Kit Carson | Pathfinder (Part 2)

The Wild West Extravaganza

Wild West Josh

Education, History

4.8 • 667 Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kit Carson ventured west as a teenager, looking to escape the drudgery of civilization. And in the years to come, he’d find all the excitement a youngster could hope for in the life of a mountain man. For over a decade, Carson would embark on a series of fur-trapping expeditions from New Mexico and Arizona up to present-day Montana and as far west as California. According to Carson, these were the happiest days in his life – there in the mountains, far from the habitations of civilized man, with no other food than that which he could procure with his rifle. Sadly, the good times never last forever. By the early 1840s, the beaver trade was played out, Carson’s Arapaho wife passed away, and he soon found himself embarking on a brand new career as a guide for up-and-coming explorer John C. Fremont. This partnership would elevate both men to the status of living legends. What was life like for Kit Carson post-fur trade? Who exactly was John C. Fremont guy? Why’d they call him the Pathfinder? And how much of Fremont’s success stemmed from his association with Kit Carson? We’re going to discuss all this and more, including Fremont’s expeditions, Carson’s family life, and a couple of bloody massacres that have largely remained forgotten even to this day. Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Check out the website for more true tales from the Old West https://www.wildwestextra.com/ Email me! https://www.wildwestextra.com/contact/ Buy me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wildwest Free Newsletter! https://wildwestjosh.substack.com/ Join Into History for ad-free and bonus content! https://intohistory.supercast.com/ Join Patreon for ad-free and bonus content! https://www.patreon.com/wildwestextra Carson’s Autobiography - https://archive.org/details/kitcarsonsautobi0000cars/page/106/mode/2up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	When Kit Carson was still a teenager, he ventured West looking to escape the drudgery of civilization.
0:05.9	And in the years to come, he'd find all the excitement a youngster could hope for in the life of a
0:10.5	mountain man. For well over a decade, Carson would embark on a series of fur trap and expeditions.
0:16.7	From New Mexico and Arizona, all the way up into present-day Montana, as far west as California.
0:22.8	According to Carson, these were the happiest days of his life.
0:26.2	There in the mountains, far from the habitations of civilized men, with no other food than that
0:31.4	which he could procure with his rifle.
0:33.7	Ah, but the good times never last forever.
0:36.5	By the early 1840s, the beaver trade was played out, and he soon found himself embarking
0:41.3	on a brand new career.
0:43.0	That is a guide for an up-and-comen explorer named John C. Vermont.
0:47.3	And it was this partnership that would elevate both men to the status of living legends.
0:52.9	What was life like for Kit Carson after the fur trade?
0:56.2	Who exactly was this John C. Vermont guy? Why'd they call him the Pathfinder? And how much of
1:02.0	Vermont's success stemmed from his association with Kit Carson? We're going to discuss all of this and
1:07.9	more, including Vermont's various expeditions, Carson's family life, and a few massacres that to this day largely remain forgotten.
1:16.9	My name's Josh, and this is the Wild West extravaganza.
1:26.6	By the winter of 1841, Kid Carson was forced to hang up his traps.
1:36.0	In addition to an economic depression back east, he and his fellow mountain men were also
1:40.5	contending with plummeting fur prices. His hat manufacturers took to use in silk rather than beaver felt.
1:47.1	And if that ain't bad enough, Carson had recently been left a widower
1:50.5	following the death of his Arapaho wife's Singing Grass,
	...

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