Editing Kit Carson (section)

=== Second expedition, 1843 ===
In 1843, Carson agreed to join Frémont's second expedition. Carson guided Frémont across part of the Oregon Trail to the [[Columbia River]] in Oregon. The purpose of the expedition was to map and describe the Oregon Trail from South Pass, Wyoming, to the Columbia River. They also made a side-trip to [[Great Salt Lake]] in [[Utah]], using a rubber raft to navigate the waters.<ref>Roberts 130</ref> On the way to California, the party suffered from bad weather in the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada Mountains]] but was saved by Carson's good judgment and his skills as a guide; they found American settlers who fed them. The expedition then headed to California, which was illegal and dangerous because California was Mexican territory. The Mexican government ordered Frémont to leave. Frémont finally went back to Washington, D.C. The government liked his reports but ignored his illegal trip into Mexico. Frémont was made a captain. The newspapers nicknamed him "The Pathfinder".<ref>Sides 59–61</ref>

During the expedition, Frémont trekked into the [[Mojave Desert]]. His party met a Mexican man and boy, who both told Carson that Native Americans had [[ambush]]ed their party of travelers. The male travelers were killed; the women travelers were staked to the ground, sexually mutilated, and killed. The murderers then stole the Mexican's 30 horses. Carson and a mountain man friend, [[Alexis Godey]], went after the murderers. After two days they found them, rushed into their camp, and killed and scalped two of the murderers. The stolen horses were recovered and returned to the Mexican man and boy. That deed brought Carson even greater fame and confirmed his [[Social status|status]] as a western hero in the eyes of the American people.<ref>Sides 62–64</ref>