Carson, Kit (1809-1868)

US frontier settler, guide, soldier, and Indian agent, who fought for the Union side during the Civil War (1861-65). Carson City, Nevada, was named after him.

Carson was born in Kentucky, the ninth of 14 children. He moved to Missouri as a hunter and trapper. He met the US surveyor John C Frémont on a Missouri riverboat, and Fremont hired him as a guide. Carson's knowledge of Indian languages and habits made him a useful guide on Fremont's Rocky Mountain explorations 1842-45. He served under Fremont during the conquest of California 1846-47 and, in the process, became a national hero. He settled in New Mexico in 1853, and was the US Indian agent at Taos until 1861.

During the Civil War, Carson helped to organize the first New Mexican volunteer infantry of the Union Army, and he rose to the position of colonel. In 1865 he was made a brigadier general, and cited for his gallantry and distinguished service.