Kit Carson

Kit Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868), born Christopher Houston Carson, was an American frontiersman.

He was born in Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky. When he was less than two years old, his family moved to Franklin, Missouri. At fifteen, he left an apprenticeship to a saddlemaker and traveled west to New Mexico. He established himself as a trader and trapper in the American Southwest and California. He lived among several Native American tribes, and received the name "Rope Thrower."

During his career throughout the desert Southwest, he was a trapper, guide, military scout, Indian agent, soldier (rising to the rank of brigadier general), and rancher. His renown initially came from guiding John C. Frémont on an expedition to map the western trails to the Pacific Ocean. Descriptions in Frémont's popular report of his expeditions made Kit Carson famous.

After his trapping days were over, Carson settled in Taos, New Mexico. After receiving instruction from Padre Antonio José Martínez and being baptized as a Catholic, he became engaged to and married 14-year-old Josefa Jaramillo, his third wife, on February 6, 1843.

Military service

Carson was active in military service, reaching the brevet rank of brigadier-general. He fought against the Mexicans in California in the 1840s alongside John C. Fremont. 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 a small force of Americans suffered a defeat at the hands of the Californio lancers.

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 offered to help organize the New Mexico volunteer infantry. Although New Mexico Territory officially allowed slavery, geography and economics made the institution so impractical that there were only a handful of slaves within its boundaries. The territorial government and the leaders of opinion all threw their support to the Union.

Overall command of Union forces in the Department of New Mexico fell to Colonel Edward R. S. Canby of the Regular Army's 19th Infantry, headquartered at Fort Defiance. 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.

Early in 1862, Confederate forces in Texas under General H.H. Sibley undertook an invasion of New Mexico Territory. The goal of this expedition was to conquer the rich Colorado gold fields and redirect this valuable resource from the North to the South.

Advancing up the Rio Grande River, Sibley's command clashed with Canby's Union force at Valverde on February 21, 1862. The day-long Battle of Valverde ended when the Confederates captured a Union battery of six guns and forced the rest of Canby's troops back across the river with losses of 68 killed and 160 wounded. 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.

Colonel Canby had little or no confidence in the hastily recruited, untrained New Mexico volunteers, "who would not obey orders or obeyed them too late to be of any service." 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 resist the white encroachment onto their land. 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. This war shall be pursued against you if it takes years, now that we have begun, until you cease to exist or move. There can be no other talk on the subject."

Under Carleton's direction, Carson instituted a scorched earth policy, burning Navajo fields and homes, and stealing or killing their livestock. He was aided by other Indian tribes with long-standing enmity toward the Navajos, chiefly the Utes. Carson was pleased with the work the Utes did for him, but felt some irritation when they went home in the middle of the campaign, having collected what they thought was sufficient booty.

Carson also had difficulty with his New Mexico volunteers. Troopers deserted and officers resigned. 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."

There were no pitched battles and only a few skirmishes in the Navajo campaign. Carson rounded up and took prisoner every Navajo he could find. In January 1864, Carson led forces, including Ute auxiliaries, into Canyon de Chelly to attack the last Navajo stronghold under the leadership of Manuelito. The Navajo were forced to surrender due to the destruction of their livestock and food supplies. In the spring of 1864, 8,000 Navajo men, women and children were forced to march 300 miles to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Navajos call this "The Long Walk". Many died along the way or during the next four years of imprisonment. In 1868, after signing a treaty with the US government, remaining Navajos were allowed to return to a reduced area of their homeland, where the Navajo Reservation exists today.

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.

A few days later, Col. John M. Chivington led US troops in a massacre at Sand Creek. 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. However, Sand Creek and Adobe Walls helped bring the Comanches to sign the Little Rock Treaty of 1865.

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 Boggsville, Colorado.

Carson died in Fort Lyon, Colorado, located east of Las Animas. He is buried in Taos, New Mexico alongside his wife, Josefa ("Josephine"). His headstone inscription reads: "Kit Carson / Died May 23rd 1868 / Aged 59 Years."

Legacy

The legend of Kit Carson has continued to grow through the years as dime-novels, comic books, movies and television recounted (and invented) the frontiersman's many exciting adventures. A less benign view of Carson is seen in the 1990 song "Kit Carson" by Bruce Cockburn, which concludes:

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 name ^*

Place names

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 Memorial State Park, Taos, Taos County, 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

External links

The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated by Himself (1858) by De Witt C. Peters, at Project Gutenberg

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