Posted
on December 24, 2014
Most
people don't rate a page in Wikipedia.
Of
those actually in Wikipedia, most people only get identified by one
or two labels. (You know, like “medical doctor and scientist,” or
“astronaut,” or “teacher and author.”)
But
Kit Carson rates six labels—and they're pretty exciting labels, at
that:
He
was a trailblazer, mountain man, Indian fighter, guide, Indian agent,
and U.S. Army officer.
Kit
Carson was born on this date in 1809. He left home at age 16 and
became a mountain man and trapper. (Hey! Another label!) Starting in
his childhood home in Missouri, he explored much of the continent,
reaching California and the Pacific Ocean to the west, Washington,
D.C., to the east, and northward along the Rocky Mountains.
Carson
had a complex relationship with various native and Hispanic peoples.
When he was young, Carson lived among and married into the Arapaho
and Cheyenne tribes, but when he was older (and as part of his duties
as an Army officer), Carson led armies to suppress the Navajo,
Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche Indians. Carson served as an Indian Agent
to the Ute and Jicarilla Apaches. During the Civil War, he led a
Union regiment made up mostly of Hispanic volunteers, and his third
and last wife was Mexican.
It's
interesting to see that Kit Carson was quite famous during his own
time. His explorations with John C. Fremont were not only recorded by
Fremont himself, they were even published by Congress! For years,
Carson was widely respected for his heroism and gallantry—and his
exploits were written about (and I imagine exaggerated) in the
newspapers and dime novels of the day.
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