Looping Across Kit Carson’s Southwest
Celebrating his 200th birthday by going full circle from Taos, New Mexico.
By: Johnny D. Boggs 11/03/2009
Daring he was, but my pocketbook is not as adventurous. You could go broke trying to cover every place Kit Carson touched, so I’m sticking to his Southwestern turf, such as Fort Garland, Colorado.
Established in 1858, Fort Garland was Carson’s home when he commanded the post in 1866, negotiating a peace treaty with the Ute Indians during his year there. In 1950, the Colorado Historical Society took over the adobe fort, restoring a number of buildings, including the commandant’s quarters, which re-create Carson’s era.
Fort Garland reveals Carson in full glory, but to see another side to this man, you will have to head west into the Navajo Country. Then you might understand why Carson isn’t as adored as Easy Rider.
The Other Side of the Story
Canyon de Chelly National Monument is a breathtakingly beautiful treasure of sandstone. Carson, under Gen. James H. Carleton’s orders, led a force into the Canyon in January 1864 to end the Army’s war against the Navajo. In this “scorched earth” war, Carson was relentless. Fires destroyed sheep herds and crops, including the Navajo’s pride and joy—ancient, wonderful peach orchards. Burned.
Okay. War is hell. Carson was following orders. But I hail from South Carolina, which produces more peaches (and better tasting) than Georgia. Peaches are my favorite food. Orders or not, in my book, any man who destroys peach trees by the thousands earns eternal damnation to hell.
At Canyon de Chelly and over at Window Rock (home of the Navajo Nation Museum), you’ll get a different perspective on Carson. The Army marched Navajo prisoners to Bosque Redondo near Fort Sumner. Carson had gone home by then, but many Navajo and some historians hold him responsible for the “Long Walk.”
Some 8,000 Navajos, famished and ill-clothed, began the 300-mile march to Bosque Redondo. The Army divided the prisoners into six groups and drove them east at various intervals, taking different routes. Hundreds died on the march. Many captives were sold into slavery.
The Navajo ordeal is probably the biggest reason Taos—and much of the West—remains hush-hush about Carson, and why Carson gets the short shrift at the new New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe. I guess it’s not politically correct these days to call Carson a hero and a patriot. The lover of our country during the Civil War who resigned as Indian agent and took a commission as colonel of the New Mexico Volunteers at Fort Union. The guy who raised the American flag on the Taos plaza (Old Glory still flies there 24/7).
Scores of Navajo died at Bosque Redondo before the 1868 treaty sent them back to their homeland. At least one report has Carson pleading for their return: “I’m not sure the Great Spirit means for us to take over Indian lands. Let me lead them back while they still have the will to live.”
I admire that, but then I see burned peach orchards.
As a reservation, Fort Sumner’s Bosque Redondo was a terrible failure. As a memorial, it’s a success. The small museum, designed by Navajo architect David Sloan, provides a fine history about the Navajo ordeal, and we can hope the museum gets even better when the second phase of construction is completed.
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