Page 111 - Kit Carson News Today

>> if he could contribute to the preservation of those who on some level he had a hand in destroying, this could free him the of the guilt of what he did to native americans. >> carson succeeds in securing a large reservation on their ancestral land. his final victory in a war of conscience. then the soldier returns home. >> carson had this aneurysm on his aorta which could burst at any moment. he had to live his last days very carefully. >> in a remote army cabin under his doctors constant care...

Different time. a very violent time. he was very, very loyal to his friends. he was ferocious to his enemies. >> in the old testament, its an eye for an eye. on the frontier, its coming true. [ screaming ] >> counting coo was between the mountain men and the native americans. you had to recipient in kind and with greater voracity. this was a way of life for kit carson. >> in 1840, after giving birth to their second daughter, singing grass dies from complications.

>> genial james carlton has decided to stop the indian warfare in new mexico by having kit carson force the entire navajo nation on to the reservation. through a devastating scorched earth campaign the navajos have starved into submission and relocation begins. >> history refers to this as the long walk. and it was similar to a lot of ornate tive removals because it was a hard journey full of disease and danger. >> in all, 9,000 malnourished and sick men, women and children are forced to leave t...

Been living most of his life out on the frontier, has got to come back to this society. he had to be very uncomfortable. >> off the trail, kit is a shy and unassuming man, content to keep to himself. in washington, his celebrity is overwhelming. >> there had been all of these blood and thunder books that depicted kit carson as this giant who killed two indians before breakfast and was a caricature. >> when youre made into a legendary figure in your own time, theres no way youll ever be able to r...

A team of veteran mountain men and native scouts to guide the way. >> carson and fremont were kind of an odd couple from the start. fremont is quite we hll educate. carson, on the other hand, has a dry sense of humor, hes always giving someone else the credit. >> with carsons help, fremont makes a wagon route through the northern rockies. >> they became natural scouts and the government would go to them just to know what was out there. they were walking atlases of the united states at that point...

Political term manifest destiny. >> this was probably the most detrimental thing to happen to the native americans, this idea that america belonged to westerners, people coming in and settling. >> it makes sense that it would start an all-out war. >> at odds with this changing world, kit carson brings 4-year-old adeline back to missouri. being illiterate, hes determined to give her the education he never received. >> ive got to go away, adeline. im going to leave you here with our family. im goi...

Preservation of those who on some level he had a hand in destroying, this could free him the of the guilt of what he did to native americans. >> carson succeeds in securing a large reservation on their ancestral land. his final victory in a war of conscience. then the soldier returns home. >> carson had this aneurysm on his aorta which could burst at any moment. he had to live his last days very carefully. >> in a remote army cabin under his doctors constant care he spends weeks on a liquid diet...

>> mr. carson, welcome, sir. you helped carry out the great work of this country. not many men could do what you did. >> im not sure since i got here to washington ive done half of what most people say i have. >> the president asks carson to stay on as transcontinental courier. >> these letters need to make it to california safely. >> ill do that, mr. president. >> his loyalty has him crossing the country for two years while his old friend, john fremont, continues to settle the west. after compl...

>> carleton believed the indians, particularly the navajos, had to be put on a reservation, essentially turn them into farmers, educate their kids, bring them into american civilization. >> the general selects a parcel of land in southeast new mexico called round forest for his grand experiment. if the navajos refused to move, carson is to kill them on site. >> can you handle that? >> to take people from the land that they know and to put them in a land that they dont know is disastrous to the w...

Without her mother, the baby dies soon after. adding to kits pain, decades of overtrapping has destroyed the beaver population. >> every summer throughout the 1840s, there were fewer and fewer beaver pellets and this was a consequence of just how amazingly good these guys were and what they did. >> we trapped down the river but found no beaver. country looks baron. became necessary to try our hand at something else. >> some mountain men head north. others go west while the worst resort to crime....