Editing Kit Carson (section)

{{Short description|American frontiersman, ethnic cleanser, and guide (1809–1868)}}
{{About|the frontiersman}}
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{{POV|date=May 2023}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Kit Carson
| image              = Kit Carson photograph restored.jpg
| caption            = Carson on a visit to [[Washington, D.C.]], 1868
| birth_name         = Christopher Houston Carson
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1809|12|24}}
| birth_place        = [[Richmond, Kentucky]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1868|05|23|1809|12|24}}
| death_place        = [[Fort Lyon]], Colorado Territory, U.S.
| resting_place      = Kit Carson Cemetery, [[Taos, New Mexico]]
| occupation         = Mountain man, frontiersman, guide, Indian agent, United States Army officer
| known_for          = {{ubl|Opening the American West to [[American pioneers]]|[[Carson City, Nevada]] namesake}}
| spouse             = {{Unbulleted list|Waanibe|Making-Out-Road|[[Maria Josefa Jaramillo Carson|Josefa Jaramillo]]}} (1843–1868; her death)
| signature          = Kit Carson signature.svg
| signature_size     = 225px
| module             = {{Infobox military person |embed=yes
| name               =
| allegiance = United States<br />[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]
| branch = [[United States Army]]<br />[[Union Army]]
| serviceyears = 1846 - 1864 
| rank = Brevet Brigadier General
| commands = [[1st Regiment New Mexico Volunteer Cavalry|1st New Mexico Volunteer Cavalry Regiment]]
| unit =
| battles = [[Mexican–American War]]
* [[Battle of San Pasqual]]
[[American Indian Wars]]
* [[Battle of Ojo Caliente Canyon]]
* [[Battle of Canyon de Chelly]]
* [[First Battle of Adobe Walls]]
[[American Civil War]]
* [[Battle of Valverde]]
| awards =
| laterwork =
}}
}}

'''Christopher Houston Carson''' (December 24, 1809&nbsp;– May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, [[Indian agent]] and [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] officer. He became an [[American frontier]] legend in his own lifetime through biographies and news articles; exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of [[dime novels]]. His understated nature belied confirmed reports of his fearlessness, combat skills, tenacity, as well as profound effect on the [[Territorial evolution of the United States|westward expansion of the United States]]. Although he was famous for much of his life, historians in later years have written that Kit Carson did not like, want, or even fully understand the fame that he experienced during his life.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Momaday |first=N. Scott |date=October 29, 2006 |title=Cowboys and Indians |url=https://nytimes.com/2006/10/29/books/review/Momaday.t.html |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Carson left home in rural [[Missouri]] at 16 to become a [[mountain man]] and trapper in the West. In the 1830s, he accompanied [[Ewing Young]] on an expedition to [[Alta California|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, Carson was hired as a guide by [[John C. Frémont]], whose expeditions covered much of [[California]], [[Oregon]], and the [[Great Basin]] area. Frémont mapped and wrote reports and commentaries on the [[Oregon Trail]] to assist and encourage westward-bound pioneers, and Carson achieved national fame through those accounts. Under Frémont's command, Carson participated in the U.S.  [[conquest of California]] from [[Mexico]] at the beginning of the [[Mexican–American War]]. During this time, he also participated in the Frémont-led [[Sacramento River massacre]] and [[Klamath Lake massacre]] against the Indians. Later in the war, Carson was a scout and courier who was celebrated for his rescue mission after the [[Battle of San Pasqual]] and for his coast-to-coast journey from California to [[Washington, D.C.]], to deliver news of the conflict in California to the government. In the 1850s, he was appointed as the Indian agent to the [[Ute Indians]] and the [[Jicarilla]] Apaches.

During the [[American Civil War]], Carson led a regiment of mostly [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]] volunteers from [[New Mexico]] on the side of the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] at the [[Battle of Valverde]] in 1862. When the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] threat was eliminated in New Mexico, Carson led forces to suppress the [[Navajo people|Navajo]], [[Mescalero]] Apache, [[Kiowa]], and [[Comanche]] tribes by destroying their food sources. He was breveted a brigadier general and took command of [[Fort Garland|Fort Garland, Colorado]]. He was there only briefly, as poor health forced him to retire from military life.

Carson was married three times and had ten children. He died at [[Fort Lyon]] of an [[aortic aneurysm]] on May 23, 1868. He is buried in [[Taos, New Mexico]], next to his third wife, Josefa Carson. 

During the late nineteenth century, Kit Carson became a legendary symbol of America's frontier experience, which influenced twentieth century erection of statues and monuments, public events and celebrations, imagery by Hollywood, and the naming of geographical places.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kit Carson |url=https://equestrianstatue.org/carson-kit-2/#:~:text=When%20the%20Confederate%20threat%20was,mistreatment%20of%20its%20indigenous%20peoples. |website=Equestrian Statues| date=April 6, 2016 }}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}