Christopher Carson | Page 2

Snake River.--Successful
Trapping.--Winter at Brown's Hole.--Trip to Fort Bent.--Peculiar
Characters.--Williams and Mitchel.--Hunter at Fort
Bent.--Marriage.--Visit to the States.
CHAPTER X.
Fremont's Expedition.
Carson's Visit to his Childhood's Home.--On the Steamer.--Introduction
to Fremont.--Object of Fremont's Expedition.--Joins the
Expedition.--Organization of the Party.--The
Encampment.--Enchanting View.--Fording the Kansas.--The Stormy
Night.--The Boys on Guard.--The Alarm.--The Returning
Trappers.--The Homeless Adventurer.--Three Indians join the
Party.--First sight of the Buffaloes.--The Chase.
CHAPTER XI.

The Return of the Expedition.
Beautiful Prairie Scene.--Fate of the Buffalo Calf.--Vast Buffalo
Herds.--The Fourth of July on the Plains.--Journey up the South Fork
of the Platte.--Visit to Fort St. Vrain.--Remonstrance of the
Chiefs.--Second Marriage of Mr. Carson.--New
Engagements.--Perilous Ride to Santa Fe.--The Successful
Mission.--The Noble Mexican Boy.--Conflict with the
Savages.--Discomfiture of the Indians.--Fremont's Second
Expedition.--Carson joins the Party.--Course of the
Expedition.--Arrival at the Great Salt Lake.
CHAPTER XII.
Marches and Battles.
Entering the Lake.--Dangerous Navigation.--The Return to
Camp.--Feast upon Horse Flesh.--Meeting the Indians.--Joyful
Meeting.--Return to Fort Hall.--Feasting at the Fort.--The Party
Diminished.--The Journey down Snake River.--Crossing the Sierra
Nevada.--Carson Rescues Fremont.--Fort Sutter.--Heroic Achievement
of Carson.--Disbanding the Party.--The third Expedition.--Crossing the
Desert.--Threatened by the Mexicans.--Fight with the Indians.--The
Surprise.--Chastisement of the Indians.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Dispatch Bearer.
Colonel Fremont.--Hazardous Undertaking of Kit Carson.--Carson's
Courage and Prudence.--Threatened Danger.--Interview with General
Kearney, and Results.--Severe Skirmish.--Wonderful Escape of
Carson.--Daring Adventure.--Fearful Suffering.--Lieutenant
Beale.--Carson's Journey to Washington.--Adventures on his Return.
CHAPTER XIV.

The Chivalry of the Wilderness.
Injustice of the Government.--Heroic Resolve of Mr. Carson.--Indian
Outrages.--The valley of Razado.--Barbaric Murders by Apaches.--An
Exciting Chase.--An Attractive Picture.--Plot of Fox Overthrown.--Gift
of Messrs. Brevoort and Weatherhead.--Adventure with the Cheyennes.
CHAPTER XV.
Recollections of Mountain Life.
Character of the Native Indian.--The Caravan.--Interesting
Incident.--Effects of Cholera.--Commission of Joe Smith.--Snow on the
Mountains.--Government Appointment.--Adventure with three
Bears.--Journey to Los Angelos.--Mt. St. Bernardino.--The
Spring.--Character of Men.--Insubordination Quelled.--Suffering for
Water and Relief.--A Talk with Indians.
CHAPTER XVI.
Recollections of Mountain Life.
Position of The Spring.--The Cachè.--Kit Carson's Character and
Appearance.--Cool Bravery of a Mountain Trapper.--Untamed
Character of Many Hunters.--The Surveyor's Camp in an Indian
Territory.--Terrors from Indians.--Joe Walker.--A Mountain
Man.--Soda Lake.--Optical Illusion.--Camp on Beaver Lake.--The
Piyute Chief.--Conversation with Him.--An Alarm.--A Battle.
CHAPTER XVII.
Frontier Desperadoes and Savage Ferocity.
Original Friendliness of the Indians.--The River Pirates, Culbert and
Magilbray.--Capture of Beausoliel.--His Rescue by the Negro
Cacasotte.--The Cave in the Rock.--The Robber Mason.--His
Assassination.--Fate of the Assassins.--Hostility of the
Apaches.--Expedition of Lieutenant Davidson.--Carson's Testimony in

his Favor.--Flight of the Apaches.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Last Days of Kit Carson.
The Hunting Party.--Profits of Sheep Raising.--Governmental
Appointment.--Carson's Talk with the Apaches.--His Home in
Taos.--His Character.--Death of Christopher Carson.
CHAPTER XIX.
The Last Hours of Kit Carson.

CHRISTOPHER CARSON.
CHAPTER I.
Early Training.
Birth of Christopher Carson.--Perils of the Wilderness.--Necessary
Cautions.--Romance of the Forest.--The Far West.--The
Encampment.--The Cabin and the Fort.--Kit an Apprentice.--The
Alarm.--Destruction of a Trading Band.--The Battle and the
Flight.--Sufferings of the Fugitives.--Dreadful Fate of Mr.
Schenck.--Features of the Western Wilderness.--The March.
Christopher Carson, whose renown as Kit Carson has reached almost
every ear in the country, was born in Madison county, Kentucky, on the
24th of December, 1809. Large portions of Kentucky then consisted of
an almost pathless wilderness, with magnificent forests, free from
underbrush, alive with game, and with luxuriant meadows along the
river banks, inviting the settler's cabin and the plough.
There were then many Indians traversing those wilds. The fearless
emigrants, who ventured to rear their huts in such solitudes, found it

necessary ever to be prepared for an attack.
But very little reliance could be placed even in the friendly
protestations of the vagabond savages, ever prowling about, and almost
as devoid of intelligence or conscience, as the wolves which at
midnight were heard howling around the settler's door. The family of
Mr. Carson occupied a log cabin, which was bullet-proof, with
portholes through which their rifles could command every approach.
Women and children were alike taught the use of the rifle, that in case
of an attack by any blood-thirsty gang, the whole family might resolve
itself into a military garrison. Not a tree or stump was left, within
musket shot of the house, behind which an Indian could secrete
himself.
Almost of necessity, under these circumstances, any bright, active boy
would become a skilful marksman. A small garden was cultivated
where corn, beans and a few other vegetables were raised, but the main
subsistence of the family consisted of the game with which forest,
meadow and lake were stored. The settler usually reared his cabin upon
the banks of some stream alive with fishes. There were no schools to
take up the time of the boys; no books to read. Wild geese, ducks and
other water fowl, sported upon the bosom of the river or the lake,
whose waters no paddle wheel or even keel disturbed. Wild turkeys,
quails, and pigeons at times, swept the air like clouds. And then there
was the intense excitement of