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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings
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CARSON ("KIT") HOUSE
New Mexico
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Location: Taos County, Kit Carson Avenue,
Taos.
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Between 1843 and 1868 this was the home of
Christopher ("Kit") Carson, probably the most renowned of all the
mountain mena legend in his own lifetime. Fur trapper, trader, and
guide, he was a dominant figure in the fur trade, but he also served as
an Indian agent and won distinction in the Indian wars.
A native of Kentucky who spent most of his youth in
Missouri, Carson (1809-68) in 1826 emigrated west over the Santa Fe
Trail. In the late 1820's he entered the fur trade at Taos, rendezvous
and winter headquarters for many independent trappers. They operated
over a large arc of territory extending from the headwaters of the Rio
Grande and Arkansas River across the deserts to the San Juan, Gila,
Salt, and Colorado Rivers. Reopening the old Spanish trails to
California, they were among the first Americans to make a lodgment
there. About 1836 Carson married, in Indian fashion, an Arapaho girl,
who died bearing him a daughter.
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Col. Christopher "Kit" Carson,
ex-mountain man, led New Mexico Volunteers in highly successful
campaigns against the Indians of the Southwest. (Denver Public
Library, Western Collection) |
The fur trade began to decline in the mid-1830's, and
many trappers and traders retired in Taos. Carson, returning from duty
as guide for Fremont's first expedition (1842), moved there. In 1843 he
remarried. His bride was Maria Josefa Jaramillo daughter of a prominent
and wealthy local family and sister of the wife of Charles Bent. The
same year, Carson purchased what came to be known as the Kit Carson
House, which had been built in 1825.
For the next 25 years Carson resided in the home only
intermittently, but apparently six of the seven children he and Maria
had were born there. His diverse activities kept him away for long
stretches of time. He was a guide for Fremont's second expedition
(1843-44). Going to California in 1845 with the third, between then and
early 1849 he took an active part in the U.S. conquest of California. He
then returned to Taos.
In 1851 Carson began managing a ranch on Rayado Creek
east of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where his family joined him. The
longest continuous period he lived in the Taos house was from early 1854
until 1861, during which time he was Indian agent, mainly for two bands
of Utes. For several months in 1854, until another building was
available, he used the house as agency headquarters.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, Carson
resigned as Indian agent and entered a new phase of his multifaceted
career. Aiding in organizing the 1st New Mexico Volunteer Infantry, he
was commissioned as lieutenant colonel in July and only 2 months later
as colonel. For his gallantry in the Battle of Valverde, N. Mex.,
against a Confederate force from Texas, and for other distinguished
service in New Mexico, he won a brevet of brigadier general in January
1866. Under the direction of Gen. James H. Carleton, commander of the
Department of New Mexico, Carson conducted highly successful campaigns
against the Mescalero Apaches (1862-63); the Navajos (1863-64); and the
Kiowas and Comanches (1864-65), in which he fought his last engagement,
the Battle of Adobe Walls, Tex.
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"Kit" Carson House. (Kit
Carson Memorial Foundation, Inc.) |
In the summer of 1866 Carson assumed command of Fort
Garland, Colo., taking his family with him, but he had to resign in
November 1867 because of ill health. The next spring he again relocated
his family, from Taos to Boggsville, Colo. But he died at nearby Fort
Lyon (No. 2) in May, shortly after the birth of their seventh child took
his wife's life. They were buried there, but the bodies were later moved
to Taos.
The Kit Carson Memorial Foundation, Inc., administers
the house on behalf of Bent Masonic Lodge #42, the owner and restorer.
Four rooms of the U-shaped residence are original and three of
themthe parlor, kitchen, and bedroomare authentically
refurnished in a combination of Spanish Colonial and Territorial styles.
The fourth original room features displays associated with Carson's
life. The remaining rooms serve as exhibit rooms and offices. The
well-preserved exterior features a patio and typical Spanish mud oven.
Carson and his wife are buried in Kit Carson Memorial State Park, at the
end of Dragoon Lane, elsewhere in town.
NHL Designation: 05/23/63
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/soldier-brave/siteb19.htm
Last Updated: 19-Aug-2005
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