Often portrayed by past historians as the greatest guide and Indian fighter in the West, Kit Carson (1809–68) has become in recent years a historical pariah—a brutal murderer who betrayed the Navajos, an unwitting dupe of American expansion, and a racist. Many historians now question both his reputation and his place in the pantheon of American heroes. In Kit Carson and the Indians, Tom Dunlay urges us to reconsider Carson yet again. To Dunlay, Carson was simply a man of the nineteenth century whose racial views and actions were much like those of his contemporaries.

Tom Dunlay (1944–2003) was a freelance writer and historian. He is the author of Wolves for the Blue Soldiers: Indian Scouts and Auxiliaries with the United States Army, 1860–90 (Nebraska 1982).

"Dunlay succeeds in presenting a man who spent much of his life and efforts solving the problems of both Native Americans and the white settlers, a man who can be criticized and lauded but who clearly contributed to what America has become."—Publishers Weekly

"Almost every paragraph bristles with thoughtful analyses achieved by studying primary source materials and Carson’s earlier biographers. . . . Dunlay achieves his goal of providing a balanced account of the life of Kit Carson, not the mythic frontier hero he was so often portrayed to be for more than a century, nor the brutal racist who perpetrated genocide on the Navajos and other Indians as he has been portrayed the last three decades."—Western Historical Quarterly

"A valuable contribution to our knowledge of one of the West’s more colorful historical figures."—Booklist

"Though Carson has been portrayed both as a great guide and an Indian guide—as well as a brutal murderer who betrayed the Navajos—the author of this book asks readers to further reconsider this historical figure."—David Steinberg, Sunday Journal

2001 Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá Award, sponsored by The Historical Society of New Mexico, winner

 

2000 Co-Founders "Best Book" Award, sponsored by the Westerners International, winner