Birmingham state herald., 1897-05-23
ABOUT KIT CARSON.
Frontiersman's First Visit to Wash ngton-Impressed Win the Food.

are everyW hero known, but there are per haps few who think of him except as the hero of wild adventures. That he was but he was more. Nothing could be more mis- taken than to think of him as n rough borderer.n Mrs Fremont sat a little for ward in her chair, tho fine old face light ing with that fire which will never be for gotten by any who has known the help meet and widow of our Pathfinder.
 Kit Carson was a man among men, a type of tho real American pioneer not only fearless, but clear headed. as gentle as he was strong. Ee had tho true courte- sy of tho heart and withel quiet pride much as Richard the Lion Heart and his knights, who thanked Ged they were not clerks.
 "His nature was literally sweet-sweet by it's wholesomeness-swe as a clear cut winter morning is sweet
 "When he WAS to come to our house for the first time Che had just ridden overland from California on his mission from Gen. eral Fremont and my father, then in St. Louis, charged him to visit us) my moth CT was little uneasy. He was accompa- nied by Edward Beale, then 9 midship- man, afterward General Bcale. Carson was shy and reserved, and his welcome as
  and right hand man overwhelmed him. Yet he waa not awkward. A perfect gen tleman, his dignity and delicacy complete ly disarmed my mother. He had been afraid the ladies might not care to have him thero if they knew he had married a Sioux wife. But she was good woman,' he declared. I never came in from hunt ing but she had water warm for my feet. l have always remembered that-it was so liko the simplicity of tho Bible.
 "Carson was perfectly Saxon, clear and fair, with light, thin 'haby kair, blue eyes, light eyebrows and lashcs ard Q fair skin. He was very short and unmistaka- bly, bandy legged, long bodied and short limbed-a man of great strength and vital ity On horse he WAS superb-one of tho most perfect riders of the frontier. And he was one of the best marksmen.
 He had n quick and gentle sense of hu- nor. There was no self consciousness in him, nor bitterness.
 ''It used to delight him to go to the market i've were in Washington) and watch the crowds and talk with tho mar ket people, That it could be so easy to pro- cure food was q revelation to him. As my mother said, he who had so often had to risk his life for a molthful could appre- ciate this abundance.
 Ho was devoted to my daughter Lilly, then years old. She seemed wonderful to him, for the children he had known on the frontier, of course, had not had many ad vantages, and he was surprised at her ideas. Sensitive to every generous and re- fined impulse, as he was, he was charm ing to children.
 "One day, remember, he bought pair Of turfl a 6aVpc in tbo J1iapl-pt und broI1 erbt them homo to Lii in a squirrel cage. It was in Washington in tho slave days, but he brought the cage in his own hand-a thing no white person thought of doing there in those days. He told her how in the wilderness he used to hear the doves call, and that when he was in the market and heard these lamenting he wished to get them for her The child was faithful in caring for them, but one hot September day, Jagged and wilted, she forgot them, and they were dropping I was going to care for them, but he said: No, let her see what she has done. One lesson will be enough for her.
 "She attended to them, and then Carson took her on his knee and talked to her with the very feeling of the Hindoos-that the life of tho smallest creature should never be taken except at need. Next day, in looking over Littell 'ss Living Age he found Andersen's The Lark and the Daisy and had me read it to him, Lii sob. ping and Carson comforting her
 Iwent to school in log cabin school house. he said. One day there came the cry of Injuns and I ran with the men and thar it laysl But I would give S5, 900 if could read as you can.
 "There was an illustrated edition of By it,f ,y,J ;y,, 4 Co came upon the steel engraving of Mazeppa and began to sec what it meant.
 ' Read it to mel he cried at last You can read it so much faster
 ''So read to him. He walked up and down, intensely stirred.
 ''There never yet was human power
 That could evade, if unforgven,
 The patient search and vigil long
 Of him who treasures up wrong.
 " That's itl That's the word he brole It. He knows how it is. It took me three years before I could go back and thank those Blackfeet fo4 robbing my caches. After this I had to read 'Mazeppa' to him nearly every day.
 "Carson was of Kentucky stock, trans planted to Missouri. His simplicity, like his courage, was of the old pioneer stamp.
 ''This first visit of Carson to our home lasted three weeks, and he enjoyed seeing and comprehendinC the life of cities. He never could get over his surprise and pleas ure at seeing how easy it was to get food here without danger. But he was not dag zled. "-Land of Sunshine.