The incidents of his every-day life, intervening his appointment as Indian agent and the rebellion, would furnish an abundance of material for a romance even stranger than fiction. A life so exciting as that among the Indians and brave frontiersmen, and a name so renowned as that of Christopher Carson, could not but attract and concentre wild and romantic occurrences. His life during these years is inseparably connected with the history of the Territory of New Mexico, which, could it be given to the public in all its copious and interesting details, would unquestionably concede to him all the noblest characteristics in man.
The treaties between the United States and the Indians, during the term of his appointment, were mainly the result of his acquaintance with the Indians, his knowledge of their character, and his influence over them. Nor did the Government fail to recognize his valuable services. During the rebellion, and while serving principally in New Mexico, where he distinguished himself by his untiring prosecution of hostilities with his savage foes, then at war with the Government, he was promoted from rank to rank, until he finally reached that of Brevet Brigadier-General.
In a report to the National headquarters, dated at Camp Florilla, near Fort Canby, N. M., January 26, 1864, we find the following detailed account of operations in New Mexico:
"The culminating point in this expedition has been reached at last by the very successful operations of our troops at Cañon de Chelly. Col. Kit Carson left Fort Canby on the sixth instant with a command of four hundred men, twenty of whom were mounted. He had a section of mountain artillery with him, and taking the road via Puebla, Colorado, he started for Cañon de Chelly. He gave orders to Capt. Pheiffer with his command of one hundred men to enter the cañon at the east opening, while he himself intended to enter it at the 'mouth,' or west opening, and by this movement he expected that both columns would meet in the cañon on the second day, as it was supposed to be forty miles in length.
"Capt. Pheiffer's party proceeded two days through the cañon, fighting occasionally; but although the Indians frequently fired on them from the rocky walls above, the balls were spent long before they reached the bottom of the cañon, which, in many places, exceeded one thousand five hundred feet in depth. It was a singular spectacle to behold. A small detachment of troops moving cautiously along the bottom of one of the greatest cañons on the globe, (the largest is in Asia, I believe,) and firing volleys upward at hundreds of Navajoes, who looked, on the dizzy height above them, like so many pigmies. As they advanced the cañon widened in places, and various spots of cultivated land were passed, where wheat, maize, beans, melons, etc., had been planted last year; while more than a thousand feet above their heads they beheld neat-looking stone houses built on the receding ledges of rocks, which reminded the beholder of the swallows' nests in the house eaves, or on the rocky formation overhanging the 'sea-beat caves.' Further on, an orchard containing about six hundred peach-trees was passed, and it was evident that the Indians had paid great attention to their culture.
"On the second day a party from Col. Carson's column met the Captain in the cañon, and returned with him to Col. Carson's camp. A party from the Colonel's command had, in the meantime, attacked a party of Indians, twenty-two of whom were killed. This had a dispiriting effect on many others, who sent in three of their number under a white flag. Col. Carson received them, and assured them that the Government did not desire to exterminate them, but that, on the contrary, the President wished to save and civilize them; and to that end Gen. Carlton had given him instructions to send all the Navajoes who desired peace to the new reservation on the Rio Pecos, where they would be supplied with food for the present, and be furnished with implements, seeds, etc., to cultivate the soil. They departed well-satisfied, and Col. Carson immediately ordered Capt. A. B. Carey, Thirteenth United States Infantry, with a battalion to enter the cañon, and make a thorough exploration of its various branches, and at the same time to be in readiness to chastise any body of hostile Navajoes he might encounter, and to receive all who were friendly, and who wished to emigrate to the new reservation. Capt. Carey, during a passage of twenty-four hours through a branch of the cañon hitherto unexplored, made an exact geographical map of this terrible chasm, and discovered many side cañons hitherto unknown. About one hundred Indians came in to him and declared that 'the Navajo nation was no more;' that they were tired of fighting and nearly starved, and that they wished to be permitted to advise their friends and families in the mountains; many of whom were willing to leave the land forever, and go to a country where they would be cared for and protected. They said they understood agriculture, and were certain they would make comfortable homes on the Pecos. This was, of course, only the opinion of some; others would prefer to remain and culture the soil on which they were born, and live at peace with the territory. However, the latter were positively informed that unless they were willing to remove they had better not come in, and, moreover, that the troops would destroy every blade of corn in the country next summer.
"On the 20th of January Col. Carson came to Fort Canby, and about six hundred Indians had collected there; but when the wagons arrived to remove them only one hundred wished to go, and the remainder desired to return to their villages and caves in the mountains, on pretence of bringing in some absent member of their families. Col. Carson very nobly and generously permitted them to choose for themselves; but told them if ever they came in again they should be sent to Borgue Redondo, whether willing or not. Col. Carson himself took the Indians to Santa Fe, and will remain absent about a month. Since his departure many Indians came in and agreed to go to the reservation.
"I think the Colonel foresaw this, as no person understands Indian character better than he does. Capt. A. B. Carey, Thirteenth Infantry, commanding in his absence, will see that all Indians coming in will be removed, and, I think, before April next, if the present good feeling exists, we shall have accomplished the removal of the entire tribe. Capt. A. B. Carey, after successfully marching through the cañon and noting its topography, reached Fort Canby on the eighteenth instant, and relieved Capt. Francis M'Cabe, First New Mexico Cavalry, who commanded in the absence of Col. Kit Carson.
"As the Navajo expedition is now entirely successful, it is but justice to the officers and men of the First Cavalry of New Mexico, and to Col. Christopher Carson and his staff to say that they have all acted with zeal and devotion for the accomplishment of that great desideratum – the removal of the Navajoes. Cut off from the enjoyments of civilized life, deprived of its luxuries, comforts, and even many of its necessaries, and restricted to the exploration of a wilderness and the castigation of an army of savages, who defied them, and endeavored to find a shelter among the cliffs, groves, and cañons of their country; in pursuing them to their haunts they have encountered appalling difficulties, namely: want of water, grass, and fuel; often exposed to the merciless fury of the elements, and to the bullets and arrows of a hidden foe. In the face of these difficulties they have discovered new rivers, springs, and mountains in a region hitherto unexplored, and penetrated by companies into the very strongholds of the enemy, who fled farther west as our columns advanced, and on various occasions the dismounted cavalry have, by rapid and unparalleled night marches, surprised that enemy, capturing his camp and securing his flocks and herds, at a time when he imagined himself far beyond our reach, and really when he occupied a country never before trodden by the foot of a white man.
"Much of the credit is due to the perseverance and courage of Col. Kit Carson, commanding the expedition, whose example excited all to great energy, and inspired great resolution; but it may not be out of place to remark that it is now demonstrated beyond a doubt that, while the troops of New Mexico have long borne the reputation of being the best cavalry, they have proved themselves in the present campaign to be the best infantry in the world.
"Gen. James H. Carlton, who knows, perhaps, and understands the material for an army as well as any General in our army, has directed the formation of a New-Mexican Brigade, and when the savage foe is removed, that Brigade, commanded by Brigadier-Gen. Kit Carson, would surely reflect credit on the Territory and on the Department Commander."
After the close of the war Christopher Carson continued in the employ of the Government, rendering such services as only one equally skilled and experienced could render, until his death. He died at Fort Lyon, Colorado, on the 23d of May, 1868, from the effects of the rupture of an artery, or probably an aneurism of an artery, in the neck. But a few weeks previous he had visited Washington on a treaty mission, in company with a deputation of red men, and made a tour of several of the Northern and Eastern cities.
In his death the country has lost the most noted of that intrepid race of mountaineers, trappers, and guides that have ever been the pioneers of civilization in its advancement westward. As an Indian fighter he was matchless. His rifle, when fired at a redskin, never failed him, and the number that fell beneath his aim, who can tell! (The identical rifle which Carson used in all his scouts, during the last thirty-five years of his life, he bequeathed, just previous to his death, to Montezuma Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Santa Fe, of which he was a member.) The country will always regard him as a perfect representative of the American frontiersman, and accord to him the most daring valor, consistent kindliness, perseverant energy and truthfulness which that whole great territory, that we must still regard as lying between the civilizations, is capable of furnishing.
FOOTNOTES
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Transcriber's Notes
Simple typographical errors were corrected.
Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.
Ambiguous and missing quotation marks remedied on pages 79, 177-178, and 334.
Page 301: "it is not wonderful" probably should be "is it not wonderful".
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