Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1940-01-19
By WALTER E. TAYLOR

a man who was examining several
files Of old papers in the cellar Of
a house in the Avenue St. Ouen,
Montmartre, in Paris, came across
tattered, hand-written manu-
script. The pages were yellowed
with age, and the penciled writing
was faded, but the piece looked in
teresting and he sat down in the
dim light of the cellar TO read 1t.
It was written in a neat hand and
in English, and the reader discov-
cred that he was scanning true
tale of frontier adventure in the
American west. 1t was the life
story of Christopher kit Carson,
as the famous scout had dictated
it to someone in Taos, N. NJ, so
years before.
How came this old manuscript to the
cellar of the house in the Avenue st.
Ouen on the other side of the Atlantic?
There we're many periods in the life
of the great Indian fighter, trailmaker,
trapper and army officer, that were
dark. II this manuscript were anthem
tic it would clear up many disputed
points. Investigation revealed that the
papers in the Paris cellar were actually
the autobiography of Kit Carson, as
he had dictated 1t to Col. Dewitt c.
Peters and Mrs. Peters in 1857, when
Peters. surgeon, was in army service
In the New Mexico town Of San Fer
which the manuscript had been found
were the property of Thomas Peters,
poet son Of the colonel, who had made
his home in Paris for many years
and who died there in 1907.
Original Is in Chicago
The manuscript was brought to New
York and two copies were made. In
time the copies disappeared and the
original found its way into the New
berry Library of Americana at Chicago,
where it may be seen at the present
time. Oddly. it seems. the Carson
until 1926 when it was privately print
ed at Taos, N. M, Kit Carsons favor
ite town. Not many copies were run
off and the paper-bound volume Is
now out Of print: for students OF west
ern early history it is treasure-house
of real facts about actual life on the
frontier, unembroidered by the needles
of the great romancers. Many blood
and-thunder biographies of Kit Carson
have been written but none are as
revealing. as faithful to fact, as his
own simple story of his life. w
This blond. bow-legged. fearless nttle
man who knew the trapping country
of Montana in the 1905, led life of
high adventure almost from the day
he left the cradle. He was born $50
years ago. on Christmas day, 1909, in
Madison county, Kentucky His pio-
neering forbears had come to that re-
eion from Scotland. by way OF Caro-
lima and Pennsylvania. in the 18th
century Shortly after he was born, the
family moved on to Missouri, where
young Kit helped till the homestead
field while sentries stood at the edge
of the clearing to watch for Indians.
He was one of 10 brothers. all of whom
later went to the far west to become
Indian fighters and buffalo hunters
of considerable reputation. Before he
was "a Kit Carson was the nemesis OF
Indians from the Yellowstone river 10
Mexico.
Noted for Truthfulness
Unlike Jim Bridger, his partner IN
many adventures, Kit Carson was
noted as a man who always told the
truth, especially when relating his own
exploits. Bridger loved to set his lis
teners gasping with tall stories OF the
giants on the islands OF Great Salt
lake or the petrified birds who sang
petrified songs In the Yellowstone; Du'
man. John C. Fremont, famous eX-
plorer and close friend of Kit Carson,
said: with me, Carson and the trutn
are the same thing" Therefore, we
may reasonably be sure that what kit |
Carson told Colonel Peters ABOUT ms
wrote a biography of the great scout
and when Carson read the book he
remarked. II think he laid it on
leetle too thick"
Carson dictated his autobiography to
Colonel and Mrs. Peters when he was
dates and events was clear. 1t is !
remarkable document because 1t Is one
of the few spot stories we have OF the /
fur trapping days and the mountain
men. John Golfer, Bridger and the
others left little record Of their pass !
ing: therefore the discovery OF the
Carson manuscript in Paris was real
find.
Biographies who have written about
Kit Carson have dwelt at length upon
his southwestern experiences but have
given little attention to his adventures
In the territory that Is now Montana.
This is true because the writers knew
nothing about that period o. tne iront
tiersman's life and to write ABOUT II
they would have had to create fiction.
In his own dictation Carson. devoted |
most of his words to his adventures ,
as a trapper and trader on Montana
rivers, between the headwaters OF the
Missouri and the Big Horn There are
candid portraits Of Bridger; Jh ,onaas
characters Carson met when he was
in the employ of the Rocky Mountain
Fur Co. There are tales OF encounters
with the terrible Blackfeet and the
usually friendly Crows, tales OF pri.
walton and hunger. The romance OF
also shown. He speaks Of his years
in the mountains. receiving no other
food than I could procure with my
rifle. perhaps once year would have
a real meal consisting of bread. meat.
sugar and coffee. and would consider
it luxury"
The notto of the rapperS of the