His sober habits, strict honor, and great regard for truth, have endeared him to all who can call him friend; and, among such may be enumerated names belonging to some of the most distinguished men whose deeds are recorded on the pages of American history. His past life has been a mystery which this book will unveil. Instead of Kit Carson as by imagination--a bold braggart and reckless, improvident hero of the rifle--he will appear a retired man, and one who is very reserved in his intercourse with others. This fact, alone, will account for the difficulty which has hitherto attended presenting the public with an accurate history of his life. A few years since, the writer of this work first met Christopher Carson. It needed neither a second introduction, nor the assistance of a friendly panegyric, to enable him to discover in Christopher Carson those traits of manhood, which are esteemed by the great and good to be distinguishing ornaments of character. This acquaintance ripened into a friendship of the purest stamp. Since then, the writer has been the intimate friend and, companion of Christopher Carson, at his home, in the wild scenes of the chase, on the war trail, and upon the field of battle. For a long period, in common with hundreds--and, we might with truth add, thousands, the writer has desired to see Christopher Carson's wonderful career made public for the world of readers; but, while this idea was germinating in his brain, he did not, for an instant, flatter himself that the pleasant task would ever be assigned to him. Finally, however, at the urgent solicitation of many personal friends, Christopher Carson dictated the facts upon which this book is written. They were then placed in the writer's hands, with instructions to add to them such information as had fallen under his observation, during quite extensive travels over a large part of the wide expanse of country, which has been Christopher Carson's theatre for action. The book is a book of solid truth; therefore, the faults in the style, arrangement and composition, become affairs of minor consideration. For this reason, the writer makes no apologies to embarrass the critics. Christopher Carson, physically, is small in stature, but of compact frame-work. He has a large and finely developed head, a twinkling grey eye, and hair of a sandy color, which he wears combed back _a la Franklin mode_. His education having been much neglected in his youth, he is deficient in theoretical learning. By natural abilities, however, he has greatly compensated for this defect. He speaks the French and Spanish languages fluently, besides being a perfect master of several Indian dialects. In Indian customs, their manners, habits and the groundwork of their conduct, no man on the American continent is better skilled.