The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, from Facts Narrated | Page 2

and freely spilling their best blood to satiate a savage revenge. He will see him attacking and massacring parties of the white men traveling across the prairies, and trace him in his savage wars with the early settlers and frontiersmen.
In order to acquire these important data that they might be added to the pages of American history and form a reliable record, it was necessary that some brave, bold and determined man should become an actor on the scenes and among the races described. Such an actor has been, and yet is, Christopher Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains; and, it is the experience, as well as the acts, of his stirring life, which the following pages present.
In olden times there existed, in the Rocky Mountains, a race familiarly known by the name of "Trappers and Hunters." They are now almost extinct. Their history has not yet been written. Pen paintings, drawn from the imagination, founded upon distant views of their exploits and adventures, have occasionally served, as do legends, to "adorn a tale." The volume now offered to the public, gives their history as related by one whose name as a trapper and hunter of the "Far West," stands second to none; by a man, who, for fifteen years, saw not the face of a white woman, or slept under a roof; who, during those long years, with his rifle alone, killed over two thousand buffalo, between four and five thousand deer, antelope and elk, besides wild game, such as bears, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, etc., etc. in numbers beyond calculation. On account of their originality, daring and interest, the real facts, concerning this race of trappers and hunters, will be handed down to posterity as matters belonging to history.
As is the case with the Indian, the race of the "Simon Pure Trapper" is nearly run. The advance of civilization, keeping up its untiring march to the westward, is daily encroaching upon their wild haunts and bringing the day close at hand when warrior and trapper will depart forever to their "Happy Hunting Grounds."
With the extinction of the great fur companies, the trappers of "Olden Time" disbanded and separated.
The greatest number of these men, to be found at the present day, reside in the Territory of New Mexico; which, in the time of their prosperity, was the country where they located their head quarters. In this Territory, Christopher Carson now resides. His name, in the Rocky Mountains, has been familiarly known for more than a quarter of a century; and, from its association with the names of great explorers and military men, is now spread throughout the civilized world. It has been generally conceded, and the concession has become strengthened by time, that no small share of the benefits derived from these explorations and campaigns, as well as the safety of the commands themselves, was and is due to the sagacity, skill, experience, advice and labor of Christopher Carson. The exploring parties, and expeditions here referred to, are those which he accompanied in the capacity of chief guide and adviser.
His sober habits, strict honor, and great regard for truth, have endeared him to all who can call him friend; and, among such may be enumerated names belonging to some of the most distinguished men whose deeds are recorded on the pages of American history. His past life has been a mystery which this book will unveil. Instead of Kit Carson as by imagination--a bold braggart and reckless, improvident hero of the rifle--he will appear a retired man, and one who is very reserved in his intercourse with others. This fact, alone, will account for the difficulty which has hitherto attended presenting the public with an accurate history of his life.
A few years since, the writer of this work first met Christopher Carson. It needed neither a second introduction, nor the assistance of a friendly panegyric, to enable him to discover in Christopher Carson those traits of manhood, which are esteemed by the great and good to be distinguishing ornaments of character. This acquaintance ripened into a friendship of the purest stamp. Since then, the writer has been the intimate friend and, companion of Christopher Carson, at his home, in the wild scenes of the chase, on the war trail, and upon the field of battle. For a long period, in common with hundreds--and, we might with truth add, thousands, the writer has desired to see Christopher Carson's wonderful career made public for the world of readers; but, while this idea was germinating in his brain, he did not, for an instant, flatter himself that the pleasant task would ever be assigned to him. Finally, however, at the urgent solicitation of many personal friends, Christopher Carson dictated the facts upon which this book is written. They were then placed