Eighteen years had elapsed, full of eventful history--especially the
last ten--since Carson had renounced the business of trapping, and of
late there had been an almost irrepressible longing once more to try his
skill at his old employment, in company with others who had been, with
himself, adepts at the business. Accordingly he and Maxwell, by a great
effort, succeeded in collecting sixteen more of their old companions,
and taking care to provide themselves abundantly with all the
necessaries for such a service, and with such added articles of comfort
as the pleasurable character of the excursion dictated, they started,
with Carson at the head of the band, "any one of whom would have periled
his life for any other, and having voted that the expedition should be
one for hard work, as when they trapped for gain long ago," they dashed
on across the plains, till they came to the South Platte, and upon its
well remembered waters, formed their camp and set their traps, having
first apprised themselves, by the "signs," that the beaver were
abundant. Indeed, so long ago had trapping gone into disuse, that the
hunt proved successful beyond their anticipations, and they worked down
this stream, through the Laramie plains to the New Park, on to the Old
Park, and upon a large number of the streams, their old resorts, and
returned to Rayedo with a large stock of furs, having enlivened the time
by the recital to each other of many of the numberless entertaining
events which had crowded upon their lives while they had been separated.
Would not the reader like to have made this excursion with them, and
witnessed the infinite zest with which these mature and experienced men
entered again upon what seemed now to them the sport of their earlier
years? They made it, as much as possible, a season of enjoyment. One of
the party had lassoed a grizzly, but, finding it inconvenient to retain
him, he had been shot, and bear steaks, again enjoyed together, had been
a part of the Fourth of July treat they afforded their visitors, the
Sioux Indians. As we have but little further opportunity, we will quote
Fremont's description of the Mountain Parks, for the sake of giving the
reader an idea of the locality of this last trapping enterprise of Kit
Carson:
"Our course in the afternoon brought us to the main Platte River, here a
handsome stream, with a uniform breadth of seventy yards, except where
widened by frequent islands. It was apparently deep, with a moderate
current, and wooded with groves of large willow.
"The valley narrowed as we ascended, and presently degenerated into a
gorge, through which the river passed as through a gate. We entered it,
and found ourselves in the New Park--a beautiful circular valley of
thirty miles diameter, walled in all round with snowy mountains, rich
with water and with grass, fringed with pine on the mountain sides below
the snow line, and a paradise to all grazing animals. The Indian name
for it signifies "_cow lodge_," of which our own may be considered a
translation; the enclosure, the grass, the water, and the herds of
buffalo roaming over it, naturally presenting the idea of a park, 7,720
feet above tide water.
"It is from this elevated _cove_, and from the gorges of the surrounding
mountains, and some lakes within their bosoms, that the Great Platte
River collects its first waters, and assumes its first form; and
certainly no river has a more beautiful origin.
"Descending from the pass, we found ourselves again on the western
waters; and halted to noon on the edge of another mountain valley,
called the Old Park, in which is formed Grand River, one of the
principal branches of the Colorado of California. We were now moving
with some caution, as, from the trail, we found the Arapahoe village had
also passed this way. As we were coming out of their enemy's country,
and this was a war ground, we were desirous to avoid them. After a long
afternoon's march, we halted at night on a small creek, tributary to a
main fork of Grand River, which ran through this portion of the valley.
The appearance of the country in the Old Park is interesting, though of
a different character from the New; instead of being a comparative
plain, it is more or less broken into hills, and surrounded by the high
mountains, timbered on the lower parts with quaking asp and pines.
"We entered the Bayou Salade, (South Park,) and immediately below us was
a green valley, through which ran a stream; and a short distance
opposite rose snowy mountains, whose summits were formed into peaks of
naked rock.
"On the following day we descended the stream by an excellent buffalo
trail, along the open grassy bottom of the river. On our right, the
bayou was bordered by a mountainous range, crested with rocky and naked
peaks; and below it had a beautiful park-like character of pretty level
prairies, interspersed among low spurs, wooded openly with pine and
quaking asp, contrasting well with the denser pines which swept around
on the mountain sides.
"During the afternoon, Pike's Peak had been plainly in view before us.
"The next day we left the river, which continued its course towards
Pike's Peak; and taking a south-easterly direction, in about ten miles
we crossed a gentle ridge, and, issuing from the South Park, found
ourselves involved among the broken spurs of the mountains which border
the great prairie plains. Although broken and extremely rugged, the
country was very interesting, being well watered by numerous affluents
to the Arkansas River, and covered with grass and a variety of trees."
Carson had disposed of his furs, and was again quietly attending to his
ranche, when he heard of the exorbitant prices for which sheep were
selling in California, and determined to enter upon a speculation. He
had already visited the Navajos Indians, and thither he went again, and
in company with Maxwell and another mountaineer, purchased several
thousand sheep; and with a suitable company of trusty men as shepherds,
took them to Fort Laramie, and thence by the regular emigrant route,
past Salt Lake to California, and arriving without any disaster,
disposed of them in one of the frontier towns, and then went down to the
Sacramento valley, to witness the change which had come over old
familiar places; not that the mining did not interest him; he had seen
that before in Mexico, but he had not seen the cities which had sprung
into existence at a hundred points, in the foot hills of the Sierras,
nor had he seen San Francisco, that city of wondrous growth, which now
contained thirty-five thousand inhabitants.
But for the remembrance of the hills on which the city rested, Carson
would not have known the metropolis of California, as the spot where in
'48 "the people could be counted in an hour." In San Francisco he met so
many old friends, and so many, who, knowing him from the history of his
deeds, desired to do him honor, that the attentions he received, while
it gratified his ambition, were almost annoying.
Tired by the anxiety and hard work of bringing his property over a long
and dangerous journey to a good market, he had looked for rest and
retirement; but instead, he was everywhere sought out and made
conspicuous.
He found himself surrounded with the choice spirits of the new El
Dorado; his name a prestige of strength and position, and his society
courted by everybody. The siren voice of pleasure failed not to speak in
his ear her most flattering invitations. Good-fellowship took him
incessantly by the hand, desiring to lead him into the paths of
dissipation. But the gay vortex, with all its brilliancy, had no
attractions for him; the wine cup, with its sparkling arguments, failed
to convince his calm earnestness of character, that his simple habits of
life needed remodeling. To the storm, however, he was exposed; but, like
a good ship during the gale, he weathered the fierce blast, and finally
took his departure from the new city of a day, with his character
untarnished, but nevertheless leaving behind him many golden opinions.
Some newspaper scribbler, last autumn, announced the death of Carson,
and said, in connection, "His latest and _most remarkable exploit_ on
the plains, was enacted in 1853, when he conducted a drove of sheep
safely to California." Probably the writer was one of those whose eager
curiosity had met a rebuff, in the quiet dignity with which Carson
received the officiousness of the rabble who thronged around him on that
visit. Not that he appreciated honor less, but that its unnecessary
attachments were exceedingly displeasing to him.
In this terribly fast city, where the _monte_ table, and its kindred
dissipations, advertised themselves without a curtain, and where to
indulge was the rule rather than the exception, Carson was able to stand
fire, for he had been before now tried by much greater temptations.
In the strange commingling of people from all quarters of the globe,
whom Carson witnessed in San Francisco, he saw but a slight exaggeration
of what he had often witnessed in Santa Fe,--and indeed, for the element
of variety, in many a trapping party, not to name the summer rendezvous
of the trappers, or the exploring parties of Col. Fremont. To be sure
the Chinamen and the Kanackers were a new feature in society. But
whether it be in the many nationalities represented, or in the
pleasures they pursued, except that in San Francisco there was a
lavishness in the expenditure of wealth commensurate with its speedier
accumulation, there was little new to him, and while he saw its magic
growth with glad surprise, the attractions this city offered could not
allure him. Nor could the vista it opened up of a chance to rise into
position in the advancing struggles for political ascendency, induce one
wish to locate his home in a spot so wanting in the kindly social
relationships; for he had tried the things and found them vanity and
vexation of spirit, and now he yearned for his mountain home, and the
sweet pastoral life which it afforded in his circle of tried friends.
He saved the money he had secured by the sale of his flocks, and went
down overland to Los Angelos to meet Maxwell, who took the trip by sea,
which Carson having tasted once, could not be persuaded to try again,
and there renewing his outfit, and visiting again some of its honored
citizens, they started homeward, and had a pleasant passage till they
reached the Gila River, where grass became so scarce that they were
compelled to take a new course in order to find food for their horses;
but Carson had no difficulty in pursuing a measurably direct course,
and without encountering a snow storm, often terribly severe in the
mountains of this interior country, he reached Taos on the third of
December 1853.
He here received the unexpected information that he had been appointed
Indian agent for New Mexico, and immediately wrote and sent to
Washington the bonds of acceptance of this office. And now commences
Carson's official career, in a capacity for which he was better fitted
than any other person in the Territory.
Long had the Indians in his vicinity called him "father," but now he had
a new claim to this title, for he was to be to them the almoner of the
bounty of the United States Government. There was immediate call for the
exercise of the duties of his office, (for the Indians of New Mexico had
all buried the tomahawk and calumet,) in visiting and attempting to
quiet a band of Apaches, among whom he went alone, for they all knew
him, and secured from them plenty of promises to do well; but he had
scarcely left them, before they were tired of the self-imposed
restraint, and renewedly continued their depredations, and several
serious battles were fought with them by the United States troops, the
first having proved unsuccessful, but never was success wanting when
the commander of United States dragoons had placed his confidence in the
advice, and followed the suggestions of Kit Carson, who was admitted by
them to be the prince of Indian fighters--though he never tolerated
cruelty or the expenditure of life when there was no imperious
necessity, but yet regarded severe measures better than a dawdling
policy.
There had been serious fights in New Mexico in 1846, while Carson was
away with Fremont; and it was better so, as the Mexicans were his blood
and kin; yet, in the change of authority, he fully sympathized. But now,
the enemy was the different tribes of Indians, and in the capacity of
Agent for them, Carson chose to impress them with the power of the
government for which he acted for their own good, that they might be
induced to desist from their plundering, and be prepared for the
influences and practices of civilization; and all the victories secured
over them were due, as history truly records, "To the aid of Kit
Carson," "With the advice of Kit Carson;" and never once is his name
associated with a defeat; for, if he made a part of an expedition, a
condition must be, that such means should be employed as he knew would
accomplish the end desired; for he did not choose, by one single
failure, to give the Indians a chance to think their lawlessness could
escape its merited retribution.
Nor yet did Carson ever advise that confidence in the promises of the
Indians which was not backed by such exhibition of power as to command
obedience; knowing that with these children of the forest, schooled in
the arts of plunder, and the belief that white men and white men's
property were an intrusion on their hunting grounds, and therefore
lawful prey--this was and is _their law_--non-resistance would not
answer, and only stern command, backed by the rifle, ever has secured
obedience--though they appreciate the kindnesses done by those friends
who have such reliance. But it was Carson's opinion that the country
cannot be safe while the Indians roam over it in this wild way, or until
they are located on lands devoted to them and theirs for permanent
homes, and are compelled to settle upon and cultivate the soil, when he
thinks they will come, by careful teaching, to display sentiments of
responsibility for their own acts.
There is little doubt that, had Carson been appointed Superintendent of
Indian Affairs for the department of New Mexico, the reliance sometimes
placed on treaties would have been discarded, and measures taken at an
earlier date, to locate the Apaches and Camanches and Utahs, which might
have been accomplished with less expenditure of blood and of treasure;
but he quietly pursued his business, relying upon the influence which
his knowledge and skill had given him to induce his superiors in
official authority to undertake such measures as seemed to him the
wisest.
The headquarters of his Indian agency were at Taos, and while he spent
as much of his time as possible at Rayedo, the duties of his office
compelled the larger part of it at Taos. The thousand kindly acts he was
able to perform for the Indians, by whom he was constantly surrounded,
had secured such regard for himself that he needed no protection where
he was known--and what Indian of New Mexico did not know him? He went
among them, and entertained them as the children of his charge, having
their unbounded confidence and love.
Every year, in the hey-day of the season, Carson continued the custom of
a revival of earlier associations, by indulging, for a few days, or
perhaps weeks, in the chase; and was joined in these excursions by a
goodly company of his old compeers, as well as later acquired friends,
and men of reputation and culture, from whatever quarter of the world,
visiting the territory; and especially by a select few of the braves of
the Indian tribes under his charge. These were seasons of grateful
recurrence, and their pleasures were long anticipated amid the wearisome
duties of his office.
The incidents of his every-day life, intervening his appointment as
Indian agent and the rebellion, would furnish an abundance of material
for a romance even stranger than fiction. A life so exciting as that
among the Indians and brave frontiersmen, and a name so renowned as that
of Christopher Carson, could not but attract and concentre wild and
romantic occurrences. His life during these years is inseparably
connected with the history of the Territory of New Mexico, which, could
it be given to the public in all its copious and interesting details,
would unquestionably concede to him all the noblest characteristics in
man.
The treaties between the United States and the Indians, during the term
of his appointment, were mainly the result of his acquaintance with the
Indians, his knowledge of their character, and his influence over them.
Nor did the Government fail to recognize his valuable services. During
the rebellion, and while serving principally in New Mexico, where he
distinguished himself by his untiring prosecution of hostilities with
his savage foes, then at war with the Government, he was promoted from
rank to rank, until he finally reached that of Brevet Brigadier-General.
In a report to the National headquarters, dated at Camp Florilla, near
Fort Canby, N. M., January 26, 1864, we find the following detailed
account of operations in New Mexico:
"The culminating point in this expedition has been reached at last by
the very successful operations of our troops at Cañon de Chelly. Col.
Kit Carson left Fort Canby on the sixth instant with a command of four
hundred men, twenty of whom were mounted. He had a section of mountain
artillery with him, and taking the road _via_ Puebla, Colorado, he
started for Cañon de Chelly. He gave orders to Capt. Pheiffer with his
command of one hundred men to enter the cañon at the east opening, while
he himself intended to enter it at the 'mouth,' or west opening, and by
this movement he expected that both columns would meet in the cañon on
the second day, as it was supposed to be forty miles in length.
"Capt. Pheiffer's party proceeded two days through the cañon, fighting
occasionally; but although the Indians frequently fired on them from
the rocky walls above, the balls were spent long before they reached the
bottom of the cañon, which, in many places, exceeded one thousand five
hundred feet in depth. It was a singular spectacle to behold. A small
detachment of troops moving cautiously along the bottom of one of the
greatest cañons on the globe, (the largest is in Asia, I believe,) and
firing volleys upward at hundreds of Navajoes, who looked, on the dizzy
height above them, like so many pigmies. As they advanced the cañon
widened in places, and various spots of cultivated land were passed,
where wheat, maize, beans, melons, etc., had been planted last year;
while more than a thousand feet above their heads they beheld
neat-looking stone houses built on the receding ledges of rocks, which
reminded the beholder of the swallows' nests in the house eaves, or on
the rocky formation overhanging the 'sea-beat caves.' Further on, an
orchard containing about six hundred peach-trees was passed, and it was
evident that the Indians had paid great attention to their culture.
"On the second day a party from Col. Carson's column met the Captain in
the cañon, and returned with him to Col. Carson's camp. A party from the
Colonel's command had, in the meantime, attacked a party of Indians,
twenty-two of whom were killed. This had a dispiriting effect on many
others, who sent in three of their number under a white flag. Col.
Carson received them, and assured them that the Government did not
desire to exterminate them, but that, on the contrary, the President
wished to save and civilize them; and to that end Gen. Carlton had given
him instructions to send all the Navajoes who desired peace to the new
reservation on the Rio Pecos, where they would be supplied with food for
the present, and be furnished with implements, seeds, etc., to cultivate
the soil. They departed well-satisfied, and Col. Carson immediately
ordered Capt. A. B. Carey, Thirteenth United States Infantry, with a
battalion to enter the cañon, and make a thorough exploration of its
various branches, and at the same time to be in readiness to chastise
any body of hostile Navajoes he might encounter, and to receive all who
were friendly, and who wished to emigrate to the new reservation. Capt.
Carey, during a passage of twenty-four hours through a branch of the
cañon hitherto unexplored, made an exact geographical map of this
terrible chasm, and discovered many side cañons hitherto unknown. About
one hundred Indians came in to him and declared that 'the Navajo nation
was no more;' that they were tired of fighting and nearly starved, and
that they wished to be permitted to advise their friends and families in
the mountains; many of whom were willing to leave the land forever, and
go to a country where they would be cared for and protected. They said
they understood agriculture, and were certain they would make
comfortable homes on the Pecos. This was, of course, only the opinion of
some; others would prefer to remain and culture the soil on which they
were born, and live at peace with the territory. However, the latter
were positively informed that unless they were willing to remove they
had better not come in, and, moreover, that the troops would destroy
every blade of corn in the country next summer.
"On the 20th of January Col. Carson came to Fort Canby, and about six
hundred Indians had collected there; but when the wagons arrived to
remove them only one hundred wished to go, and the remainder desired to
return to their villages and caves in the mountains, on pretence of
bringing in some absent member of their families. Col. Carson very nobly
and generously permitted them to choose for themselves; but told them if
ever they came in again they should be sent to Borgue Redondo, whether
willing or not. Col. Carson himself took the Indians to Santa Fe, and
will remain absent about a month. Since his departure many Indians came
in and agreed to go to the reservation.
"I think the Colonel foresaw this, as no person understands Indian
character better than he does. Capt. A. B. Carey, Thirteenth Infantry,
commanding in his absence, will see that all Indians coming in will be
removed, and, I think, before April next, if the present good feeling
exists, we shall have accomplished the removal of the entire tribe.
Capt. A. B. Carey, after successfully marching through the cañon and
noting its topography, reached Fort Canby on the eighteenth instant, and
relieved Capt. Francis M'Cabe, First New Mexico Cavalry, who commanded
in the absence of Col. Kit Carson.
"As the Navajo expedition is now entirely successful, it is but justice
to the officers and men of the First Cavalry of New Mexico, and to Col.
Christopher Carson and his staff to say that they have all acted with
zeal and devotion for the accomplishment of that great desideratum--the
removal of the Navajoes. Cut off from the enjoyments of civilized life,
deprived of its luxuries, comforts, and even many of its necessaries,
and restricted to the exploration of a wilderness and the castigation
of an army of savages, who defied them, and endeavored to find a shelter
among the cliffs, groves, and cañons of their country; in pursuing them
to their haunts they have encountered appalling difficulties, namely:
want of water, grass, and fuel; often exposed to the merciless fury of
the elements, and to the bullets and arrows of a hidden foe. In the face
of these difficulties they have discovered new rivers, springs, and
mountains in a region hitherto unexplored, and penetrated by companies
into the very strongholds of the enemy, who fled farther west as our
columns advanced, and on various occasions the dismounted cavalry have,
by rapid and unparalleled night marches, surprised that enemy, capturing
his camp and securing his flocks and herds, at a time when he imagined
himself far beyond our reach, and really when he occupied a country
never before trodden by the foot of a white man.
"Much of the credit is due to the perseverance and courage of Col. Kit
Carson, commanding the expedition, whose example excited all to great
energy, and inspired great resolution; but it may not be out of place to
remark that it is now demonstrated beyond a doubt that, while the troops
of New Mexico have long borne the reputation of being the best cavalry,
they have proved themselves in the present campaign to be the best
infantry in the world.
"Gen. James H. Carlton, who knows, perhaps, and understands the material
for an army as well as any General in our army, has directed the
formation of a New-Mexican Brigade, and when the savage foe is removed,
that Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-Gen. Kit Carson, would surely
reflect credit on the Territory and on the Department Commander."
After the close of the war Christopher Carson continued in the employ of
the Government, rendering such services as only one equally skilled and
experienced could render, until his death. He died at Fort Lyon,
Colorado, 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. But a few
weeks previous he had visited Washington on a treaty mission, in company
with a deputation of red men, and made a tour of several of the Northern
and Eastern cities.
In his death the country has lost the most noted of that intrepid race
of mountaineers, trappers, and guides that have ever been the pioneers
of civilization in its advancement westward. As an Indian fighter he was
matchless. His rifle, when fired at a redskin, never failed him, and
the number that fell beneath his aim, who can tell! (The identical rifle
which Carson used in all his scouts, during the last thirty-five years
of his life, he bequeathed, just previous to his death, to Montezuma
Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Santa Fe, of which he was a member.) The country
will always regard him as a perfect representative of the American
frontiersman, and accord to him the most daring valor, consistent
kindliness, perseverant energy and truthfulness which that whole great
territory, that we must still regard as lying between the civilizations,
is capable of furnishing.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Peters.
[B] Annals of San Francisco. By Frank Soulé, John H Gihon, and James
Nisbet. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1855.
[C] Cutts. Conquest of California and New Mexico.
[D] Peters.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Simple typographical errors were corrected.
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant
preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Ambiguous and missing quotation marks remedied on pages 79, 177-178,
and 334.
Page 301: "it is not wonderful" probably should be "is it not
wonderful".