the command of the lieutenant-colonel were aware that
there was any fighting to be done.
There are some who believe that the best work Kit Carson ever did was
later, when he became an Indian agent. His knowledge of the Indians and
his understanding of their character enabled him to deal with them as
few white men could have done. There were times when alone he entered
the councils of the tribes when they were planning war and by his quiet
and earnest appeals he induced them to abandon their warlike plans. But
even his efforts were unavailing at times and with certain of the more
blood-thirsty Indians. His activity and knowledge, however, were felt
most when there were uprisings that sometimes were terrible in their
effects upon the scattered settlers.
Even to the last of his life he insisted upon occasional vacations. At
such times he would return with some of his chosen friends to his old
occupations and the places which had known him when he was only a boy
scout.
It is reported that when at last Kit Carson became ill with the
sickness that ended his life, the doctor who was attending his case,
and who was one of his warmest friends, spent much time reading to the
old scout the story of his life which had recently been published.
There is no doubt that Carson keenly enjoyed the narrative, although in
his modesty he declared that he did not see why any one should ever
have considered it worth while to write in a book an account of his
experiences and adventures.
It was May 23, 1868 when Kit Carson breathed his last. To-day, however,
if you visit the region in which his scouting was done you will find
many men who claim that they knew the famous scout, and if you are
willing to listen they will tell you many marvellous tales of his
bravery and his adventures. It is also quite likely that some of these
stories are true.
THE END
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
THE FIFTH AVENUE BUILDING, 200 FIFTH AVENUE
TELEPHONE GRAMERCY 545
NEW YORK CITY
OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL
Honorary President, THE HON. WOODROW WILSON
Honorary Vice-President, HON. WILLIAM H. TAFT
Honorary Vice-President, COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT
President, COLIN H. LIVINGSTONE, Washington, D. C.
Vice-President, B. L. DULANEY, Bristol, Tenn.
Vice-President, MILTON A. McRAE, Detroit, Mich.
Vice-President, DAVID STARR JORDAN, Stanford University, Cal.
Vice-President, F. L. SEELY, Asheville, N. C.
Vice-President, A. STAMFORD WHITE, Chicago, Ill.
Chief Scout, ERNEST THOMPSON SETON, Greenwich, Connecticut
National Scout Commissioner, DANIEL CARTER BEARD, Flushing, N. Y.
FINANCE COMMITTEE
John Sherman Hoyt, Chairman
August Belmont
George D. Pratt
Mortimer L. Schiff
H. Rogers Winthrop
GEORGE D. PRATT, Treasurer
JAMES E. WEST, Chief Scout Executive
ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Ernest P. Bicknell
Robert Garrett
Lee F. Hanmer
John Sherman Hoyt
Charles C. Jackson
Prof. Jeremiah W. Jenke
William D. Murray
Dr. Charles P. Neill
George D. Porter
Frank Presbrey
Edgar M. Robinson
Mortimer L. Schiff
Lorillard Spencer
Seth Sprague Terry
July 31st, 1913.
TO THE PUBLIC:—
In the execution of its purpose to give educational value and moral
worth to the recreational activities of the boyhood of America, the
leaders of the Boy Scout Movement quickly learned that to effectively
carry out its program, the boy must be influenced not only in his
out-of-door life but also in the diversions of his other leisure
moments. It is at such times that the boy is captured by the tales of
daring enterprises and adventurous good times. What now is needful is
not that his taste should be thwarted but trained. There should
constantly be presented to him the books the boy likes best, yet always
the books that will be best for the boy. As a matter of fact, however,
the boy’s taste is being constantly vitiated and exploited by the great
mass of cheap Juvenile literature.
To help anxiously concerned parents and educators to meet this grave
peril, the Library Commission of the Boy Scouts of America has been
organized. EVERY BOY’S LIBRARY is the result of their labors. All the
books chosen have been approved by them. The Commission is composed of
the following members: George F. Bowerman, Librarian, Public Library of
the District of Columbia, Washington, D. C.; Harrison T. Graver,
Librarian, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Claude G. Leland,
Superintendent, Bureau of Libraries, Board of Education, New York City;
Edward P. Stevens, Librarian, Pratt Institute Free Library, Brooklyn,
New York; together with the Editorial Board of our Movement, William D.
Murray, George D. Pratt and Frank Presbrey, with Franklin K. Mathiews,
Chief Scout Librarian, as Secretary.
In selecting the books, the Commission has chosen only such as are of
interest to boys, the first twenty-five being either works of fiction
or stirring stories of adventurous experiences. In later lists, books
of a more serious sort will be included. It is hoped that as many as
twenty-five may be added to the Library each year.
Thanks are due the several publishers who have helped to inaugurate
this new department of our work. Without their co-operation in making
available for popular priced editions some of the best books ever
published for boys, the promotion of EVERY BOY’S LIBRARY would have
been impossible.
We wish, too, to express our heartiest gratitude to the Library
Commission, who, without compensation, have placed their vast
experience and immense resources at the service of our Movement.
The Commission invites suggestions as to future books to be included in
the Library. Librarians, teachers, parents, and all others interested
in welfare work for boys, can render a unique service by forwarding to
National Headquarters lists of such books as in their judgment would be
suitable for EVERY BOY’S LIBRARY.
Signed
James E. West
Chief Scout Executive.
“DO A GOOD TURN DAILY.”
End of Project Gutenberg's Scouting with Kit Carson, by Everett T. Tomlinson