Within the space for just three decades, monumental episodes of exploration and expedition, politics and violence, including the mapping the Oregon Trail, the acquisition of California, and the Mexican-American and Civil wars, forever changed the history of the United States and the shape of the American West. And one man, an illiterate trapper, scout, and soldier, was there for it all: Kit Carson.
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Show Highlights
- How Carson worked his way into the fraternity of mountain men in the West
- The skills that made Carson famous
- Carson’s complicated relationship and legacy with Native Americans
- John Fremont and the creation of the American celebrity
- Carson’s role in the Mexican-American War and his military career afterwards
- The Civil War, the Navajo campaigns, and Carson’s infamous later career
Resources/Articles/People Mentioned in Podcast
- My first interview with Hampton about the Korean War
- Legends of the Northwest — Mountain Men
- The Real Life Most Interesting Man in the World
- Polk by Walter Borneman
- How to Track a Human
- Imperfect Union by Steve Inskeep
- Long Walk: A History of the Navajo Wars by Lynn Bailey
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Read the Transcript
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