The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains, etc

Front matter

A PLEASANT ENCOUNTER. PIONEER LIFE AND FEONTIER ADVENTURES. AS AUTHENTIC RECORD OF THE ROMANTIC LIFE AND DARING EXPLOITS OF KIT CARSONs AAsD HIS COMPANION'S FROM HIS OWN NARRATIVE. Bt DEWITT C. PETERS, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel anil Surgeon V. S. A. LONDON: FREDERICK WARNE AND COMPANY. Bedford Street, Strand. I Taos, New Mexico. This is to certify, that my friend, De Witt C. Peters, Brevet Lieutenant - Colonel and Surgeon, United States Army, is the only person I ever authorized to Avrite my life. Brigadier General Is* S. Vols. Fernandez de Taos, New Mexico. We, the undersigned, citizens of the Territory of New Mexico, were acquainted with Mr. Christopher Carson, almost from the time of his first arrival in the country. We were his companions both in the mountains and as private citizens. We are also acquainted with the fact, that for months, during his leisure hours, he was engaged dictating his life.

This is, to our certain knowledge, the only authentic biography of him self and his travels, that has ever been written. We heartily recommend this book to the reading community for perusal, as it presents a life out of the usual routine of business, and is checkered with adventures Avhich have tried this bold and daring man. We are cognizant of the details of the_book, and vouch for their accuracy. Very respectfully, PERILS OK FRONTIER LUKE. THE AUTHOR'S

Preface

. The pages here presented to the public form a book of facts. They unsold for the student, as does no other work j7et extant, the great interior wilderness of the Territories be longing to the United States. The scenic views, though plainly colored and Avrought by the hand of an unpretending artist, inasmuch as they portray a part of the North American continent which is unsurpassed by any other country on the face of the earth, will not fail to interest the American public. In addition to this, the reader is introduced to tin intimate acquaintance w7ith the Indian races of the countries which lie east and west of the Rocky Mountains. The savage warrior and hunter is presented, stripped of all the deco rations with which writers of fiction have dressed him. He is seen in his ferocity and gentleness, in his rascality and nobility, in his boyhood, manhood, and old age, and in his wisdom and ignorance.

The attentive reader Avill learn of his approximations to truth, his bundle of superstitions, his acts at home and on the war-path, his success while folloAV ing the buffalo, and engaging the wild Rocky Mountain bear, that terror of the Avestern wilderness. He will also behold him carrying devastation to the homes of the New Mexican settlers, and freely spilling their best blood to satiate a savage revenge. He will see him attacking and massacring parties of 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 reli- THE AUTHOR'S

PREFACE.

. able 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 Christopher Car son, the Nestor of the Rocky Mountains ; and, it is the expe rience, 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 knoAvn by the name of " Trappers and Hunt ers." They are now almost extinct. Their history has not yet been written. Pen paintings, drawn from the imagina tion, founded upon distant views of their exploits and adventures, have occasionally served, asrdo legends, to " adorn a tale." The volume iioav offered to the public, gives their history as related by one whose name, as a trapper and hunter of the " Far West," stood second to none ; by a man who, for fifteen years, saw not the face of a Avhite woman, or slept under a roof; who, during those long years, with his rifle alone, killed thousands upon thousands of buffalo, deer, ante lope, bears and elk, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, etc., etc., in numbers beyond calculation.

On account of their origi nality, 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 en croaching upon their wild haunts, and bringing the day close at hand when warrior and trapper will depart forever to their " Happj7 Hunting Grounds." With the extinction of the great fur companies, the trap pers of " Olden Time," disbanded and separated. The greatest number of these men, to be found at the pres ent day, reside in the Territory of New Mexico, Avhich, in the time of their prosperity, Avas the country where they located their head-quarters.

In this Territory, Christopher Carson resided. His name, in the Rocky Mountains, has been familiarly knoAvn for nearly half a century ; and, from its associa- THE AUTHOR'S

PREFACE.

. IX tion 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 com mands themselves, was due to the sagacity, skill, experience, advice and labor, of Christopher Carson. His sober habits, strict honor, and great regard for truth, endeared him to all who called 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 was a mystery w7hich this book will unveil. Instead of Kit Carson as by imagination — a bold braggart, and reckless, improA7ident hero of the rifle — he will appear a retired man, and one who was very reserved in his intercourse with others.

It is years since the writer of this work first met Christo pher 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, and to the time of his death, the writer was the intimate friend and companion of 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, Ave might with truth add, thousands, the Avriter 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, howev7er, at the urgent solicitation of many personal friends, Christopher Carson dictated the facts upon which this book is Avritten. They were placed in the Avriter's hands, with instructions to add to them such information as had fallen under his observation, during a long and intimate acquaintance Avith Kit Carson, and during extensive travels THE AUTHOR'S

PREFACE.

. X over a large part of the Avide expanse of country, Avhich has been Carson's theatre for action. Owing to unfortunate circumstances, however, the work has been kept out of the market, until the urgent demands of the hundreds of admirers of the world-renowned " Kit," for an authentic history of his life and adventures, has encour aged the author to place the work before the public in its present form. The book is a book of solid truth ; therefore, the faults in the style, arrangement and composition, become affairs of minor consideration. For this reason, the writer makes no apologies to embarrass the critics. Christopher Carson, physically, was small in stature, but of compact frame-work. He had a large and finely developed head, a twinkling gray eye, and hair of a sandy color, which he Avore combed back a la Franklin mode.

His education having been much neglected in his youth, he was deficient in theoretical learning. By natural abilities, hoAvever, he greatly compensated for this defect. He spoke the French and Span ish languages fluently, besides being a perfect master of sev eral Indian dialects. In Indian customs, their manners, habits, and the groundwork of their conduct, no man on the Ameri can continent was better skilled. . The writer, while on a foreign tour, once had the opportu nity and pleasure of hearing Gordon dimming, and other hunters of less note, discourse on their hunting exploits ; fur thermore, in our own' country, while seated around camp fires and in log-houses, he has listened to the adventures of ancient and modern Nimrods in the chase. Besides these facts, he has both seen and read much of hunting exploits ; but no hunter ever filled his fancy so perfectly as did Christo pher Carson, a man who was always quick to act and never known to boast.

Although he has passed to the Happy Hunting Grounds of eternity, his name will always stand bright in the annals of history, as one that has contributed in no small degree to the success of some of the greatest and most successful exploring expeditions knoAvn to the Avorld. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. A pleasant Encounter Frontispiece. TO FACE PAGE Perils of Frontier Liee vii Crossing tue Sierra Nevada 21 River Scene in New Mexico 40 Spanish Monastery in California 44 Shoshonee Falls, Snake River, Idaho 56 The Garden of the Gods 60 Emigrants on Western Waters 76 Hunters and Trappers in the West 84 Fight with Grizzly Bears 90 Home of the Grizzly Bear 9S Whooping Indians 102 Punishing a Braggadocio 112 Restoration of Captives 116 Upper Falls, Yellowstone Kitej 118 Yellowstone Lake 118 A Blackfeet Warrior 128 The Death Shot 136 Long's Peak 142 An Indian War-Dance 146 Basin ox the Columbia River 154 The Pipe of Peace 166 Kit and his favorite Horse "Apache" 168 Buffalo Hunt 174 The first white Men on "The Great River" 182 A perilous Passage down the Platte 192 Lake Klamath 204 Mining in Colorado 2]0 Settlers massacred by Indians 214 A bold Attack 220 Street Scene in Taos 230 A Mexican Cart 234 The Pueblo of Taos ' ILLUSTRATIONS.

TO FACE PACTE A Mexican Garden 238 A View on the Plains • 244 Mount Shasta 252 A Fight in the Lava Beds 264 Fremont saves Carson's Life 2/0 Mission at Monterey 274 Fremont in the Rocky Mountains 302 Warlike Exercises of the Camanches 314 Emigrants attacked by Indians 32b Hacienda at Rayado 334 Mrs. White a Captive 336 A terrific Snow-storm Rio Colorado 362 Fine Lands well watered 3oo " Lo ! the poor Indian " ' ° Torture a la Mazeppa 3J4 Gold-washing in California 410 A Prairie on Fire 418 An Indian Stronghold 426 Mountain Scenery 430 Fight with the Red Skins 450 A Mountain Gorge 4/4 Fort Massachusetts, New Mexico, in 1855 484 A captive Child pleading for Mercy 490 Thrilling Adventure with an Apache 502 Indian Scalp Dance 508 An Indian Village on the Move 512 Slaughter of the Indians 522 Attack on Wagon Train 530 Kit Carson's Home at Taos, New Mexico 536 Border Settlers 546 The Navajoes in Camp PIONEER LIFE AND FRONTIER ADVENTURE.