Rare CDV of BBG Christopher "Kit" Carson, 1st New Mexico Cavalry 

Typical wartime copy shot of the famous frontiersman and Indian fighter, published by Anthony. Christopher Houston Carson (1809-1868) enlisted in July 1861 as a Lieut. Colonel and commissioned into F&S of the 1st NM Infantry. The following year, he was transferred to the 1st NM Cav. (F&S), then after the war he transferred into the NM 1st Battn. Cavalry. He earned his BBG in the "omnibus" awards of March 1865. He was assigned as commander of Fort Garland, CO in 1865. He resigned in 1867 because of poor health, and died the following year. Carson is probably best known as being in charge of the campaign against the Navajo, which resulted in the  "Long Walk" to Bosque Redondo, and took the lives of hundreds of Dineh.

Carson grew up on land purchased from Daniel Boone, and was a "native" of the frontier. At the age of one, his family moved to Missouri. Upon the death of his father, he tried to help support this mother and siblings. He became an apprentice saddlemaker at 14, but longed for freedom. He broke his contract and headed out on the Santa Fe Trail at the age of 15, working his way south and west doing odd jobs for whoever was also on the trail.

He became a "mountain man," trapping for Jim Bridger, the Hudson Bay Company, and others. When styles (and fortunes) changed, and the beaver were over-trapped, he started hunting. In 1842 he met John C. Fremont and was hired as his guide. He went with Fremont on two more journeys to the Great Salt Lake, and then to Vancouver. He later served as a guide for Gen. Stephen Kearney on his way to California.

After the war with Mexico, Carson settled in New Mexico, and later became the Indian Agent of the Utes and Jicarilla Apaches. He learned to see the situation from the native viewpoint, and appreciated the impact of white settlement on the survival of the natives. He began to advocate for reservations for the natives, a view that would make him the obvious choice for sending the Navajos to a proposed reserve. However, since the Union was still at war, it could not spare carts, mules, food, etc. to make the journey easier for the natives, especially the young, old, ill, etc. Although Carson was not directly involved in the Long Walk - he had left the Army and returned home - the Navajos still blame him for their hardship. And Carson, in turn, blamed the government and his superior officer, Gen. James Carleton, for not providing enough food, blankets, etc. for those at Fort Sumner/Bosque Redondo, and resulted in the deaths of hundreds more. It seems that the numbers of The People was seriously underestimated.

At Fort Garland, Carson connected with many Ute friends from his days as Indian Agent.  He escorted four Ute chiefs to Washington, DC in 1867. Shortly after his return, his third wife (Josefa) died of complications of childbirth, and a week later Carson himself died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm at Fort Lyons, CO. He is buried in Taos, NM.  

Provenance: The Robert Trownsell Collection

Minor darkening along edges that appears to be associated with the adhesive. Pencil IDs both front and back.