The Life of Kit Carson: Hunter, Trapper, Guide, Indian Agent and Colonel U.S.A. Read online

  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, wasa man whose real worth was understood only by those with whom he wasassociated or who closely studied his character. He was more thanhunter, trapper, guide, Indian agent and Colonel in the United StatesArmy. He possessed in a marked degree those mental and moral qualitieswhich would have made him prominent in whatever pursuit or profession heengaged.

  His lot was cast on the extreme western frontier, where, when but ayouth, he earned the respect of the tough and frequently lawless menwith 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 wasdaring; all these were distinguishing traits in the composition ofCarson and were the foundations of the broader fame which he acquired asthe friend and invaluable counselor of Fremont, the Pathfinder, in hisexpeditions across the Rocky Mountains.

  Father Kit, as he came to be known among the Indians, risked his lifescores of times for those who needed, but had no special claim upon hisservices. The red men were quick to learn that he always spoke with a"single tongue," and that he was their unselfish friend. He went amonghis hostiles when no one of his race dare follow him; he avertedmore than one outbreak; he secured that which is impossible tosecure--justice for the Indian--and his work from the time when a mereboy he left his native Kentucky, was always well done. His memory willforever remain fragrant with those who appreciate true manhood and anunswerving 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 thiscountry, was a native of Kentucky, the scene of the principal exploitsof Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, the Wetzel brothers and other heroicpioneers whose names are identified with the history of the settlementof 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 immensewilderness, sparsely settled and abounding with wild animals andtreacherous Indians. The father of Carson, like most of the earlypioneers, divided his time between cultivating the land and huntingthe game in the forests. His house was made strong and was pierced withloopholes, so as to serve him in his defence against the red men thatwere likely to attack him and his family at any hour of the day ornight. In such a school was trained the wonderful scout, hunter andguide.

  No advantages in the way of a common school education were within reachof 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 fairknowledge of the rudimentary branches, for his attainments in thatrespect were above the majority of those with whom he was associated inafter life.

  While a mere stripling, Kit became known as one of the most skilfulrifle shots in that section of Missouri which produced some of thefinest marksmen in the world. It was inevitable that he should form apassion for the woods, in which, like the great Boone, he would havebeen happy to wander for days and weeks at a time.

  When fifteen years old, he was apprenticed to a saddler, where he stayedtwo years. At the end of that time, however, the confinement had becomeso irksome that he could stand it no longer. He left the shop and joineda company of traders, preparing to start for Santa Fe, the capital ofNew Mexico, one of the most interesting towns in the southwest. Themajority of its population are of Spanish and Mexican origin and speakSpanish. It is the centre of supplies for the surrounding country, andis often a scene of great activity. It stands on a plateau, more thana mile above the sea level, with another snow capped mountain rising amile higher. The climate is delightful and the supply of water from thesprings and mountains is of the finest quality.

  Santa Fe, when first visited by the Spaniards in 1542, was a populousIndian pueblo. It has been the capital of New Mexico for nearly twohundred and fifty years. The houses of the ancient town are made ofadobe, one story high, and the streets are unpaved, narrow, crooked andill looking. The inhabitants are of a low order, scarcely entitled tobe ranked above the half civilized, though of late years the infusion ofwestern life and rugged civilization has given an impetus and characterto the place for which, through three centuries, it waited in vain.

  The company to which young Kit Carson attached himself, was stronglyarmed and it made the perilous journey, across rivers, mountains andprairies, through a country infested with fierce Indians, without theloss of one of their number. This immunity was due to their vigilanceand knowledge of the ways of the hostiles who, it may be said, were onall sides, from the beginning to the end of their journey.

  After reaching Santa Fe, Carson left the party and went to Taos, a smallstation to the north of Santa Fe. There he stayed through the winter of1826-27, at the home of a veteran pioneer, from whom he gained not onlya valuable knowledge of the country and its people, but became familiarwith the Spanish language--an attainment which proved invaluable tohim in after years. In the spring, he joined a party which set outfor Missouri, but before reaching its destination, another company oftraders were met on their way to Santa Fe. Young Carson joined them, andsome 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 therewas nothing indolent in the nature of Carson, who immediately engagedhimself as teamster to a company about to start to El Paso, on the RioGrande, near the frontier of New Mexico. He did not stay long beforedrifting back to Santa Fe, and finally to Taos, where he hired out asa cook during the following winter, but had not wrought long, whena wealthy trader, learning how well Carson understood the Spanishlanguage, engaged him as interpreter.

  This duty compelled the youth to make another long journey to El Pasoand Chihuahua, the latter being the capital of the province of the samename, and another of those ancient towns whose history forms one of themost interesting features of the country. It was founded in 1691 and aquarter of a century later, when the adjoining silver mines were in fulloperation, had a population of 70,000, though today it has scarcely afifth of that number.

  The position of interpreter was more dignified than any yet held byCarson, and it was at his command, as long as he chose to hold it; butto one of his restless nature it soon grew monotonous and he threw itup, making his way once more to Taos. The employment most congenial toCarson's nature, and the one which he had been seeking ever since heleft home, was that of hunter and trapper. The scarred veterans whom hemet in the frontier and frontier posts gave him many accounts of theirtrapping experiences among the mountains and in the gloomy fastnesseswhere, while they hunted the bear, deer, beaver and other animals, thewild Indian hunted them.

  Carson had been in Taos a short time only when he gained the opportunityfor which he was searching. A party of trappers in the employ of Kit'sold friend had just come to Taos, having been driven from their trappinggrounds by the Indians. The employer set about raising a party strongenough to return to the trapping grounds, chastise the hostiles andresume business. Knowing the skill and bravery of the young Kentuckian,the gentleman m
ade him an offer to join the party and Kit eagerlyaccepted it.

  The Mexicans have never been particularly friendly toward theirneighbors north of the Rio Grande, and at that time a very strict lawwas in force which forbade the issuance of any license to Americancitizens to trap within Mexican territory. The company which mountedtheir horses and rode out of Taos gave the authorities to understandthat their errand was simply to chastise the red men, whereas theirreal purpose was to engage in trapping. With a view of misleading theofficers, they took a roundabout route which delayed their arrival inthe section. Nevertheless, the hunters were desirous of punishing theIndians who had taken such liberties with the small party that precededthem. On one of the tributaries of the Gila, the trappers came upon theidentical band whom they attacked with such fierceness that more than adozen were killed and the rest put to flight. The fight was a desperateone, but young as Carson was, he acquitted himself in a manner whichwon the warmest praise of those with him. He was unquestionably daring,skilful and sagacious, and was certain, if his life was spared, tobecome one of the most valuable members of the party.

  Having driven the savages away, the Americans began or rather resumedtheir regular business of trapping. The beavers were so abundant thatthey met with great success. When the rodents seemed to diminish innumber, the hunters shifted their quarters, pursuing their professionalong the numerous streams until it was decided to divide into twoparties, one of which returned to New Mexico, while the other pushedon toward the Sacramento Valley in California. Carson accompanied thelatter, entering the region at that early day when no white man dreamedof the vast wealth of gold and precious metals which so crowded her soiland river beds that the wonder is the gleaming particles had not beendetected many years before; but, as the reader knows, they lay quietlyat rest until that eventful day in 1848, when the secret was revealed byCaptain Sutter's raceway and the frantic multitudes flocked thither fromthe four quarters of the earth.