“utterly ignorant of everything beyond their corn fields…” Aurora Hunt, Major General James H. Carleton, 1814–1873, p. 146.
if Carleton had “never had to function as God…” C. L. Sonnichsen, The Mescalero Apaches, p. 97.
“Born in 1814, the son of a shipmaster…” My biographical sketch of Carleton is primarily drawn from Hunt, James H. Carleton.
When happiness lived up this way… David Barker poem is quoted in ibid., p. 28.
“I cannot but think that good tales…” Letter from Dickens to Carleton is printed in full in ibid., p. 31.
“a fine companion and a perfect gentleman…” Ibid., p. 71.
his heart “would pant with impatience…” Ibid., p. 85.
“Judging from the way they go on…there will be a broad stream.” Ibid., p. 91.
the sunlight “seeming to cover with flashing diamonds…” James Henry Carleton, The Battle of Buena Vista, p. 56.
“the Battle of Buena Vista…the greatest ever fought…” Ibid., p. 158.
“I presume courage was oozing from his fingertips…” Carson, Autobiography, p. 142.
“I understood them to say…they could easily kill me…” Ibid., p. 143.
“I’ve done you no injury…” Ibid.
“I have many friends among the soldiers…” Ibid., p. 144.
“Carson is justly celebrated as the best tracker…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 168.
Chapter 40 Children of the Mist
the tragedy that became known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre… For further reading on the massacre see Will Bagley, Blood of the Prophets; Sally Denton, American Massacre; and J. P. Dunn, Massacres of the Mountains.
It was…“horrible to look upon: Women’s hair, in detached locks…” James Carleton, Special Report on the Massacre at Mountain Meadows, p. 36, a copy of which I viewed at the Library of Congress.
“Murderers of the parents and despoilers of their property…” Ibid., p. 34.
“They are an ulcer upon the body-politic…” Ibid., p. 39.
“driven from their fishing and hunting grounds…” Gerald Thompson, Edward F. Beale and the American West, p. 56.
“that which was accomplished by a few poor priests…” Ibid.
“Either the whole Indian race…must be exterminated…” Ibid., p. 65.
“could be transformed from a state of semi-barbarism…” Ibid.
“When I came here this time”…“some new remedy must be adopted.” James Carleton, “To the People of New Mexico,” December 16, 1864, a copy of which I viewed at the Library of Congress.
“the Pecos…contains much unhealthy mineral matter.” Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 14.
“The only peace that can ever be made with them…” Ibid., p. 28.
“the Navajo Wars will be remembered…” Ibid.
“An Indian…is a more watchful and wary animal than a deer.” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 237.
“Do not despise New Mexico, as a drain…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 262.
“All Indian men of that tribe are to be killed…” C. L. Sonnichsen, The Mescalero Apaches, p. 110.
“Your weapons are better than ours…” Ibid., p. 113.
“I am sorry that I am obliged to dissolve our Official conexion,…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 247.
“they are unable to support themselves by the chase…” Carson testimony in United States, Condition of the Indian Tribes, pp. 96–98.
“Indians generally learn the vices and not the virtues…” Ibid.
“In all cases of locating reservations…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 186.
“an hereditary warfare” that had “always existed.” Ibid.
Chapter 41 General Orders No. 15
“The Utes…are very brave, and fine shots…” Lynn Bailey, Bosque Redondo, p. 38.
“We have no faith in your promises. You can have no peace…” Lawrence Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 18.
“For a long time past, the Navajo Indians have murdered and robbed…” For the full text of General Orders No. 15, see ibid., p. 22.
“Make a note of this”…“You will send me a weekly report…” Ibid., p. 35.
“Much is expected of you…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 279.
“thermometer past endurance…” Raymond Lindgren, ed., “A Diary of Kit Carson’s Navajo Campaign, 1863–1864,” New Mexico Historical Review (July 1946): 226–46.
“With straining eyes and beating hearts…” Ibid., p. 229.
“The troops sometimes accused him of cowardice…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 278.
“must have been an hombre grande.” Lindgren, “Diary of Kit Carson’s Navajo Campaign,” p. 230.
“Major Cummings left the command alone”…“result of rash bravery.” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 278.
“They have no stock…and were depending…on the corn…” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 42.
“communicating with them—through the barrels of my Rifles.” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 291.
“murder, alcoholism, embezzlement…” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 15.
“There can be no other talk on the subject.” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 283.
“I have not the authority to grant you a leave.” Ibid., p. 290.
“as soon as you have secured one hundred captive…” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, pp. 69–70.
Chapter 42 Fortress Rock
“A frightened feeling had settled among the Navajo people…” Ruth Roessel, ed., Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period, p. 127.
“this thrusting fin…the place of ultimate refuge.” David Roberts, A Newer World, p. 266.
“You can go to the safe place until the soldiers are gone…” Roessel, Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period, p. 45.
Come dress your ranks…Bold Johnny Navajo. Hunt, James H. Carleton, p. 284.
“all that is connected with this canon [canyon] will cease to be a mystery.” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 95.
“When will you have sense?” “Can’t you try and quit whiskey…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 294.
“jumped about on the ledges, like Mountain Cats…” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 104.
“in an almost famishing condition, half-starved and naked.” Ibid.
“two Buck Indians and one Squaw who obstinately persisted…” Ibid.
the people “were instructed to stay quiet…” Roessel, Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period, p. 45.
“Kit Carson—a very pure White Man.” Ibid., pp. 43–51.
“no damage was done except with the tongue.” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 104.
Working through the night, they filled gourd after gourd… I heard two slightly differing versions of this story during my visits to Canyon de Chelly. See also Roberts, A Newer World, p. 268.
“If you do not come in by then, my soldiers will hunt you up…” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 98.
“we believed this was a war of extermination.” Ibid.
“They are arriving almost hourly…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 297.
“Killed, 23. Prisoners, 34. Voluntarily surrendered, 200 souls…” Ibid., p. 296.
“a hundred campfires sparkling amongst the hills…” Lynn Bailey, Bosque Redondo, p. 55.
the “crowning act in a long life spent fighting the savages…” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 108.
“An enemy he could neither outwit nor outfight…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 344.
“The state of my health warns me…” Ibid.
Chapter 43 The Long Walk
“I have nothing to lose but my life…” Locke, The Book of the Navajo, p. 369.
“protégés of the United States…” Hunt, James H. Carleton, p. 282.
“The exodus of this whole people from the land of their fathers…” Kelly, Navajo Roundup, p. 128.
“Carleton rules the land.”
Hunt, James H. Carleton, p. 304.
“supply their wants, settle their disputes, stand between them…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 319.
“every promise however trifling…” Ibid. p. 320.
“not the position I contemplated occupying.” Ibid., p. 323.
“nocturnal forays…were the cause of serious…complaint.” Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 61.
The nuns named her Mary Carleton in his honor. Hunt, James H. Carleton, p. 338.
“lost their lives in crude attempts at abortion.” Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 81.
“the cursed insects seem to devour all the grain…” Ibid., p. 92.
this “visitation from God…” Ibid., p. 57.
Chapter 44 Adobe Walls
had “held high carnival…” Capt. George Pettis, Kit Carson’s Fight with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians, Historical Society of New Mexico 12 (1908): 7.
“You cannot imagine a worse state of affairs…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 325.
“We have been greatly embarrassed…” Ibid., p. 327.
“his face seemed haggard and drawn with pain…” Ibid., p. 341.
Whether this story is actually true… For unskeptical accounts of Carson’s Comanche encounter, see Lavender, Bent’s Fort, p. 167; and Vestal, The Happy Warrior, pp. 108–11.
“You know where to find the Indians…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 329.
“Their groans and howlings became almost intolerable…” Pettis, Kit Carson’s Fight, p. 11.
“severe charges”…“with their bodies thrown over the sides…” Ibid., p. 21.
“Throw a few shell into that crowd over thar.” Ibid., p. 19.
“repeatedly charging my command from different points…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 332.
“had it not been for the two cannon, this Thanksgiving…” Edward Sabin, Kit Carson Days, p. 746.
“It was impossible for me to chastise them further…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 334.
“I had serious doubts for the safety of my rear.” Sabin, Kit Carson Days, p. 744.
“exactly in the style the Indians understood…” Thelma Guild and Harvey Carter, Kit Carson: A Pattern for Heroes, p. 255.
“a brilliant affair”…“another green leaf to the laurel…” Sabin, Kit Carson Days, p. 748.
Without provocation, Chivington attacked Black Kettle’s village… For further reading on the Sand Creek Massacre, I recommend Stan Hoig, The Sand Creek Massacre; Patrick Mendoza, Song of Sorrow: Massacre at Sand Creek; Bob Scott, Blood at Sand Creek; and Bruce Cutler, The Massacre at Sand Creek.
“Jis to think of that dog Chivington…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 391.
Chapter 45 The Condition of the Tribes
The Navajos…“will upbraid us for having taken their birthright…” Hunt, James H. Carleton, p. 282.
“The whole animal, including…head and pluck…” Ibid., p. 280.
“Tell them…to be too proud to murmur…” Ibid., p. 285.
“You must pardon me, for suggesting all these details…” Ibid., p. 280.
“My God and my mother live here in the west…” Locke, The Book of the Navajo, p. 369.
“If he attempts to escape, he will be shot down.” Ibid.
“must kill all Male Indians found outside the Reservation…” Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 118.
“Let me tell you what we think.” C. L. Sonnichsen, The Mescalero Apaches, p. 8.
“saturated with animal and vegetable impurities…” Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 80.
“Knowing him as a bear-hunter and an Indian fighter…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 346.
“I came to this country in 1826…” Carson testimony recorded in United States, Condition of the Indian Tribes: Report of the Joint Special Committee, pp. 96–98.
“an hereditary war…” Ibid.
“In their appointed time, God wills that one race of men…” Carleton, quoted in Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 158.
“this man Carleton, who has so long lorded it amongst us.” Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 122.
“like steel filings around a lodestone…” Ibid., p. 131.
Chapter 46 Crossing Purgatory
a bottle of opium distilled in a syrup… Marc Simmons, Kit Carson and His Three Wives, p. 140.
“He begged me not to let him suffer such tortures…” Henry R. Tilton, The Last Days of Kit Carson, p. 7.
“With the hero for my auditor…” Ibid., p. 6.
“as wild and untamed as a brood of Mexican mustangs…” Simmons, Kit Carson and His Three Wives, p. 130.
“I fear I’ve not done right by them.” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 388.
he sent William and Charles…to be outfitted with new hats. Simmons, Kit Carson and His Three Wives, p. 144.
“Oh, call me Kit and be done with it.” Ibid., p. 128.
“My damn luck—thar’s the difficulty.” Ibid., p. 133.
“I am now quite old and worn out…and hardly my own master.” Ibid., p. 137.
“Gentlemen, that thar may be true…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 406.
“General, I’m not so sure the Great Spirit means for us…” Ibid., p. 415.
an aneurysm can also be a symptom of syphilis… Ibid., p. 407.
“You called your Lord Jesus…” Jessie Fremont, The Will and the Way Stories, pp. 46–47.
“I’m alive yet!”…“I must get home, and I think I can do it.” Ibid.
“the tumor, pressing on the pneumogastric nerves…” Tilton, The Last Days of Kit Carson, p. 5.
“He just seemed to pine away after mother died…” Simmons, Kit Carson and His Three Wives, p. 142.
“Doctor, compadre, adios!” Tilton, The Last Days of Kit Carson, p. 7.
“This is the last of the general.” Ibid.
“He had in him a personal courage…like lightning from a cloud.” Edward Sabin, Kit Carson Days, p. 805.
Epilogue: In Beauty We Walk
It was running headlong toward the west. A prominent story in the oral history of the Navajos, another account of Barboncito’s ceremony can be found in Gerald Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 152.
“Kit Carson was a good type of a class of men most useful in their day…” Dunlay, Kit Carson and the Indians, p. 418.
“I found the Bosque a mere spot of grass…” Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 140.
“The Commissioners are here now for the purpose…” My account of the discussion between Sherman and Barboncito is taken from United States, Proceedings of the Great Peace Commission of 1867–1868, pp. 121–24.
“It appears to me…that the General commands…as a god.” Ibid.
“We do not want to go to the right or left…” Ibid.
“We wondered if it was our mountain…” Thompson, The Army and the Navajo, p. 140.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
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Allie, Stephen J. All He Could Carry: U.S. Army Infantry Equipment, 1839–1910. Leavenworth, KS: Leavenworth Historical Society, 1991.
Altshuler, Constance Wynn. Cavalry Yellow & Infantry Blue: Army Officers in Arizona between 1851 and 1886. Tucson: Arizona Historical Society, 1991.
Alvord, Lori Arviso, and Elizabeth Cohen Van Pelt. The Scalpel and the Silver Bear: The First Navajo Woman Surgeon Combines Western Medicine and Traditional Healing. New York: Bantam Books, 1999.
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Bagley, Will. Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002.
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———. The Captive Years: Slave Taking as a Source of the Navajo Wars, 1846–1868. Los Angeles: Corral of Westerners, 1963.
———. If You Take My Sheep: The Evolution and Conflicts of Navajo Pastoralism, 1648–1668. Pasadena: Westernlore Press, 1980.
———. Indian Slave Trade in the Southwest. Los Angeles: Westernlore Press, 1966.
———. The Long Walk: A History of the Navajo Wars, 1846–1868. Pasadena: Westernlore Press, 1964.
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