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74-486: The Rocky Mountain Rendezvous was an annual rendezvous , held between 1825 and 1840 at various locations, organized by a fur trading company at which trappers and mountain men sold their furs and hides and replenished their supplies. The fur companies assembled teamster -driven mule trains which carried whiskey and supplies to a pre-announced location each spring-summer and set up a trading fair (the rendezvous). At

148-637: A Baltimore hat maker offered a "Kit Carson Cap", "after the unique style of the domestic one worn by that daring pioneer". A new steamboat, named the Kit Carson , was built for the Mississippi-Ohio river trade, "with qualities of great speed". At the St. Louis Jockey Club, one could bet on a horse "as swift as the wind", named "Kit Carson". Lasting from 1846 to 1848, the Mexican–American War

222-514: A group of Native Americans was planning to attack settlers. Frémont's party set about searching for Native Americans. On April 5, 1846, Frémont's party spotted a Wintu village and launched an unprovoked attack, killing 120 to 300 men, women, and children, and displacing many more in what is known as the Sacramento River massacre . Carson, later stated that "It was a perfect butchery." At Klamath Lake, in southern Oregon, Frémont's party

296-567: A hopeless creature. Over her corpse, we swore vengeance upon her persecutors." Carson discovered a fictional book, possibly by Averill, about himself in the Apache camp. He wrote in his Memoirs : "In camp was found a book, the first of the kind I had ever seen, in which I was made a great hero, slaying Indians by the hundreds, and I have often thought that Mrs. White would read the same, and knowing that I lived near, she would pray for my appearance and that she would be saved." The real Carson had met

370-520: A long period of time. This clothing offered some protection against weapons used by hostile Indians. Grizzly bears were one of the mountain man's greatest enemies. In 1834, when Carson was hunting an elk alone, two bears crossed paths with him and quickly chased him up a tree. One of the bears tried, unsuccessfully, to make him fall by shaking the tree, but eventually went away. Carson then returned to his camp as fast as possible. He wrote in his Memoirs , "[The bear] finally concluded to leave, of which I

444-516: A mountain man. He traveled through many parts of the American West with famous mountain men like Jim Bridger and Old Bill Williams . He spent the winter of 1828–1829 as a cook for Ewing Young in Taos. He joined Young's trapping expedition of 1829. The leadership of Young and the experience of the venture are credited with shaping Carson's early life in the mountains. In addition to furs and

518-639: A prolific novelist of sensational romances, wrote an overland trail account where a fictional Carson joins a California bound wagon train. Arriving in bookstores in January 1849, his The Prairie Flower, or Adventures in the Far West exploited the Carson myth, and, like Averill, quickly followed with a sequel. In each novel, the Westering immigrants are in awe of the famous Carson. Both novelists sensationalized

592-426: A rendezvous might include several fur trading companies, and array of fur traders and mountain men. However, the majority of participants were Native American. A substantial amount of deal-making and trading occurred at these rendezvous. These were often a temporary "town" of sorts with businesses which offered the fur trade workers and participants ways to spend their money on supplies and revelry. The emblematic type

666-607: A trading expedition to Missouri and back along the Santa Fe Trail . In 1852, for old times sake, he and a few of the veteran trappers made a loop trapping expedition through Colorado and Wyoming. In mid-1853, Carson left New Mexico with 7,000 thin legged churro sheep for the California Trail across Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and into California. He was taking them to settlers in northern California and southern Oregon. Carson had with him six experienced New Mexicans from

740-490: A transportation transfer point on a wilderness route that could not be traversed in one season run by and including the fur trade of only a single company. The transfer was the dominant reason for holding the rendezvous although they included other meetings and revelry. Rendezvous held in the western part of what is now the United States included a more diverse range of activities than their northern counterparts. Such

814-585: A trapper and explorer who had served with Carson's older brothers during the War of 1812. Carson was mentored by Kinkead in learning the skills of a trapper and learning the necessary languages for trade. Eventually, he became fluent in Spanish and several Native American languages. Workman put an advertisement in a local newspaper back in Missouri. He wrote that he would give a one-cent reward to anyone who brought

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888-706: A western hero in the eyes of the American people. In 1845, Carson guided Frémont on their third expedition (Frémont made a fourth, but without Carson). From Westport Landing, Missouri, they crossed the Rockies, passed the Great Salt Lake, and down the Humboldt River to the Sierra Nevada of California and Oregon. Frémont made scientific plans and included artist Edward Kern in his corps, but from

962-495: Is suggested by the account of events around the fate of Ann White. In 1849, as he moved to civilian life at Taos and Rayado, Carson was asked to guide soldiers on the trail of White, her baby daughter, and "negro servant", who had been captured by Jicarilla Apaches and Utes . The commanding officer, Captain William Grier of the 1st Cavalry Regiment , ignored Carson's advice about an immediate rescue attempt after catching

1036-570: The California Gold Rush demand for narratives (fictional or not) on the trail to California. Averill's pioneers were in awe of Carson: "Kit Carson!...the famous hunter and adventurer of the Great West, the hardy explorer of the trackless wilderness...the prince of backwoodsmen" arrives to guide them. When later asked about the book, Carson said "every statement made [by Averill] is false." Similarly, Emerson Bennett (1822–1905),

1110-561: The Navajo , Mescalero Apache, Kiowa , and Comanche tribes by destroying their food sources. He was breveted a brigadier general and took command of Fort Garland, Colorado . He was there only briefly, as poor health forced him to retire from military life. Carson was married three times and had ten children. He died at Fort Lyon of an aortic aneurysm on May 23, 1868. He is buried in Taos, New Mexico , next to his third wife, Josefa. During

1184-962: The Old Spanish Trail to Los Angeles. He was dispatched a third time as government courier leaving Los Angeles in May 1848 via the Old Spanish Trail and reached Washington, D.C., with important military messages, which included an official report of the discovery of gold in California. Newspapers reported on Carson's travels with some exaggeration, including that he had been killed by Plains Indians in July 1848. Lt. George Brewerton accompanied Carson on part of this trip and published in Harper's Magazine (1853) an account that added to his now-growing celebrity status. In 1848, as his fame grew,

1258-707: The Rocky Mountains . He lived among and married into the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes. In the 1840s, Carson was hired as a guide by John C. Frémont , whose expeditions covered much of California , Oregon , and the Great Basin area. Frémont mapped and wrote reports and commentaries on the Oregon Trail to assist and encourage westward-bound pioneers, and Carson achieved national fame through those accounts. Under Frémont's command, Carson participated in

1332-610: The Secretary of War in Washington, D.C., Carson took the Gila Trail, but was met on the trail by General Kearny, who ordered him to hand his dispatches to others bound east, and return to California as his much-needed guide. In early 1847, Carson was ordered east from California again with more dispatches for Washington, D.C., where he arrived by June. Returning to California via a short visit with his family in Taos, he followed

1406-583: The conquest of California from Mexico at the beginning of the Mexican–American War . During this time, he also participated in the Frémont-led Sacramento River massacre and Klamath Lake massacre against Indigenous peoples. Later in the war, Carson was a scout and courier who was celebrated for his rescue mission after the Battle of San Pasqual and for his coast-to-coast journey from California to Washington, D.C. , to deliver news of

1480-492: The 1825 gathering. Peter Walker (born 1927) was cast as the historical Kit Carson , Gardner McKay as the villainous Pierre Shunar, and Iron Eyes Cody as a trapper. Laurie Carroll (born 1933) was cast as the young Indian woman, Waa-Nibe, for whom Carson is smitten. The 1980 Western The Mountain Men (1980), starring Charlton Heston and Brian Keith , featured the rendezvous of 1838 and 1839. Historical fur trade rendezvous are

1554-626: The American frontier and lost two fingers on his left hand in a battle with the Fox and Sauk Indians. The Carson family moved to Boone's Lick, Howard County, Missouri , when Kit was about a year old. The family settled on a tract of land owned by the sons of Daniel Boone , who had purchased the land from the Spanish. The Boone and Carson families became good friends and worked and socialized together and intermarried. Lindsay's oldest son, William, married Boone's grand-niece, Millie Boone, in 1810. Their daughter Adaline became Kit's favorite playmate. Missouri

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1628-474: The Blackfoot village and killed ten Blackfoot warriors. The Blackfoot found some safety in a pile of rocks but were driven away. It is not known how many Blackfoot died in this incident. The historian David Roberts wrote that "if anything like pity filled Carson's breast as, in his twenty-ninth year, he beheld the ravaged camp of the Blackfoot, he did not bother to remember it." Carson wrote in his Memoirs that

1702-604: The Jicarillas unaware, but after a shot was fired the order was given to attack, and the Jicarillas had started to flee. As Carson describes it in his autobiography, "In about 200 yards, pursuing the Indians, the body of Mrs. White was found, perfectly warm, had not been killed more than five minutes - shot through the heart by an arrow.... I am certain that if the Indians had been charged immediately on our arrival she would have been saved." Her child and servant were taken away by

1776-625: The Mexican government and declared California an independent republic . The American rebels found the courage to oppose Mexico because they had Frémont, who had written an oath of allegiance , and his troops behind them. Frémont and his men were able to give some protection to the Americans. He ordered Carson to kill an old Mexican man, José de los Reyes Berreyesa , and his two adult nephews, who had been captured when they stepped ashore at San Francisco Bay to prevent them from notifying Mexico about

1850-763: The North Platte and Laramie Rivers after befriending numerous native American tribes. Rendezvous were known to be lively, joyous places, where all were allowed—fur trappers, Indians, native trapper wives and children, harlots, travelers and later tourists—who would venture from as far as Europe to observe the festivities. James Beckwourth describes: "Mirth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target-shooting, yarns, frolic, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Indians could invent." Rendezvous are still celebrated as gatherings of like-minded individuals. The fur trading rendezvous are celebrated by traditional black-powder rifle clubs in

1924-591: The U.S. and Canada. These events range from small gatherings sponsored by local clubs to large gatherings like the Pacific Primitive Rendezvous, the Rocky Mountain National Rendezvous, and others. They include many activities similar to the originals, centering on shooting muzzle-loading rifles , trade guns, and shotguns; throwing knives and tomahawks; primitive archery; as well as cooking, dancing, singing, and

1998-630: The US flag in defiance, before departing north. The party moved into the Sacramento River Valley past Mount Shasta, surveying into Oregon, fighting Indians along the way, and camped near Klamath Lake . Near here, a messenger from Washington, D.C., caught up with Frémont and made it clear that Polk wanted California. On March 30, 1846, while traveling north along the Sacramento Valley, Frémont's party met Americans who said that

2072-676: The West. Carson found work in the saddlery not to his taste: he once stated that "the business did not suit me, and I concluded to leave." In August 1826, against his mother's wishes, Kit ran away from his apprenticeship. He went west with a caravan of fur trappers and tended their livestock. They made their trek over the Santa Fe Trail to Santa Fe , the capital of Santa Fe de Nuevo México , reaching their destination in November 1826. He settled in Taos . Carson lived with Mathew Kinkead,

2146-641: The Williamson River in what was called the Klamath Lake massacre . The entire village was razed and at least 14 people were killed. There was no evidence that the village in question had anything to do with the previous attack. In June 1846, Frémont and Carson participated in a California uprising against Mexico, the Bear Flag Revolt . Mexico ordered all Americans to leave California. American settlers in California wanted to be free of

2220-565: The area driving the Mexicans away. Kearny was in San Diego on December 12. After the Mexican–American War transferred California and New Mexico to the United States, Carson returned to Taos to attempt to transition into a career as a businessman and rancher. He developed a small rancho at Rayado, east of Taos, and raised beef. He brought his daughter Adaline from Missouri to join Josefa and

2294-420: The basis or inspiration for rendezvous that are held today. Some of these (such as those held by buckskinners ) are historical re-enactments to varying degrees; others are not reenactments but are inspired by elements of historical rendezvous. Kit Carson American Indian Wars American Civil War Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He

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2368-447: The battle was "the prettiest fight I ever saw". His last rendezvous with trappers was held in 1840. At that time, the fur trade began to drop off as beaver hats went out of fashion and beaver populations across North America were declining rapidly from overexploitation. Carson knew that it was time to find other work. He wrote in his Memoirs , "Beaver was getting scarce, it became necessary to try our hand at something else." In 1841, he

2442-527: The boy back to Franklin. No one claimed the reward. It was a bit of a joke, but Carson was free. The advertisement featured the first printed description of Carson: "Christopher Carson, a boy about 16 years old, small of his age, but thick set; light hair, ran away from the subscriber, living in Franklin, Howard county, Missouri, to whom he had been bound to learn the saddler's trade." Between 1827 and 1829, Carson worked as cook, translator, and wagon driver in

2516-562: The care of relatives. On the return trip, Carson met John C. Frémont aboard a steamboat on the Missouri River . Frémont was a US Army officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers who was about to lead an expedition into the West. After a brief conversation, Frémont hired Carson as a guide at $ 100 a month, the best-paying job of Carson's life. Frémont wrote, "I was pleased with him and his manner of address at this first meeting. He

2590-521: The central Rocky Mountains . Carson hunted and trapped in the West for about ten years. He was known as a reliable man and a good fighter. Life for Carson as a mountain man was not easy. After collecting beavers from traps, he had to hold onto them for months at a time until the annual Rocky Mountain Rendezvous , held in remote areas of the West like the banks of the Green River in Wyoming . With

2664-494: The company of other mountain men, Carson sought action and adventure. Carson probably killed and scalped a Native for the first time when he was 19, during Young's expedition. In August 1829, the party went into Apache territory along the Gila River . The expedition was attacked, giving Carson his first experience of combat. Young's party continued on to Alta California ; trapped and traded in California from Sacramento in

2738-820: The conflict in California to the government. In the 1850s, he was appointed as the Indian agent to the Ute Indians and the Jicarilla Apaches. During the American Civil War , Carson led a regiment of mostly Hispanic volunteers from New Mexico on the side of the Union at the Battle of Valverde in 1862. When the Confederate threat was eliminated in New Mexico, Carson led forces to suppress

2812-792: The country. Charles E. Averill (1830–1852), "the youthful novelist", published a magazine article for Holden's Dollar Magazine in April 1848 that he expanded into a novel advertised as Kit Carson, the Prince of the Gold Hunters; or the Adventures of the Sacramento; a Tale of the New Eldorado, Founded on Actual Facts , an even more fantastic tale exploiting Carson's rising fame. It arrived on bookstore shelves by May 1849, in time for

2886-465: The desert. Carson wrote in his Memoirs , "Finally got through, but had the misfortune to lose our shoes. Had to travel over a country covered with prickly pear and rocks, barefoot." By December 10, Kearny believed that reinforcements would not arrive. He planned to break through the Mexican lines the next morning, but 200 mounted American soldiers arrived in San Pasqual late that night. They swept

2960-523: The end of the rendezvous, the teamsters packed the furs out, either to Fort Vancouver in the Pacific Northwest for the British companies or to one of the northern Missouri River ports such as St. Joseph, Missouri , for American companies. Early explorer and trader Jacques La Ramee organized a group of independent free trappers to the first ever gathering as early as 1815 at the junction of

3034-510: The family in a period where family life settled the frontiersman. Josefa loved to sew, and he bought her an early sewing machine, one of the first Singer models, a resourceful tool for their expanding family. She managed the household, in the tradition of the Hispanic women of New Mexico, while he continued shorter travels. In the summer of 1850, he sold a herd of horses to the military at Ft. Laramie, Wyoming. The following year, he took wagons on

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3108-422: The fictional Carson as an "Indian fighter", with gruesome trashy accounts as "red-skins" "bite the dust" (Averill, Gold Hunter ). For example, of one victim, Averill wrote, "blood gushed in a copious stream from his nostrils"; while Bennett wrote "Kit Carson, like an embodied spirit of battle, thundered past me on his powerful charger, and bending forward in his saddle, with a motion quick as lightning itself, seized

3182-639: The five-month trouble-free mission was accomplished, Frémont wrote his government reports, which made Carson's name known across the United States, and spurred a migration of settlers westward to Oregon via the Oregon Trail. In 1843, Carson agreed to join Frémont's second expedition. Carson guided Frémont across part of the Oregon Trail to the Columbia River in Oregon. The purpose of the expedition

3256-499: The fleeing Jicarillas and killed shortly after the attack, according to an 1850 report by James S. Calhoun , the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in New Mexico. A soldier in the rescue party wrote: "Mrs. White was a frail, delicate, and very beautiful woman, but having undergone such usage as she suffered nothing but a wreck remained; it was literally covered with blows and scratches. Her countenance even after death indicated

3330-477: The government to set aside lands called reservations for their use. As an Indian agent in his later life, he saw to it that those under his watch were treated with honesty and fairness and clothed and fed properly. The historian David Roberts believes his first marriage, to an Arapaho woman named Singing Grass, "softened the stern and pragmatic mountaineer's opportunism". In April 1842, Carson went back to his childhood home in Missouri to put his daughter Adaline in

3404-761: The haciendas of the Rio Abajo to herd the sheep. Upon his arrival in Sacramento, he was surprised to learn of his elevation, again, to a hero of the Conquest of California; over the rest of his life he was recognized as a celebrated frontiersman, an image developed by publications of varied accuracy. Carson's fame spread throughout the United States with government reports, dime novels, newspaper accounts, and word of mouth. The first accounts published for popular audiences were extracts from Frémont's explorations reports as reprinted in period newspapers. Frémont's journals, modified by Jesse Benton Frémont into romantic accounts of

3478-409: The late nineteenth century, Kit Carson became a legendary symbol of America's frontier experience, which influenced twentieth century erection of statues and monuments, public events and celebrations, imagery by Hollywood, and the naming of geographical places. In recent years, Kit Carson has also become a symbol of the United States' mistreatment of its indigenous peoples. Christopher Houston Carson

3552-411: The money received for the pelts, the necessities of an independent life, including fish hooks , flour and tobacco , were bought. As there was little or no medical access in the regions in which he worked, Carson had to dress his wounds and nurse himself. There was also sometimes conflict with Indians. Carson's primary clothing then was made of deer skins that had stiffened from being left outdoors for

3626-486: The north to Los Angeles in the south; and returned to Taos, New Mexico, in April 1830 after it had trapped along the Colorado River . Carson joined a rescue party in Taos searching for the perpetrators of an attack on a wagon train, although the perpetrators managed to escape. Carson joined another expedition, led by Thomas Fitzpatrick and William Levin, in 1831. Fitzpatrick, Levin, and his trappers went north to

3700-420: The outset the expedition appeared to be political in nature. Frémont may have been working under secret government orders, since US President Polk wanted Alta California for the United States. Once in California, Frémont started to rouse the American settlers into a patriotic fervor. The Mexican general José Castro at Monterey ordered him to leave. On Gavilán Mountain, Frémont erected a makeshift fort and raised

3774-407: The protection of those that were laboring." In 1818, Lindsay Carson died instantly when a tree limb fell on him while he was clearing a field. Kit was about eight years old. Despite being penniless, his mother took care of her children alone for four years. She then married Joseph Martin, a widower with several children. Kit was a young teenager and did not get along with his stepfather. The decision

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3848-466: The scalp lock of my antagonist in one hand, and with the other completely severed his head from his body, which he bore triumphantly away" (Bennett, Prairie Flower , p. 64). The novelists' gruesome, gory and sensationalized woolly West descriptions would keep readers turning the pages, and buying more buckets-of-blood fictional accounts of Carson, especially during the coming age of dime novels. Carson's reaction to his depiction in these first novels

3922-527: The southwest. He also worked at a copper mine near the Gila River , in southwestern New Mexico . In later life, Carson never mentioned any women from his youth. Only three specific women were mentioned in his writing: Josefa Jaramillo, his third and last wife; a comrade's mother in Washington, DC ; and Mrs. Ann White, killed by Natives after the White massacre . At the age of 19, Carson began his career as

3996-541: The success of having recovered our horses and sending many a redskin to his long home, our sufferings were soon forgotten." Carson viewed the Blackfoot Nation as a hostile tribe and the greatest threat to his livelihood and safety. He hated them and killed them at every opportunity. The historian David Roberts wrote: "It was taken for granted that the Blackfeet were bad Indians; to shoot them whenever he could

4070-567: The telling of tall tales and of past rendezvous. Personas taken on by participants include trappers, traders, housewives, Native Americans, frontiersmen, free-trappers and others, including soldiers. Although the original style of rendezvous are now unnecessary and no longer occur, in their memory various Wyoming towns and cities (especially ones where rendezvous previously occurred) will put on local festivals resembling town fairs. There may also be another section of this festival dedicated to more traditional item buying, selling and activities. Some of

4144-439: The things sold here may include arrowheads, fans, various animal hides, walking sticks, carvings, knives, whistles, and handcrafted jewelry. Rendezvous (fur trade) One type of rendezvous is associated with the voyageur and canoe-based fur trade business which was largely in Canada during the times of the year when the waterways were not frozen, and provided opportunities for new friends and foes. These were generally at

4218-412: The uncharted West, appeared in the early 1840s. Newspapers throughout the US and England reprinted excerpts about wild tales of buffalo hunts, vast new landscapes, and indigenous peoples. Carson's heroics enlivened the pages. In June 1847, Jesse Benton Frémont helped Carson prepare a brief autobiography, the first, published as an interview in the Washington, D.C. Union, and reprinted by newspapers across

4292-445: The uprising. Frémont worked hard to win California for the United States, for a time fashioning himself as its military governor until he was replaced by General Stephen W. Kearny , who outranked him. From 1846 to 1848, Carson served as courier traveling three times from California to the East and back. Frémont wrote, "This was a service of great trust and honor... and great danger also." In 1846, dispatched with military records for

4366-441: The village of San Pasqual, California . Kearny was outnumbered. He knew that he could not win and so ordered his men to take cover on a small hill. On the night of December 8, Carson, a naval lieutenant, Edward Fitzgerald Beale , and an Indian scout left Kearny to bring reinforcements from San Diego, 25 miles (40 km) away. Carson and the lieutenant removed their shoes because they made too much noise and walked barefoot through

4440-452: The women travelers were staked to the ground, sexually mutilated, and killed. The murderers then stole the Mexican's 30 horses. Carson and a mountain man friend, Alexis Godey , went after the murderers. After two days they found them, rushed into their camp, and killed and scalped two of the murderers. The stolen horses were recovered and returned to the Mexican man and boy. That deed brought Carson even greater fame and confirmed his status as

4514-414: Was a large annual rendezvous held in the Rocky mountains from 1825 until 1840 . One of the largest of these was the rendezvous of 1832 . Much of the attendance of these consisted of mountain men who were fur trade participants who were experienced at living in the mountain back country. The syndicated television anthology series Death Valley Days offered a 1958 episode, "The Big Rendezvous" about

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4588-416: Was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime through biographies and news articles; exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of dime novels . His understated nature belied confirmed reports of his fearlessness, combat skills, tenacity, as well as profound effect on the westward expansion of the United States. Although he

4662-487: Was a man of medium height, broad-shouldered, and deep-chested, with a clear steady blue eye and frank speech and address; quiet and unassuming." In 1842, Carson guided Frémont across the Oregon Trail to South Pass, Wyoming . It was their first expedition into the West together. The purpose of this expedition was to map and describe the Oregon Trail as far as South Pass. A guidebook, maps, and other paraphernalia would be printed for westward-bound migrants and settlers. After

4736-447: Was a mountain man's instinct and duty." Carson had several encounters with the Blackfoot. His last battle with the Blackfoot took place in spring 1838. He was traveling with about one hundred mountain men led by Jim Bridger. In Montana Territory , the group found a teepee with the corpses of three Indians who had died of smallpox inside. Bridger wanted to move on, but Carson and the other young men wanted to kill Blackfoot, so they found

4810-473: Was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico. After the war, Mexico was forced to sell the territories of Alta California and New Mexico to the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . One of Carson's best-known adventures took place during this war. In December 1846, Carson was ordered by General Kearny to guide him and his troops from Socorro, New Mexico , to San Diego, California . Mexican soldiers attacked Kearny and his men near

4884-452: Was born on December 24, 1809, near Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky. His parents were Lindsay Carson and his second wife, Rebecca Robinson. Lindsay had five children by his first wife, Lucy Bradley, and ten more children by Rebecca. Lindsay Carson had a Scots-Irish Presbyterian background. He was a farmer, a cabin builder, and a veteran of the Mexican–American War , American Indian Wars , and American Civil War . He fought Natives on

4958-401: Was famous for much of his life, historians in later years have written that Kit Carson did not like, want, or even fully understand the fame that he experienced during his life. Carson left home in rural Missouri at 16 to become a mountain man and trapper in the West. In the 1830s, he accompanied Ewing Young on an expedition to Mexican California and joined fur-trapping expeditions into

5032-421: Was heartily pleased, never having been so scared in my life." Carson's Memoirs are full of stories about hostile Indian encounters. In January 1833, for example, warriors of the Crow tribe stole nine horses from Carson's camp. Carson and two other men sprayed the Crow camp with gunfire, killing most of the Crow. Carson wrote in his Memoirs , "During our pursuit for the lost animals, we suffered considerably but,

5106-523: Was hired at Bent's Fort, in Colorado, at the largest building on the Santa Fe Trail. Hundreds of people worked or lived there. Carson hunted buffalo, antelope, deer, and other animals to feed the people, paid one dollar a day. He returned to Bent's Fort several times during his life to provide meat for the fort's residents. Carson's views about Indians softened over the years. He found himself more and more in their company as he grew older, and his attitude towards them became more respectful and humane. He urged

5180-400: Was hit in a revenge attack by 15 to 20 Indians on the night of May 9, 1846. Two or three men in camp were killed. The attackers fled after a brief struggle. Carson, angry that his friends had been killed, took an ax to a dead Indian and, according to Frémont, "knocked his head to pieces". In retaliation for the attack, a few days later, Frémont's party massacred a village of Klamath people along

5254-533: Was illegal and dangerous because California was Mexican territory. The Mexican government ordered Frémont to leave. Frémont finally went back to Washington, D.C. The government liked his reports but ignored his illegal trip into Mexico. Frémont was made a captain. The newspapers nicknamed him "The Pathfinder". During the expedition, Frémont trekked into the Mojave Desert . His party met a Mexican man and boy, who both told Carson that Native Americans had ambushed their party of travelers. The male travelers were killed;

5328-455: Was made to apprentice him to David Workman, a saddler in Franklin, Missouri . Kit wrote in his Memoirs that Workman was "a good man, and I often recall the kind treatment I received". Franklin was situated at the eastern end of the Santa Fe Trail , which had opened two years earlier. Many of the customers at the saddle shop were trappers and traders from whom Carson heard stirring tales of

5402-402: Was then the frontier of American westward expansionism; cabins were "forted" with tall stockade fences to defend against Native attacks. As men worked in the fields, sentries were posted with weapons to protect the farmers. Carson wrote in his Memoirs , "For two or three years after our arrival, we had to remain forted and it was necessary to have men stationed at the extremities of the fields for

5476-635: Was to map and describe the Oregon Trail from South Pass, Wyoming, to the Columbia River. They also made a side-trip to Great Salt Lake in Utah , using a rubber raft to navigate the waters. On the way to California, the party suffered from bad weather in the Sierra Nevada Mountains but was saved by Carson's good judgment and his skills as a guide; they found American settlers who fed them. The expedition then headed to California, which

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