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Christopher "Kit" Carson

Kit Carson
Kit Carson, about 1860.jpg
Kit Carson, circa 1860
Born (1809-12-24)December 24, 1809
Richmond, Kentucky
Died May 23, 1868(1868-05-23) (aged 58)
Fort Lyon, Colorado
Resting place Kit Carson Cemetery
Taos, New Mexico
Residence Taos, New Mexico
Nationality American
Occupation Mountain man, frontiersman, guide, Indian agent, United States Army officer
Known for

Opening the American West to European settlement

Carson City, Nevada namesake
Spouse(s)
  • Waanibe
  • Making-Out-Road
  • Josefa Jaramillo
Military career
Allegiance  United States of America
Union
Service/branch Union Army
Rank Brevet Brigadier General
Commands held 1st New Mexico Volunteer Cavalry Regiment
Battles/wars

Mexican-American War

Jicarilla War

American Civil War

Navajo Wars

Plains Indian Wars

Signature
Kit Carson signature.svg

Opening the American West to European settlement

Mexican-American War

Jicarilla War

American Civil War

Navajo Wars

Plains Indian Wars

Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868), better known as Kit Carson, was an American frontiersman. He was a mountain man (fur trapper), wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. Carson became a frontier legend in his own lifetime via biographies and news articles. Exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of dime novels.

Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 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 the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married into the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes.

In the 1840s, he was hired as a guide by John C. Fremont. Fremont's expedition covered much of California, Oregon, and the Great Basin area. Fremont mapped and wrote reports and commentaries on the Oregon Trail to assist and encourage westward-bound American pioneers. Carson achieved national fame through Fremont's accounts of his expeditions.

Under Fremont's command, Carson participated in the uprising against Mexican rule in California at the beginning of the Mexican-American War. Later in the war, Carson was a scout and courier, celebrated for his rescue mission after the Battle of San Pasqual and for his coast-to-coast journey from California to Washington, DC to deliver news of the conflict in California to the U.S. government. In the 1850s, he was appointed as the Indian agent to the Ute Indians and the Jicarilla Apaches.


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