capture of los angeles—court martial of fremont—carson appointed a
bearer of dispatches to washington—his journey to st. louis—visits
washington—appointed lieutenant by president polk—ordered back across
the continent—his journey—assigned to duty at tajon pass—again
ordered to washington—his appointment not confirmed by the united
states senate—visit to washington—return to new mexico.
the chief force of the mexicans was at los angeles over a hundred miles to the north of san diego. they numbered six or seven hundred and were strongly intrenched. general kearney and commodore stockton joined their commands and marched to attack them. arriving in front of the town, they scattered the mexicans intrenched on the outside, and then marched into the place. but the enemy had fled and gone northward to meet fremont who was on his way from monterey with four hundred men to attack los angeles.
the mexicans had not long to search when they found fremont, but, instead of giving him battle, their commander surrendered, possibly preferring to give him the honor, instead of selecting the other commanders. fremont continued his march to los angeles, where they went into winter quarters, and carson, who had been devoting his valuable services to general kearney, now rejoined his old friend, fremont.
it may be stated in this place that the jealousy between commodore stockton and general kearney assumed such a shape at that time that fremont was compelled to acknowledge either one or the other as his superior officer. he selected commodore stockton as the one to whom he owed superior allegiance. the result of the petty quarrel was the trial of fremont by court martial, the particulars of which are too well known to require further reference at our hands.
in the following march, kit carson was selected to carry despatches to washington. lieutenant beale, who was still suffering from the exposure and hardships he had undergone, accompanied him, together with a guard of a dozen veteran mountaineers. lieutenant beale was so weak that carson for many days was obliged to lift him on and off his horse; but the clear air, the healthful exercise and the cheery companionship of the hardy scout were the best tonics in the world, and probably did the invalid more good than any other treatment that could have been devised.
carson took an extremely southern route, and his superior skill and knowledge of the country and its inhabitants enabled him to avoid all danger until he reached a tributary of the lower colorado. while in camp at midnight, they were assailed with a shower of arrows from a party of indians; but, as carson expected the attack, he had made such preparations that not one of his men were injured.
without any other incident worth the mention, carson and his escort reached st. louis. there the renowned mountaineer became the hero of the hour. he was taken at once to the home of hon. thomas h. benton, the distinguished statesman and the father in law of colonel fremont, who introduced him to the leading citizens.
the first person to greet carson when he stepped from the cars in washington was mrs. fremont, who recognized him from the description given by her husband in his letters. she compelled him to accompany her to the house of her father, where he remained an honored guest during his stay in washington, which was for a considerable time.
among the compliments paid carson while in the capital was that of his appointment by president polk, as lieutenant in the rifle corps of the united states army, and he was ordered to return across the continent with despatches. at fort leavenworth, carson was furnished with an escort of fifty men who were volunteers in the war against mexico.
the journey westward was marked by no stirring incident until he reached the eastern declivity of the rocky mountains, where a company of united states volunteers were overtaken. they had in charge an enormous train of wagons on the way to new mexico. on the morning after the encampment of carson near them, the indians made an attack upon the volunteers, capturing all their cattle and more than twenty horses. the mountaineer and his men dashed to the rescue, recaptured all the cattle, but were unable to retake the horses.
shortly after, carson and his company reached santa fe. there he parted from the volunteers and hired sixteen others with which he continued the journey, thereby obeying the instructions received at fort leavenworth.
pursuing the even tenor of his way, he arrived at a tributary of the virgin river, when he abruptly came upon an encampment of several hundred comanches, who, as carson happened to know, had massacred a number of settlers only a short time before. understanding as thoroughly as he did the treacherous nature of these people, he made a bold front, and, when they attempted to visit his camp, peremptorily ordered them to keep away.
he added that he knew all about them, and the first one who moved closer would be shot. furthermore, if they did not depart, within a specified time, he notified them that they would be fired upon. these were such audacious words that the comanches doubted their sincerity. to test it, some of them overstayed their time. not wishing to break his pledge, carson ordered his men to fire, one of the warriors fell, while several others, who were badly wounded, came to the conclusion that when the great mountaineer made a statement there was likely to be considerable truth in it.
food soon became so scarce that mule meat formed the only diet until they reached los angeles. carson pushed on to monterey where he delivered the despatches to the proper officer, and then returning to los angeles he was assigned to duty in captain smith's company of united states dragoons. he was given command of twenty-five dragoons and directed to proceed to tajon pass, through which marauding indians were accustomed to pass when returning from their raids in california. it was an important point, and the winter of 1847-48 was spent in the performance of the duties thus placed upon him. in the spring, he was once more ordered to carry despatches to washington, an escort being furnished him as in the previous instance.
in crossing grand river, one of the rafts became unmanageable, upset, losing considerable valuable property and endangering the lives of a number of the company. a large force of utah and apache indians were encountered, but carson managed them with the same skill he had shown them so many times before.
on arriving at taos, he spent several days with his family and friends, after which he proceeded to santa fe. there he learned that the united states senate had refused to confirm his nomination as lieutenant in the army. many of his friends were so angered over this slight that they urged him to refuse to carry the despatches further; but his reply, as given by dr. peters, is so admirable that we quote it:
"i was entrusted with these despatches, having been chosen in california, from whence i come, as the most competent person to take them through safely. i would try to fulfill this duty even if i knew it would cost me my life. it matters not to me, while i am performing this service for my country, whether i hold the rank of lieutenant in the united states army or am known merely as an experienced mountaineer. i have gained some little honor and credit for the manner in which i have always conducted myself when detailed on any special and important business, and i would on no account now wish to forfeit the good opinion formed of me by a majority of my countrymen because the united states senate did not deem it proper to confer on me an appointment which i never solicited, and one which, had it been confirmed, i would have resigned at the termination of the war."
having determined to perform his duty, he made careful inquiries as to the state of feeling among the indians through whose country the trail led. the reports were of the most alarming character: the comanches were on the war path with a vengeance. they were swarming all along the old santa fe trail, on the watch for parties whom they could overwhelm and destroy.
such being the case, carson resorted to the bold artifice of making a trail of his own. he reduced his escort to ten experienced mountaineers and then struck out upon his new route. he rode northward from taos until within a region rarely visited by hostiles, when he changed his course by the compass several times. by this means, he reached fort kearney on the platte and finally arrived at fort leavenworth. not only had he avoided all trouble with indians, but by following the new route, had found abundance of game so that the entire trip was but little more than a pleasure excursion.
all danger was over at fort leavenworth, where he parted from his escort and went alone to washington. previous to this, the war with mexico had ended, the treaty of peace having been signed february 2, 1848, and proclaimed on the 4th of july following.
carson tarried in washington only long enough to deliver his despatches to the proper authorities, when he turned about and made his way to taos, new mexico, where he joined once more his family and friends.
