October 6: The Runaway Trailblazer

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is October 6th, and our story is The Runaway Trailblazer. On October 6th, 1826, the Missouri Intelligencer ran the following ad. Notice is hereby given to all persons, that Christopher Carson, a boy about sixteen years old, small of his age, but thick set, light hair, ran away from the subscriber, living in Franklin, Howard County, Missouri, to whom he had been bound to learn the saddler's trade. One cent reward will be given to any person who will bring back the said boy.

Perhaps no one saw the runaway apprentice, or, more likely, the one-cent reward proved insufficient motivation to secure his return. Either way, by the time Christopher Kit Carson resurfaced in Missouri, he had become a living legend. In the intervening decades, Carson worked as a successful fur trader and even more successful guide, leading soldier explorer John C. Fremont through Oregon, California, and much of the central Rocky Mountains.

Carson also married three times, first to an Arapaho woman who died, then to a Cheyenne woman who abandoned him, and lastly to a Mexican woman who lived to bear him eight children. It was for his third wife that Carson entered the Catholic Church in 1842.

Few Americans in the 19th century, however, knew about Carson's religion or his close friendship with Santa Fe's Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy. Fremont's accounts of their travels, newspaper stories about Carson's service in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War, and the popular series of Kit Carson books, which Carson loathed, didn't mention God or bishops.

Rather, they told of Carson's adventures, some factual, most fictional, exploring the West and defending settlers from Native Americans. Reality was more complicated and tragic than fiction, but as one modern biographer, Harvey L. Carter, wrote, If history has to single out one person from among the mountain men to receive the admiration of later generations, Carson is the best choice. He had far more of the good qualities and fewer of the bad qualities than anyone else in that varied lot of individuals.

Carson died one month after his wife in 1868. Carson's story reminds us that early missteps do not define a person's life. His commitment to faith and friendships, even in a rugged, often lawless world, highlights how principles can shape adventure into purpose. Reflect on an area of your life where you feel directionless.

Consider one practical step to align your actions with your values. Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, October 7th, for another story of faith and courage in America.