Kit Carson

Kit Carson (1809-1868), American hunter, trapper, and scout. He was born Christopher Carson in Madison County, Kentucky. When he was an infant his parents moved to Howard County, Missouri, where he later became an apprentice to a saddler. He ran away from home in 1826 to accompany a party of hunters to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and thereafter devoted himself almost entirely to hunting and trapping, making trips to California in 1829 and to the Rocky Mountains in 1830. From 1832 to 1840 Carson was employed as hunter for the garrison at Bent's Fort, Colorado. Between 1842 and 1846 he accompanied the American explorer John Charles Frémont on expeditions, serving as a guide in Frémont's expedition to California. Carson served in the Mexican War in 1846 and 1847, playing an important part in the conquest of California. In 1854 he was appointed Indian agent for the Ute and Apache at Taos, New Mexico. During the American Civil War he helped organize New Mexican infantry volunteers, and in 1865 he was brevetted brigadier general. A considerable body of legend developed surrounding his exploits. These stories originated in the 1860s and 1870s following the publication of dime novels that popularized his life.