How did Kit Carson die?
Mike Suhy — Corpus Christi, Texas.
A hard life on the frontier took a toll on Kit Carson’s health, which began to decline in 1860, when he was 51, following a fall from a horse that resulted in an aneurism.
When wife Josepha died a few days after giving birth to their daughter on May 13, 1868, his will to live was shattered.
While lying on the floor over a buffalo robe at Fort Lyon in Colorado, his aneurism burst and he died on May 23. His body was buried in Taos, New Mexico Territory.
Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and vice president of the Wild West History Association. His latest book is Arizona Outlaws and Lawmen; The History Press, 2015. If you have a question, write: Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 or email him at marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu.
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