Misadventures in Genaeology with Kit Carson

Misadventures in Genaeology with Kit Carson

And the President said to Kit Carson
"Take my best four horsemen please
And ride out to the four directions,
Make my great lands barren for me"

Kit Carson said to the President
"You've made your offer sweet
I'll accept this task you've set for me
My fall's not yet complete"

-Bruce Cockburn

I've been on a major major Bruce Cockburn kick lately. Has something to do with Canada Day, I think.

I don't get the genaeology thing. Maybe it's because I'm a parent by adoption which puts me squarely on the nurture side of the nature-nurture conundrum. But one of my great-uncles was deeply interested and traced the family history way past both sides of the Civil War (not unusual among northern Missouri hillbillies) and far enough to meet the snooty standards of the Daughters of the American Revolution. His daughters, however, chose not to join.

Kit Carson knew he had a job to do
Like other jobs he had before
He'd made the grade
He learned to trade in famine, pestilence, and war

In any case my most famous ancestor is Kit Carson. Which is NOT a cool thing:

Carson and his New Mexico Volunteers were fully occupied by "Indian troubles." Colonel Carson pursued the Navajo across much of New Mexico. There were no pitched battles and only a few skirmishes, for Carson's principal tactic was to destroy or capture the Navajos' crops and animals. In this effort he was aided by other Indian tribes, long-standing enemies of the Navajos, chiefly the Utes.

In 1864, the Navajos surrendered and were marched off to a reservation—the Long Walk of the Navajo. In November Carson fought a combined force of Kiowa, Comanche and Cheyenne to a draw at the First Battle of Adobe Walls, but managed to destroy the Indian village and winter supplies.

Nowadays we describe such exploits as "genocide." But back then they gave you a medal:

General Carleton in October 1865 recommended that Carson be awarded the brevet rank of brigadier-general, "for gallantry in the battle of Valverde, and for distinguished conduct and gallantry in the wars against the Mescalero Apaches and against the Navajo Indians of New Mexico."

Well, I'm proud of Mom and Dad anyway. They were teachers and darn good ones. And while my DNA may be a dead end I'm proud of my daughter too. As for General Carson, we'll give Bruce Cockburn the last word:

Kit Carson was a hero to some
With his poison and his flame
But somewhere there's a restless ghost
That used to bear his name