Editing Kit Carson (section)

== Early life (1809-1829) ==
[[File:Early photo of Kit Carson.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|alt=Kit Carson wearing a beaver hat|Early photograph (possibly the first) of Kit Carson wearing a [[beaver hat]]]]

Christopher Houston Carson was born on December 24, 1809, near Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky.<ref>Madison County (KY) Historical Society</ref> His parents were Lindsay Carson and his second wife, Rebecca Robinson. Lindsay had five children by his first wife, Lucy Bradley, and ten more children by Rebecca. Lindsay Carson had a [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scots-Irish]] [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] background.<ref name=Sides1>Sides 8–9</ref> He was a farmer, a cabin builder, and a [[veteran]] of the [[Mexican–American War]], [[American Indian Wars]], and [[American Civil War]].<ref name=Roberts1>Roberts 54–55</ref> He fought Natives on the American frontier and lost two fingers on his left hand in a battle with the Fox and Sauk Indians.<ref name=Sides1 />

The Carson family moved to Boone's Lick, [[Howard County, Missouri]], when Kit was about a year old. The family settled on a tract of land owned by the sons of [[Daniel Boone]], who had purchased the land from the Spanish. The Boone and Carson families became good friends and worked and socialized together and intermarried. Lindsay's oldest son, William, married Boone's grand-niece, Millie Boone, in 1810. Their daughter Adaline became Kit's favorite playmate.<ref>Guild and Carter 9</ref>

Missouri was then the frontier of American westward expansionism; cabins were "forted" with tall stockade fences to defend against Native attacks. As men worked in the fields, sentries were posted with weapons to protect the farmers. Carson wrote in his ''Memoirs'', "For two or three years after our arrival, we had to remain forted and it was necessary to have men stationed at the extremities of the fields for the protection of those that were laboring."

In 1818, Lindsay Carson died instantly when a tree limb fell on him while he was clearing a field. Kit was about eight years old. Despite being penniless, his mother took care of her children alone for four years. She then married Joseph Martin, a widower with several children.<ref>Guild and Carter 10</ref> Kit was a young teenager and did not get along with his stepfather. The decision was made to apprentice him to David Workman, a saddler in [[Franklin, Missouri]]. Kit wrote in his ''Memoirs'' that Workman was "a good man, and I often recall the kind treatment I received".<ref>Guild and Carter 15</ref>

Franklin was situated at the eastern end of the [[Santa Fe Trail]], which had opened two years earlier. Many of the customers at the saddle shop were trappers and traders from whom Carson heard stirring tales of the West. Carson found work in the saddlery not to his taste: he once stated that "the business did not suit me, and I concluded to leave."<ref>Carter 38–39</ref>

=== Santa Fe Trail ===
In August 1826, against his mother's wishes, Kit ran away from his apprenticeship. He went west with a caravan of fur trappers and tended their livestock. They made their trek over the Santa Fe Trail to [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]], the capital of [[Santa Fe de Nuevo México]], reaching their destination in November 1826. He settled in [[Taos, New Mexico|Taos]].<ref>Guild and Carter 27</ref><ref name=Roberts2>Roberts 56–57</ref>

Carson lived with Mathew Kinkead, a trapper and explorer who had served with Carson's older brothers during the War of 1812.<ref name=Carter2>Carter 42–50.</ref> Carson was mentored by Kinkead in learning the skills of a trapper and learning the necessary languages for trade. Eventually, he became fluent in Spanish and several Native American languages.

Workman put an advertisement in a local newspaper back in Missouri. He wrote that he would give a one-cent [[bounty (reward)|reward]] to anyone who brought the boy back to Franklin. No one claimed the reward. It was a bit of a joke, but Carson was free.<ref name=Roberts2 /> The advertisement featured the first printed description of Carson: "Christopher Carson, a boy about 16 years old, small of his age, but thick set; light hair, ran away from the subscriber, living in Franklin, Howard county, Missouri, to whom he had been bound to learn the saddler's trade."<ref name=Roberts2 />

Between 1827 and 1829, Carson worked as cook, translator, and wagon driver in the southwest. He also worked at a copper mine near the [[Gila River]], in southwestern [[New Mexico]].<ref>Sides 14</ref> In later life, Carson never mentioned any women from his youth. Only three specific women were mentioned in his writing: Josefa Jaramillo, his third and last wife; a comrade's mother in [[Washington, DC]]; and Mrs. Ann White, killed by Natives after the [[White massacre]].<ref>Guild and Carter 26</ref>