The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated by Himself Part 1

The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated by Himself.

by De Witt C. Peters.

TO

COL. CERAN ST. VRAIN,

OF NEW MEXICO.

DEAR SIR,

You were first among the brave mountaineers to discover and direct the manly energy, extraordinary natural ability, and unyielding courage which have attached to the subject of this volume; and, as among the first Americans who put foot on the Rocky Mountains, you are perhaps best acquainted with the history of the men, who, for fifty years, have lived there. CHRISTOPHER CARSON, after a long life, now crowned with successful and honorable achievements, still looks upon you, sir, as his earliest patron, and places your name on the list of his warmest friends. Through a life of unusual activity and duration, which, reflecting honor and renown upon your name, has given you a distinguished position among your countrymen, you have never been known to forget a duty to your fellow man.

For these considerations, the dedication of this volume to you cannot but appear appropriate. That he may continue to merit a place in your confidence and esteem is the earnest desire of

THE AUTHOR.

FERNANDEZ DE TAOS, NEW MEXICO.

SIR:

We, the undersigned citizens of the Territory of New Mexico, have been acquainted with Mr. CHRISTOPHER CARSON for a number of years, indeed almost from the time of his first arrival in the country. We have been his companions both in the mountains and as a private citizen. We are also acquainted with the fact that for the past few months, during his leisure hours, he has been engaged dictating his life. This is, to our certain knowledge, the only authentic biography of himself and his travels that has ever been written. We heartily recommend THIS BOOK to the reading community for perusal, as it presents a life out of the usual routine of business, and is checkered with adventures which have tried this bold and daring man. We are cognizant of most of the details of the book, and vouch for their accuracy.

Very respectfully,

CERAN ST. VRAIN, LIEUT. COL. N.M. VOLUNTEERS.

CHARLES BEAUBIEN, LATE CIRCUIT JUDGE.

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

The pages here presented to the public form a book of facts. They unfold for the student, as does no other work yet extant, the great interior wilderness of the territories belonging to the United States.

The scenic views, though plainly colored and wrought by the hand of an unpretending artist, inasmuch as they portray a part of the North American continent which is unsurpa.s.sed by any other country on the face of the earth, will not fail to interest the American public. In addition to this, the reader is introduced to an intimate acquaintance with the Indian races of the countries which He east and west of the Rocky Mountains. The savage warrior and hunter is presented, stripped of all the decorations with which writers of fiction have dressed him. He is seen in his ferocity and gentleness, in his rascality and n.o.bility, in his boyhood, manhood, and old age, and in his wisdom and ignorance. The attentive reader will learn of his approximations to truth, his bundle of superst.i.tions, his acts at home and on the war path, his success while following the buffalo and engaging the wild Rocky Mountain bear, that terror of the western wilderness. He will also behold him carrying devastation to the homes of the New Mexican settlers, and freely spilling their best blood to satiate a savage revenge. He will see him attacking and ma.s.sacring parties of the white men traveling across the prairies, and trace him in his savage wars with the early settlers and frontiersmen.

In order to acquire these important _data_ that they might be added to the pages of American history and form a reliable record, it was necessary that some brave, bold and determined man should become an actor on the scenes and among the races described. Such an actor has been, and yet is, Christopher Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains; and, it is the experience, as well as the acts, of his stirring life, which the following pages present.

In olden times there existed, in the Rocky Mountains, a race familiarly known by the name of "Trappers and Hunters." They are now almost extinct. Their history has not yet been written. Pen paintings, drawn from the imagination, founded upon distant views of their exploits and adventures, have occasionally served, as do legends, to "adorn a tale." The volume now offered to the public, gives their history as related by one whose name as a trapper and hunter of the "Far West," stands second to none; by a man, who, for fifteen years, saw not the face of a white woman, or slept under a roof; who, during those long years, with his rifle alone, killed over two thousand buffalo, between four and five thousand deer, antelope and elk, besides wild game, such as bears, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, etc., etc. in numbers beyond calculation. On account of their originality, daring and interest, the real facts, concerning this race of trappers and hunters, will be handed down to posterity as matters belonging to history.

As is the case with the Indian, the race of the "Simon Pure Trapper"

is nearly run. The advance of civilization, keeping up its untiring march to the westward, is daily encroaching upon their wild haunts and bringing the day close at hand when warrior and trapper will depart forever to their "Happy Hunting Grounds."

With the extinction of the great fur companies, the trappers of "Olden Time" disbanded and separated.

The greatest number of these men, to be found at the present day, reside in the Territory of New Mexico; which, in the time of their prosperity, was the country where they located their head quarters. In this Territory, Christopher Carson now resides. His name, in the Rocky Mountains, has been familiarly known for more than a quarter of a century; and, from its a.s.sociation with the names of great explorers and military men, is now spread throughout the civilized world. It has been generally conceded, and the concession has become strengthened by time, that no small share of the benefits derived from these explorations and campaigns, as well as the safety of the commands themselves, was and is due to the sagacity, skill, experience, advice and labor of Christopher Carson. The exploring parties, and expeditions here referred to, are those which he accompanied in the capacity of chief guide and adviser.

His sober habits, strict honor, and great regard for truth, have endeared him to all who can call him friend; and, among such may be enumerated names belonging to some of the most distinguished men whose deeds are recorded on the pages of American history. His past life has been a mystery which this book will unveil. Instead of Kit Carson as by imagination--a bold braggart and reckless, improvident hero of the rifle--he will appear a retired man, and one who is very reserved in his intercourse with others. This fact, alone, will account for the difficulty which has. .h.i.therto attended presenting the public with an accurate history of his life.

A few years since, the writer of this work first met Christopher Carson. It needed neither a second introduction, nor the a.s.sistance of a friendly panegyric, to enable him to discover in Christopher Carson those traits of manhood, which are esteemed by the great and good to be distinguis.h.i.+ng ornaments of character. This acquaintance ripened into a friends.h.i.+p of the purest stamp. Since then, the writer has been the intimate friend and, companion of Christopher Carson, at his home, in the wild scenes of the chase, on the war trail, and upon the field of battle. For a long period, in common with hundreds--and, we might with truth add, thousands, the writer has desired to see Christopher Carson's wonderful career made public for the world of readers; but, while this idea was germinating in his brain, he did not, for an instant, flatter himself that the pleasant task would ever be a.s.signed to him. Finally, however, at the urgent solicitation of many personal friends, Christopher Carson dictated the facts upon which this book is written. They were then placed in the writer's hands, with instructions to add to them such information as had fallen under his observation, during quite extensive travels over a large part of the wide expanse of country, which has been Christopher Carson's theatre for action.

The book is a book of solid truth; therefore, the faults in the style, arrangement and composition, become affairs of minor consideration.

For this reason, the writer makes no apologies to embarra.s.s the critics.

Christopher Carson, physically, is small in stature, but of compact frame-work. He has a large and finely developed head, a twinkling grey eye, and hair of a sandy color, which he wears combed back _a la Franklin mode_. His education having been much neglected in his youth, he is deficient in theoretical learning. By natural abilities, however, he has greatly compensated for this defect. He speaks the French and Spanish languages fluently, besides being a perfect master of several Indian dialects. In Indian customs, their manners, habits and the groundwork of their conduct, no man on the American continent is better skilled.

The writer, while on a foreign tour, once had the opportunity and pleasure of hearing Gordon c.u.mming and other hunters of less note, discourse on their hunting exploits; furthermore, in our own country, while seated around camp-fires and in log houses, he has listened to the adventures of ancient and modern Nimrods in the chase; besides these facts, he has both seen and read much of hunting exploits; but, no hunter ever filled his fancy so perfectly, as does Christopher Carson, a man who acts and never boasts.

Without further comment, the reader is presented with the work, while the writer cherishes the hope, that the facts, which for the first time are given to the world, will prove to be both interesting and important as jottings of history.

The author begs leave to return to his friend, C. HATCH SMITH, A.M., of Brooklyn, New York, his acknowledgment for valuable a.s.sistance in revising, correcting and arranging his ma.n.u.script.

196 Twenty-third street, New York.

LIFE OF KIT CARSON.

CHAPTER I.

Carson's Birthplace--His Emigration to Missouri--Early Prospects--Is an Apprentice--Stories of the Rocky Mountains--He Enlists to go there--Adventures on the Prairies--Broaders is Wounded--Carson's Nerve put to the Test--Rude Amputation--Safe Arrival at Santa Fe--Goes to Taos and learns the Spanish Language--Early Vicissitudes--Disappointment and Attempt to return to Missouri--Is employed as an Interpreter, Teamster, etc.

It is now a well-established fact, that no State in the American Union has given birth to so many distinguished pioneers and explorers of its boundless Territories, as the commonwealth of Kentucky. An Author, whose task is to tell of a Hero, his bravery, endurance, privations, integrity, self-denial and deeds of daring, carries the _morale_ with which to gain at once for these characteristics the a.s.sent of the reader, by the simple a.s.sertion, "My Hero was born a Kentuckian."

Indeed, in America, to be a native of the State of Kentucky, is to inherit all the attributes of a brave man, a safe counsellor and a true friend. It is, at least, certain that this State, whether the fact is due to its inland and salubrious climate, or to its habits of physical training, has added many a Hero unto humanity.

Christopher Carson, by his countrymen familiarly called "Kit Carson,"

was born in the County of Madison, State of Kentucky, on the 24th day of December, 1809. The Carson family were among the first settlers of Kentucky, and became owners of fine farms. Besides being an industrious and skillful farmer, the father of Kit Carson was a celebrated hunter. When the Indians of Kentucky became quieted down, putting an end to the calls upon his courage and skill as a woodsman, he settled into a simple, respectable farmer. This monotonous life did not suit his disposition; and, as the tide of emigration into the wilds of Missouri was then commencing, where both game and the red man still roamed, he resolved to migrate in that direction. It was only one year after the birth of his son Christopher, that Mr. Carson sold his estate in Kentucky and established himself, with his large family, in that part of the State of Missouri now known as Howard County. At this time Howard County, Missouri, was a wilderness, on the remote American frontier. At his new home, the father was in his element. His reputation of carrying an unerring rifle and always enacting the deeds of a brave man, was not long in following him into this wilderness.

Mr. Carson's only a.s.sistant, on his first arrival in Howard County, was his eldest son, Moses Carson, who was afterwards settled in the State of California, where he resided twenty-five years before the great California gold discovery was made.

For two or three years after arriving at their new home, the Carson family, with a few neighbors, lived in a picketed log fort; and when they were engaged in agricultural pursuits, working their farms, and so forth, it was necessary to plough, sow and reap under guard, men being stationed at the sides and extremities of their fields to prevent the working party from being surprised and ma.s.sacred by wild and hostile savages who infested the country. At this time the small pox, that disease which has proved such a terrible scourge to the Indian, had but seldom visited him.[1]

[Footnote 1: This disease has probably been the worst enemy with which the red man of America has had to contend. By terrible experience he has become familiarized with its ravages, and has resorted to the most desperate remedies for its cure. Among many tribes, the afflicted are obliged to form camps by themselves; and, thus left alone, they die by scores. One of their favorite remedies, when the scourge first makes its appearance, is to plunge into the nearest river, by which they think to purify themselves. This course, however, in reality, tends to shorten their existence. When the small pox rages among the Aborigines, a most unenviable position is held by their "Medicine Man." He is obliged to give a strict account of himself; and, if so unfortunate as to lose a chief, or other great personage, is sure to pay the penalty by parting with his own life. The duties of the "Medicine Man" among the Indians are so mixed up with witchcraft and jugglery, so filled with the pretence of savage quackery, so completely rude and unfounded as to principle, that it is impossible to define the practice for any useful end. About five years since, a young gentleman of scientific habits, who was attached to an exploring party, accidentally became separated from his companions. In his wanderings, he fell in with a band of hostile Sioux Indians, who would quickly have dispatched him, had he not succeeded immediately in convincing them of his wonderful powers. It so happened that this gentleman was well informed in the theory of vaccination, and it struck him that by impressing on the savages his skill, he might extricate himself. By the aid of signs, a lancet and some virus, he set himself to work, and soon saw that he had gained a reputation which saved him his scalp. He first vaccinated his own arm, after which all of the Indians present solicited his magic touch, to save them from the loathsome disease. The result was, that he found he had enlisted himself in an active practice. After a few days, the Indians were delighted with the results, and began to look upon their prisoner as possessed of superhuman knowledge. They feared to do him injury, and finally resolved to let him go; of which privilege, it is almost unnecessary to say, he was delighted to avail himself, and was not long in finding his friends.]

The incidents which enliven and add interest to the historic page, have proved of spontaneous and vigorous growth in the new settlements of America. Nearly every book which deals with the early planting and progress of the American colonists and pioneers, contains full, and frequently glowing, descriptions of exploits in the forest; strifes of the hunter; fights with the savages; fearful and terrible surprises of lurking warriors, as they arouse the brave settler and his family from their midnight dreams by the wild, death-announcing war-whoop; hair-breadth escapes from the larger kinds of game, boldly bearded in their lair; the manly courage which never yields, but surmounts every obstacle presented by the unbroken and boundless forest; all these are subjects and facts which have already so many counterparts in book-thought, accessible to the general reader, that their details may be safely omitted during the boyhood days of young Carson. It is better, therefore, to pa.s.s over the youthful period of his eventful life, until he began to ripen into manhood.

Kit Carson, at fifteen years of age, was no ordinary person. He had at this early age earned, and well earned, a reputation, on the basis of which the prediction was ventured in his behalf, that he would not fail to make and leave a mark upon the hearts of his countrymen. Those who knew him at the age of fifteen, hesitated not to say, "Kit Carson is the boy who will grow into a man of influence and renown."