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Details
CARSON, Christopher 'Kit' (1809-1868).
Scout, Indian agent, Soldier
"Only known war-date Kit Carson signature"
Signature ("C. Carson") clipped along the bottom of a letter to 3 3/4 x 1 3/4 in., all in Carson's hand most obt sevt C. Carson Colonel 1st Cav. N.M. Vols. Comd'g Regt." Minor adhesive remnants on the verso otherwise very fine.
One of the great figures of the American West, "Kit" Carson grew up in Missouri and at 16 joined a caravan bound for Santa Fe. He would spend the rest of his life in the West. Roaming the Rocky Mountains as a fur trapper and mountain man, in 1842 Carson became John Fremont's guide for his explorations in Oregon and California and during the Mexican War carried Fremont's dispatches proclaiming the conquest of California. Afterward he settled in Taos, New Mexico where, from 1853-61, he was an Indian agent to the Utes. When war broke out he helped organize the 1st New Mexican Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel on July 25, 1861. Carson distinguished himself earning a brevet to Brigadier General for gallantry at Valverde, and for his campaigns against the Apaches, Navajos, Kiowas and Commanches. He resigned his commission in 1867 owing to poor health and died at Fort Lyon, Colorado the following year. Fremont wrote of him, "With me, Carson and truth were one," and Sherman, "His integrity is simply perfect." General James Rusling described him "As simple as a child, but brave as a lion, he soon took our hearts by storm and grew upon our regard all the while we were with him."
Provenance: Ronald J. Atlas collection.
Scout, Indian agent, Soldier
"Only known war-date Kit Carson signature"
Signature ("C. Carson") clipped along the bottom of a letter to 3 3/4 x 1 3/4 in., all in Carson's hand most obt sevt C. Carson Colonel 1st Cav. N.M. Vols. Comd'g Regt." Minor adhesive remnants on the verso otherwise very fine.
One of the great figures of the American West, "Kit" Carson grew up in Missouri and at 16 joined a caravan bound for Santa Fe. He would spend the rest of his life in the West. Roaming the Rocky Mountains as a fur trapper and mountain man, in 1842 Carson became John Fremont's guide for his explorations in Oregon and California and during the Mexican War carried Fremont's dispatches proclaiming the conquest of California. Afterward he settled in Taos, New Mexico where, from 1853-61, he was an Indian agent to the Utes. When war broke out he helped organize the 1st New Mexican Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel on July 25, 1861. Carson distinguished himself earning a brevet to Brigadier General for gallantry at Valverde, and for his campaigns against the Apaches, Navajos, Kiowas and Commanches. He resigned his commission in 1867 owing to poor health and died at Fort Lyon, Colorado the following year. Fremont wrote of him, "With me, Carson and truth were one," and Sherman, "His integrity is simply perfect." General James Rusling described him "As simple as a child, but brave as a lion, he soon took our hearts by storm and grew upon our regard all the while we were with him."
Provenance: Ronald J. Atlas collection.