Christopher "Kit" Carson

Kit Carson
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 Battle of San Pasqual Jicarilla War Battle of Ojo Caliente Canyon American Civil War Battle of Valverde Navajo Wars Battle of Canyon de Chelly Plains Indian Wars First Battle of Adobe Walls
Signature

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.