From Life of Kit Carson:
The Great Western Hunter and Guide

By Charles Burdett
Philadelphia: John E. Potter and Company, 1869

1869 ILLUSTRATION
1869 ILLUSTRATION
1869 ILLUSTRATION
1869 ILLUSTRATION
1869 ILLUSTRATION

[Above are the illustrations from this 382-page book. Below are its first and last paragraphs. You can get a good idea of the remaining contents from its subtitle: WILD AND ROMANTIC EXPLOITS AS A HUNTER AND TRAPPER IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; THRILLING ADVENTURES AND HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPES AMONG THE INDIANS AND MEXICANS; HIS DARING AND INVALUABLE SERVICES AS A GUIDE TO SCOUTING AND OTHER PARTIES, ETC., ETC.]

As, for their intrepid boldness and stern truthfulness, the exploits and deeds of the old Danish sea-kings, have, since the age of Canute, been justly heralded in song and story; so now by the world-wide voice of the press, this, their descendant, as his name proves him, is brought before the world: and as the stern integrity of the exploits and deeds of the old Danes in the age of Canute were heralded by song and story; so too, in this brief and imperfect memoir, are those of one who by name and birthright claims descent from them. The subject of the present memoir, Christopher Carson, familiarly known under the appellation of Kit Carson, is one of the most extraordinary men of the present era. His fame has long been established throughout this country and Europe, as a most skillful and intrepid hunter, trapper, guide and pilot of the prairies and mountains of the far West, and Indian fighter. But his celebrity in these characters is far surpassed by that of his individual personal traits of courage, coolness, fidelity, kindness, honor, and friendship. The theatre of his exploits is extended throughout the whole western portion of the territory of the United States, from the Mississippi to the Pacific, and his associates have been some of the most distinguished men of the present age, to all of whom he has become an object of affectionate regard and marked respect. The narrative which follows will show his titles to this distinction, so far as his modesty (for the truly brave are always modest) has permitted the world to learn anything of his history. . . .


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.


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