Not What He Expected

A stunning description of frontiersman Kit Carson.

Kit Carson was one of the most famous men in America in the 1840s, renowned for his exploits on the frontier of America. But as William Tecumseh Sherman—later commanding general of the army—wrote in 1847, the legend didn’t prepare one for the man.

“I cannot express my surprise at beholding a small stoop-shouldered man, with reddish hair, freckled face, soft blue eyes, and nothing to indicate extraordinary courage or daring.”