and died.

CHAPTER I.

Kit Carson's Youth--His Visit to New Mexico--Acts as Interpreter and in
Various Other Employments--Joins a Party of Trappers and Engages in a
Fight with Indians--Visits the Sacramento Valley.

"Kit Carson," the most famous hunter, scout and guide ever known in this
country, was a native of Kentucky, the scene of the principal exploits
of Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, the Wetzel brothers and other heroic
pioneers whose names are identified with the history of the settlement
of the West.

Christopher Carson was born in Madison county, December 24, 1809, and,
while he was still an infant, his father removed to Central Missouri,
which at that day was known as Upper Louisiana. It was an immense
wilderness, sparsely settled and abounding with wild animals and
treacherous Indians. The father of Carson, like most of the early
pioneers, divided his time between cultivating the land and hunting
the game in the forests. His house was made strong and was pierced with
loopholes, so as to serve him in his defence against the red men that
were likely to attack him and his family at any hour of the day or
night. In such a school was trained the wonderful scout, hunter and
guide.

No advantages in the way of a common school education were within reach
of the youth situated as was Kit Carson. It is to be believed, however,
that under the tutelage of his father and mother, he picked up a fair
knowledge of the rudimentary branches, for his attainments in that
respect were above the majority of those with whom he was associated in
after life.

While a mere stripling, Kit became known as one of the most skilful
rifle shots in that section of Missouri which produced some of the
finest marksmen in the world. It was inevitable that he should form a
passion for the woods, in which, like the great Boone, he would have
been happy to wander for days and weeks at a time.

When fifteen years old, he was apprenticed to a saddler, where he stayed
two years. At the end of that time, however, the confinement had become
so irksome that he could stand it no longer. He left the shop and joined
a company of traders, preparing to start for Santa Fe, the capital of
New Mexico, one of the most interesting towns in the southwest. The
majority of its population are of Spanish and Mexican origin and speak
Spanish. It is the centre of supplies for the surrounding country, and
is often a scene of great activity. It stands on a