Book Review: New bio urges reader to reconsider Kit Carson as an American hero

Kit Carson and the Indians By Tom W. Dunlay 537 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 13 photographs, index University of Nebraska Press "A fresh look at Kit Carson from the inside out. With the technique

Wednesday, November 29th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Kit Carson and the Indians
By Tom W. Dunlay
537 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 13 photographs, index
University of Nebraska Press

"A fresh look at Kit Carson from the inside out. With the technique of an investigative journalist and the maturity of a well-established historian, Dunlay assesses recent critical views of Carson as Indian fighter, soldier, and agent, and provides a balanced perspective, arguing Carson ought to be seen as a man of his times, who crossed the middle ground between ethnic and cultural worlds comfortably and successfully. This is biography at its best."- William R. Swagerty, coauthor of Papers of the St. Louis Fur Trade. " Dunlay's research and reflection make this a remarkable piece of history, and his excellent writing makes it readable. A complete picture of Kit Carson that makes every other biography of him seem sallow and trivial."- Janet Lecompte, author of Pueblo, Hardscrabble, Greenhorn: Society on the High Plains, 1832-1856.

Often portrayed by past historians as the greatest guide and Indian fighter in the West, Kit Carson 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, Thomas W. 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.

Dunlay argues convincingly that historians have too often set their minds on elevating or suborning Carson's reputation and have paid too little attention to the man himself. Dunlay finds that Carson was capable of complex and seemingly contradictory feelings toward the various Indian groups he encountered. He was involved with Indians in many different kinds of relationships, from marriage to war. He led American troops against the Navajos and helped force them from their homeland despite the fact that many Navajos considered Carson an ally. He also tried to preserve Indians from extermination. It is at this juncture of historical experience and contradiction that Dunlay makes his analysis, presenting for the first time a fair and balanced treatment of Carson and his relationship with the Indians.

Tom W. Dunlay, a freelance writer and historian, lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is the author of Wolves for the Blue Soldiers (Nebraska 1982)