The American Spectator : Western Renaissance Man: Kit Carson at 200

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Western Renaissance Man: Kit Carson at 200

By Bill Croke on 12.23.09 @ 6:07AM

Christopher Houston Carson entered life in Madison County, Kentucky, on Christmas Eve, 1809.

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CARSON HAD MARRIED a young woman named Josefa Jaramillo in 1843. She was of a prominent Taos, New Mexico family, and brought him some local respectability, further enhanced by his reception into the Roman Catholic Church. The union produced eight children. The scout now pursued the life of a prosperous rancher, with interludes away as a much-in-demand guide as the surge of American Manifest Destiny got underway following the Mexican War, the discovery of gold in California, and the agrarian settlement of Oregon. And being an expert on Indians, Carson proved useful to the U.S. government in negotiations with certain Western tribes. Despite his illiteracy (was it dyslexia?), Carson was a well-spoken man with a talent for languages, eight in all. He spoke fluent Spanish, Navajo, Apache, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Paiute, Shoshone and Ute. Through the 1850s one of Carson's sidelines was as a freelance U.S. government Indian agent for territorial New Mexico.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Carson supported the Union and was given a commission as a colonel in command of the First New Mexico Volunteers. Union forces there under Colonel Edward Canby were charged with defending the Southwest -- including California -- from Confederate incursions from Texas. In February 1862, Carson participated in the Battle of Valverde, America's western-most Civil War engagement, which was a Confederate victory. But the Rebels, under Brigadier General Henry Sibley, lacked a supply line stretching back to Texas, and after some further skirmishes were literally starved into abandoning New Mexico.

In 1864, Carson was selected to campaign against the restive Navajos, and his ensuing conduct makes for the most controversial aspect of his career. On the orders of Brigadier General James Carleton, he was charged with the task of resettling the Indians on a reservation at Bosque Redondo, but they proved resistant, and the army responded with brutal force. Carson led 500 troops to attack the Navajos, conducting a scorched earth policy of fighting and burning villages, while the harried tribe fled. The Navajos had cultivated beautiful peach orchards at Canyon de Chelly, and these Carson ordered cut down. He eventually forced 8,000 of the Navajos onto "The Long Walk," where over 300 died, and to this day is vilified by American Indians for these actions. He himself was home in Taos when the relocation actually occurred. His last military engagement was against hostile Indians (Kiowas, Comanches, Cheyennes) at the Battle of Adobe Walls in Texas in November, 1864. Ironically, near the end of his life, Carson told a reporter that he believed Indians should live on reservations in order to be better protected from the many-faceted depredations of whites.

Carson was decommissioned following the Civil War and retired to a new ranch in Colorado. He suffered ill health in the late 1860s, and died there in 1868 at the age of 58, a mere month after his wife Josefa's own passing. Their side-by-side graves in Taos, New Mexico are a tourist draw.

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About the Author

Bill Croke, formerly of Cody, Wyoming, is a writer in Salmon, Idaho.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (19) | Leave a comment

Old Westerner| 12.23.09 @ 10:16AM

One might wish to consult with the Navajo regarding the value of Kit Carson. As with so much in American history there are two sides to the man. Nonetheless the contributions he, Fremont and others made to the settlement of this country are indeed worthy of note.

Northern Rebel| 12.23.09 @ 10:27AM

I am a trained speed reader, but I slowed down to savor this one! Thanks for an article, on a true American pioneer.

I appear frequently in public libraries, and in the biography section, you'll find the likes of Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, George Bush, and various entertainers and politicians, which is fine.

But you can't find the information in this article, or info about so many others, who shaped the American landscape, particularly the movement west. It solidified our greatness, and it gets swept under the rug, or curiously condemned.

It's a damned shame.

Ron L| 12.23.09 @ 1:11PM

Try "Blood and Thunder" by Hampton Sides. Unusual book, sort of a life and times of Kit Carson. Best book I read (actually, listened to the audio tape) in 2008. I highly recommend it.

Al Adab| 12.23.09 @ 2:52PM

Very good read and worth the price. How the west was settled is a truly American epic.

pugsley| 12.23.09 @ 10:34AM

Political correctness, the liberals find so much to hang their heads in shame for. Things that have been going on since the dawn of time, yet to them only the American experience is deplorable.

KyMouse| 12.23.09 @ 11:37AM

I haven't seen anything in the Kentucky press about Kit Carson's bicentennial (although I haven't been scouring the papers or TV), so thanks for this fine article, Mr. Croke.

You mentioned Buffalo Bill Cody: When I was in seventh grade, my history teacher told us that she had a brief memory of Cody, whom her family knew-- she was sitting on a wagon with him, eating the ice cream he had bought her. She was young enough to be more impressed by the ice cream than by him, but came to appreciate the moment as the years went by.

Richard Baker| 12.23.09 @ 12:02PM

Saints or sinners. I remember the line from "The Man who shot Liberty Valence" where the editor of the Shinbone Star newspaper says,"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." So it is with these Western explorers. Every country has its legends and the US is no different. Happy Birthday, Kit Carson.

grant1863| 12.23.09 @ 12:13PM

I also want to thank you for such a great piece. I always wonder how many of the mountain men would be in prison today or in Iraq/Afghanistan?
Too bad Mr. DeVoto's "bombastic" style hasn't come back. I'm in the middle of reading several of his books and they are great.
Merry Christmas.

Big Leo| 12.23.09 @ 1:06PM

One small correction to a great article about a fascinating subject-- the farthest west battle of the Civil War was fought at Pichaco Peak in Arizona, between Casa Grande and Tucson.

crookedwren| 12.24.09 @ 12:49AM

I haven't time to read this right now, but my husband has done a great deal of reading on the West. We traveled out to Bent's Fort -- or the reconstruction of Bent's Fort -- and then followed the Santa Fe Trail back to St. Louis. As my husband drove the rather straight roads, I read aloud from books we had bought. One of them was about Lucien Maxwell. Interesting.

At Bent's Fort, we met a descendant of Kit Carson's working there. Odd, but the minute we saw him, my husband was reminded of Carson.

When we get a few minutes to pause, we'll enjoy this article I know.

Merry Christmas, all.

flywhoaman| 12.24.09 @ 10:25AM

When describing her maternal grandfather, my mother used to say that while he was more closely related to steamboat inventor Fulton, he was most proud of being Kit Carson's distant cousin. This great grandfather founded Huntington, Indiana after a colorful life of feeding the transcontinental railroad workers with a team of other hunters. This wonderful article on Carson reminds me that there were countless people who, like Kit, were invaluable in settling this once great country.

Merry Christmas to all at the American Spectator... editors, writers and readers. May we find a hero like Kit to put us on a better path in 2010.

Tex Expatriate| 12.24.09 @ 3:44PM

Anyone wanting to know a whole lot about Carson should read Edwin L. Sabin's 1995 book in two volumes, Kit Carson Days. Carson was everything an American ought to be.

Will Lange| 12.25.09 @ 3:59PM

My thanks to Mr. Croke for his article on Kit Carson. One correction, Kit's father was more likely 55 and not 64 years old when Kit was born. Lindsey Carson was probably 64 when he died. While Sides' recent book is an interesting and well written work I consider him more of a journalist and story teller than historian. The best Carson biography is "Kit Carson, A Pattern for Heroes" by Thelma S. Guild and Harvey L. Carter. Carter's "Dear Old Kit" is the best academic study. Marc Simmons is the best current historian on Carson.

In regard to the Navajo campaign several elements should be kept in mind. It was during a time of war while the Union was very vulnerable. At the beginning of the Civil War the army was very small and much of it was scattered across the west. When the solders were withdrawn to fight the Civil War the native tribes not surprisingly tried to take advantage of the situation, the Dakota in the north, the Comanche in Texas, and the Apache/Navajo in the Southwest. Many today would confuse the Navajo with the Pueblo peoples. The Navajo were then much more like their linguistic kin, the Apache than they were the Pueblo. The Pueblo and Spanish more or less lived together for about two and a half centuries up to that time. The Navajo, Apache, Ute and others were their near neighbors. The ethic the more nomadic people lived under was living by the right of conquest. The Navajo among others raided and killed the Pueblos and Spanish/New Mexicans for corn, horses, slaves and sheep. The Pueblos and New Mexicans retaliated when they could, including taking slaves. Carson's campaign made the Navajo a subject people and ended their raiding.

Secondly, Carson refused to follow the harshest orders from his Army superiors. He several times tried to resign.

Thirdly, he clearly saw Native Americans and the various tribes as people. He had two Indian wives before his Spanish wife. He learned their languages. He raised a Navajo boy in his home as a son. He and his wife Josefa Jaramillo knew the boy would die if they had not taken him into their home and family. He saw how contact with Americans was destroying the Natives and how important it was for that time to separate them for the Natives to survive. Carson spoke out publicly about this and traveled from Colorado to Washington and back when his health was very poor just before his death.

Kit's father was not the only Carson to have children late in life. Many people would be surprised that Kit and Josefa have one granddaughter alive, living in Colorado, and fifteen great grandchildren around the country. Although not a Mason, I very proudly wore his Masonic ring on December 24, 2009 to honor him on the 200th Anniversary of his birth.

Will Lange
(William Carson Lange, great grandson)

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Eric Jay Dolin| 4.29.10 @ 9:50PM

Given the topic, I wanted to let you know about my upcoming book, FUR, FORTUNE, AND EMPIRE: THE EPIC HISTORY OF THE FUR TRADE IN AMERICA (W. W. Norton, July 2010). Kit Carson is profiled in the book. A video that gives an overview of the book can be found on YouTube at,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSNNoeUf4bA

You can also find out more about the book at my website: www.ericjaydolin.com.