Scouting with Kit Carson

by Everett T. Tomlinson

On his arrival he was amazed to find that the people of the capital already knew of his life in the West. To the modest scout this was a great surprise. He did not understand how any one could have heard of his work among the fur-bearing animals and the Indians of the West. Perhaps he was more surprised than any of his friends to find himself so much in demand. When one of the United States Senators said: “To me Kit Carson and truth mean the same,” we may be sure the modest scout was almost overwhelmed by the words of praise.

When his last journey to Washington was ended the scout was glad to return to his family at Taos. There he had a house built of adobe, in which there was always a welcome for his friends. Even the Indians came and went with more freedom than they visited any of the homes of the white men. Affectionately the redmen called him “Father Kit,” and the confidence of the good Indian was as strong as was the fear of the Indian who had done wrong. About forty miles distant from Taos Kit Carson had his ranch. There his family spent much of their time and there, too, there was always a welcome not only for his old friends, but for visitors as well.

Lieutenant Fremont had now become a colonel and his name was famous throughout the United States. He, too, visited the scout of whom he had been so fond, and in his letters, which are still in existence, he relates what a good time he had at the home of Kit Carson, the famous scout, trapper, guide, and messenger.

Kit Carson looked well to his farm, but his love of hunting was still strong. Indeed, it is said that his table was kept well supplied by the aid of his own rifle with game throughout most of the year.

If Kit Carson believed that his roving days were ended now, he was soon to learn of his mistake. Of all his expeditions, however, only two can be mentioned here. On one of these, with some other men, mostly Mexicans, he drove nearly seven thousand sheep from Taos to California. Across the desert, through the lofty mountain ranges, the strange procession led by Kit Carson slowly made its way. At last, when the drovers arrived at their destination, they were able to sell their sheep for such high prices that every man received an ample reward for his labours. It was at this time that Kit Carson insisted upon going down the Sacramento to San Francisco. It had been many years since he had seen the settlement, and meanwhile the gold fever had drawn men of all kinds to the little place until it had increased very rapidly in its population.

The scout, after his arrival, looked about him in amazement. Thirty-five thousand people were living in the place, which he had known only as a little hamlet. Even here his fame had preceded him and there were many of the reckless men who tried to induce the famous scout to join them in their wild dissipations. With the same quiet strength which he had shown in his early life, Kit Carson steadfastly refused the invitations, and when he departed, his record was as clean as when he had first come.

Another time Carson with a large band of the men who once had trapped with him returned to the scenes of their early experiences. Again the men were trapping the beaver, and their success amazed even themselves. Many of the trappers had become so possessed with the desire to find gold that they had neglected or forgotten the wealth to be won by trapping. As a consequence the success of Kit Carson’s band was marvellous, and when they returned they felt more than repaid for their labours.

It was on this expedition that Kit Carson lassoed a huge grizzly bear. The lasso, however, was not sufficiently strong to tame the savage beast, and at last the men, for the sake of their own safety, killed the grizzly. The following day, which was the Fourth of July, there was a great feast in which bear-steak was one of the chief articles of food.

It was not long before the war between the States broke out. And again Kit Carson found that it was impossible for him to remain quietly in his home on the ranch near Taos. In response to the call of the men who knew and loved him he consented to serve as the colonel of a regiment which was raised in New Mexico.

In the campaign which followed there is a quaint statement that perhaps the most striking service rendered by the brave colonel was when his regiment one time was ordered to attack the Navajo Indians, who had thought the time was fitting for them to rebel against the white men. It is related that with a few of his chosen men Colonel Kit departed from his camp early one morning and attacked and scattered the warring Indians and then returned to the camp before the soldiers who had been left there under the command of the lieutenant-colonel were aware that there was any fighting to be done.