Produced by Martin Robb
THE LIFE OF KIT CARSON,
Hunter, Trapper, Guide, Indian Agent and Colonel U.S.A.
By Edward S. Ellis.
INTRODUCTION
Christopher Carson, or as he was familiarly called, Kit Carson, was
a man whose real worth was understood only by those with whom he was
associated or who closely studied his character. He was more than
hunter, trapper, guide, Indian agent and Colonel in the United States
Army. He possessed in a marked degree those mental and moral qualities
which would have made him prominent in whatever pursuit or profession he
engaged.
His lot was cast on the extreme western frontier, where, when but a
youth, he earned the respect of the tough and frequently lawless men
with whom he came in contact. Integrity, bravery, loyalty to friends,
marvelous quickness in making right decisions, in crisis of danger,
consummate knowledge of woodcraft, a leadership as skilful as it was
daring; all these were distinguishing traits in the composition of
Carson and were the foundations of the broader fame which he acquired as
the friend and invaluable counselor of Fremont, the Pathfinder, in his
expeditions across the Rocky Mountains.
Father Kit, as he came to be known among the Indians, risked his life
scores of times for those who needed, but had no special claim upon his
services. The red men were quick to learn that he always spoke with a
"single tongue," and that he was their unselfish friend. He went among
his hostiles when no one of his race dare follow him; he averted
more than one outbreak; he secured that which is impossible to
secure--justice for the Indian--and his work from the time when a mere
boy he left his native Kentucky, was always well done. His memory will
forever remain fragrant with those who appreciate true manhood and an
unswerving devotion to the good of those among whom he lived and died.
CHAPTER I.
Kit Carson's Youth--His Visit to New Mexico--Acts as Interpreter and in
Various Other Employments--Joins a Party of Trappers and Engages in a
Fight with Indians--Visits the Sacramento Valley.
"Kit Carson," the most famous hunter, scout and guide ever known in this
country, was a native of Kentucky, the scene of the principal exploits
of Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, the Wetzel brothers and other heroic
pioneers whose names are identified with the history of the settlement
of the West.
Christopher Carson was born in Madison county, December 24, 1809, and,
while he was still an infant, his father removed to Central Missouri,
which at that day was known as Upper Louisiana. It was an immense
wilderness, sparsely settled and abounding with wild animals and
treacherous Indians. The father of Carson, like most of the early
pioneers, divided his time between cultivating the land and hunting
the game in the forests. His house was made strong and was pierced with
loopholes, so as to serve him in his defence against the red men that
were likely to attack him and his family at any hour of the day or
night. In such a school was trained the wonderful scout, hunter and
guide.
No advantages in the way of a common school education were within reach
of the youth situated as was Kit Carson. It is to be believed, however,
that under the tutelage of his father and mother, he picked up a fair
knowledge of the rudimentary branches, for his attainments in that
respect were above the majority of those with whom he was associated in
after life.
While a mere stripling, Kit became known as one of the most skilful
rifle shots in that section of Missouri which produced some of the
finest marksmen in the world. It was inevitable that he should form a
passion for the woods, in which, like the great Boone, he would have
been happy to wander for days and weeks at a time.
When fifteen years old, he was apprenticed to a saddler, where he stayed
two years. At the end of that time, however, the confinement had become
so irksome that he could stand it no longer. He left the shop and joined
a company of traders, preparing to start for Santa Fe, the capital of
New Mexico, one of the most interesting towns in the southwest. The
majority of its population are of Spanish and Mexican origin and speak
Spanish. It is the centre of supplies for the surrounding country, and
is often a scene of great activity. It stands on a plateau, more than
a mile above the sea level, with another snow capped mountain rising a
mile higher. The climate is delightful and the supply of water from the
springs and mountains is of the finest quality.
Santa Fe, when first visited by the Spaniards in 1542, was a populous
Indian pueblo. It has been the capital of New Mexico for nearly two
hundred and fifty years. The houses of the ancient town are made of
adobe, one story high, and the streets are unpaved, narrow, crooked and
ill looking. The inhabitants are of a low order, scarcely entitled to
be ranked above the half civilized, though of late years the infusion of
western life and rugged civilization has given an impetus and character
to the place for which, through three centuries, it waited in vain.
The company to which young Kit Carson attached himself, was strongly
armed and it made the perilous journey, across rivers, mountains and
prairies, through a country infested with fierce Indians, without the
loss of one of their number. This immunity was due to their vigilance
and knowledge of the ways of the hostiles who, it may be said, were on
all sides, from the beginning to the end of their journey.
After reaching Santa Fe, Carson left the party and went to Taos, a small
station to the north of Santa Fe. There he stayed through the winter of
1826-27, at the home of a veteran pioneer, from whom he gained not only
a valuable knowledge of the country and its people, but became familiar
with the Spanish language--an attainment which proved invaluable to
him in after years. In the spring, he joined a party which set out
for Missouri, but before reaching its destination, another company of
traders were met on their way to Santa Fe. Young Carson joined them, and
some days later was back again in the quaint old capital of New Mexico.
The youth's engagement ended with his arrival in the town, but there
was nothing indolent in the nature of Carson, who immediately engaged
himself as teamster to a company about to start to El Paso, on the Rio
Grande, near the frontier of New Mexico. He did not stay long before
drifting back to Santa Fe, and finally to Taos, where he hired out as
a cook during the following winter, but had not wrought long, when
a wealthy trader, learning how well Carson understood the Spanish
language, engaged him as interpreter.
This duty compelled the youth to make another long journey to El Paso
and Chihuahua, the latter being the capital of the province of the same
name, and another of those ancient towns whose history forms one of the
most interesting features of the country. It was founded in 1691 and a
quarter of a century later, when the adjoining silver mines were in full
operation, had a population of 70,000, though today it has scarcely a
fifth of that number.
The position of interpreter was more dignified than any yet held by
Carson, and it was at his command, as long as he chose to hold it; but
to one of his restless nature it soon grew monotonous and he threw it
up, making his way once more to Taos. The employment most congenial to
Carson's nature, and the one which he had been seeking ever since he
left home, was that of hunter and trapper. The scarred veterans whom he
met in the frontier and frontier posts gave him many accounts of their
trapping experiences among the mountains and in the gloomy fastnesses
where, while they hunted the bear, deer, beaver and other animals, the
wild Indian hunted them.
Carson had been in Taos a short time only when he gained the opportunity
for which he was searching. A party of trappers in the employ of Kit's
old friend had just come to Taos, having been driven from their trapping
grounds by the Indians. The employer set about raising a party strong
enough to return to the trapping grounds, chastise the hostiles and
resume business. Knowing the skill and bravery of the young Kentuckian,
the gentleman made him an offer to join the party and Kit eagerly
accepted it.
The Mexicans have never been particularly friendly toward their
neighbors north of the Rio Grande, and at that time a very strict law
was in force which forbade the issuance of any license to American
citizens to trap within Mexican territory. The company which mounted
their horses and rode out of Taos gave the authorities to understand
that their errand was simply to chastise the red men, whereas their
real purpose was to engage in trapping. With a view of misleading the
officers, they took a roundabout route which delayed their arrival in
the section. Nevertheless, the hunters were desirous of punishing the
Indians who had taken such liberties with the small party that preceded
them. On one of the tributaries of the Gila, the trappers came upon the
identical band whom they attacked with such fierceness that more than a
dozen were killed and the rest put to flight. The fight was a desperate
one, but young as Carson was, he acquitted himself in a manner which
won the warmest praise of those with him. He was unquestionably daring,
skilful and sagacious, and was certain, if his life was spared, to
become one of the most valuable members of the party.
Having driven the savages away, the Americans began or rather resumed
their regular business of trapping. The beavers were so abundant that
they met with great success. When the rodents seemed to diminish in
number, the hunters shifted their quarters, pursuing their profession
along the numerous streams until it was decided to divide into two
parties, one of which returned to New Mexico, while the other pushed
on toward the Sacramento Valley in California. Carson accompanied the
latter, entering the region at that early day when no white man dreamed
of the vast wealth of gold and precious metals which so crowded her soil
and river beds that the wonder is the gleaming particles had not been
detected many years before; but, as the reader knows, they lay quietly
at rest until that eventful day in 1848, when the secret was revealed by
Captain Sutter's raceway and the frantic multitudes flocked thither from
the four quarters of the earth.