Legends of the Old West - KIT CARSON Ep. 2 | “The Bear Flag Revolt”

Episode Date: May 24, 2023

Kit Carson becomes the steady and reliable guide for John C. Fremont’s historic expeditions to California. The first two are relatively routine, but the third takes an unexpected and consequential twist. The exploratory expedition turns into a military campaign to battle Native American tribes and to take California from Mexico. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After John C. Fremont and Kit Carson's first expedition, and the publication of Fremont's account of the trip, the Trail to the west was flooded with immigrants who were eager to find their piece of the promised land. Settlers were burdened with ungainly conestoga wagons and trailing their livestock behind them. They sold their farms and invested all they had in a new life they hoped to find across the mountains. Sometimes their journeys were more perilous than they expected. Fremont's glowing report had filled people's minds with vistas of tranquil, pastoral land that were perfect for farms and ranches, and were untouched by human footsteps. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite the truth.

People already lived in the Western Territories, and they were unaware that white settlers were coming to claim what they considered their land. Even though Carson and Fremont had little contact with Native American tribes on their journey, that wasn't going to remain true for those who came in the future. Sometimes things resolved peacefully, but not always. And the weather was another constant concern. For the slow journeys of heavily loaded wagons, timing of the seasons was crucial. Crossing the mountain passes was dangerous enough, but facing a snowstorm sometimes made

for a fatal meeting of man versus nature, and nature usually won. But while the migration started, Kit Carson was home in Taos, in the northern part of the Future Territory and then state of New Mexico. After he returned from the first expedition with Fremont, Kit married his fiancée, the beautiful Josefa Yamarillo. He was generally happy, though his life was not without heartbreak. Kit met Fremont while Kit was taking his eldest daughter Adeline to Missouri to be raised by his family. During the journey, his younger daughter died in a tragic accident at Bent's Fort. So now, as 1842 passed into 1843, it was just Kit and Josepha at their home. And in the summer of 1843, John C. Fremont came calling again. He hired Kit as his guide on his second expedition.

The pay was good, but for Kit to leave his new bride, there was an even greater lure. The challenges of exploration and the excitement of finding new territory. On the first expedition, they went to the halfway point of the Oregon Trail. On the second, they would go all the way. The second expedition would make them famous. Fremont would be known forever as the Pathfinder, and Carson as the action hero and Indian fighter of both truth and legend. And they weren't done there.

Then came the third expedition, and the conflict in California that wrote a new chapter of American history. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer. In this season, we're telling the story of one of the original legends of the American West, famed frontiersman and explorer, Kit Carson. This is Episode 2, The Bear Flag Revolt. On Fremont's second expedition, he had a couple extra goals in addition to going all the way to Oregon. There was a persistent myth that the Great Salt

Lake was part of a system of underground waterways that stretched across the continent. There was also a story of a river called the Buena Ventura that supposedly ran from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean. Both had been widely accepted, but there was little proof. Fremont wanted to prove or disprove the theories. The party consisted of 40 men, and the first half of the trip played out just like the first expedition. They followed major rivers through the Great Plains region and then into the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. They crossed the Rockies at South Pass and moved down into Oregon with little trouble. They marveled at the beautiful countryside and the peaks of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. They accomplished their first goal.

They successfully arrived in Oregon. But they had seen no sign of one of their other goals, to locate the mythical Buena Ventura River. Fremont wanted to find it, and he pushed his party to go south to California, even though he had been warned not to trespass into Mexican territory. It was 1843, five years before the start of the Mexican-American War, and Mexico claimed territory in North America that included the modern-day states of New Mexico,

Arizona, California, Utah, and Nevada. And it was also winter, and Carson warned Fremont about the road ahead. But Fremont insisted. They got caught in blizzards in the Sierra Nevada mountains, an eerie precursor to the Donner Party's fatal mistake that would happen four years later. The Donner Party didn't have a Kit Carson to save them. Thanks to Carson's skills, Fremont's party survived. They staggered out of the mountains weeks later, frostbitten and starving, but alive. Men and livestock were fed and housed by settlers in the foothills, and soon the expedition continued south down the San Joaquin Valley. They never found evidence of the Buena Ventura, which proved it didn't exist.

That goal was accomplished, but Fremont was now treading on Mexican territory, and Mexican officials threatened to send an army after him. Fremont wisely turned his expedition east. In the Mojave Desert, they came across a Mexican man named Andreas Fuentes and his 11-year-old son. Fuentes' group had been attacked by Native American warriors. The group's small herd of horses had been stolen, and everyone had been killed except Fuentes and

his son. Kit Carson and a fellow mountain man decided to help Fuentes. The two men tracked the war party for two days and then found its camp. The scouts rode into the camp with guns blazing. The ambush scattered most of the warriors, but the scouts ultimately shot and killed one warrior each. They rode back to Fremont's camp the next day with what was left of the horse herd, and Kit's friend displayed two scalps on the end of his rifle. Fremont was dazzled by the fearlessness and included it in his report. Two men in a savage desert pursue day and night an unknown body of Indians, attack them on sight, and defeat them in an instant. Who would do such a thing? Kitt Carson,

and defeat them in an instant. Who would do such a thing? Kit Carson, trained to the Western enterprise from early life. With those words, Fremont made Kit Carson an avenging hero to the American public. Nearly a year after they'd left, the raggedy expedition rode into Bent's Fort. The 4th of July celebration doubled as a welcome home event. And now, Fremont published reports of both of his expeditions together, and the combined narrative sold like hotcakes. Newspapers everywhere reprinted them. Fremont was promoted to Captain in the Army and was given the nickname Pathfinder. While no one could gainsay the moniker, all who journeyed with Fremont and Carson knew full well it was Carson who had guided Fremont to the right paths in order to earn the nickname. As for Kit Carson, he was on his way to being an American icon, the subject of hero worship and the

central character of dime novels extolling his exploits, most of which were fictionalized fantasies, but no one cared. Courageous, skilled, and a man who could right any wrong or find any trail, Kit Carson became a star, even though he didn't know it for some time. It wasn't a role he sought

and not one he was very comfortable with. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But we also sell merch. And organizing that was made both possible and easy with Shopify. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell and grow at every stage of your business, from the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the Thank you. Shopify has got you covered. With the internet's best converting checkout, 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms, Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers. Shopify has allowed us to share something tangible with the podcast community we've built here, selling our beanies, sweatshirts, and mugs to fans of our shows without taking up too much time from all the other work we do to bring you even more great content. And it's not just us. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. Shopify is also the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size

across 175 countries. Because businesses that grow, grow with Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash realm, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash r-e-a-l-m now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. shopify.com slash realm. realm. Kit Carson reunited with his wife and began his plans to build a ranch. He barely got started when Fremont showed up at Bent's Fort once again, along with his party of 62 white men and 12 Delaware Indians. Fremont's third expedition was touted as a topographical expedition, again to the North Country and into Oregon. But most historians agree that there were other motives at play. Fremont had met with President James K. Polk, and the push for manifest destiny was in full force. Polk wanted to buy Oregon territory from the British, who had no interest

in selling. He was also determined to acquire California from Mexico, but Kit Carson likely had no knowledge of the ulterior motives when he signed on again as Fremont's guide. Off they went on the expedition that led them deep into California, and deep into a political and military conflict that Kit Carson could never have imagined. The trip began well enough. They crossed the Great Basin, as Fremont had named it, and entered the Sierra Nevada Mountains that form the modern-day border between California and Nevada. At that point, Fremont announced they were going into California, not Oregon. Fremont split his men into two groups. He went north along the Sierras with Kit Carson and a

smaller party, while the main body went south. A few minor dust-ups with local warriors occurred, and the expedition began to take a more offensive approach to its interactions with Native groups. The expedition began to take a more offensive approach to its interactions with native groups. As the men traveled, they met with both Mexican and American settlers, all of whom had suffered attacks by local tribes. The Mexican government's presence was thin on the ground in rural areas, and the settlers and ranchers had only themselves to depend upon. As the only armed force in the area, Fremont offered his services when needed. Just like the second expedition, word of the American party spread. It was the early

fall of 1845. The former Mexican province of Texas was about to join the American Union. Tensions between the two nations were high, and they would boil over into war in less than a year, and now there was an armed American force in the Mexican province of California. The Mexican government ordered Fremont to leave, but Fremont was defiant. He marched his men up the Sacramento River and made camp at a ranch owned by Peter Lassen. As their presence became known, people streamed into Lassen's ranch and pleaded for their help in their fight against Native American tribes. It was rumored that a large band of warriors, maybe as many as a thousand, was planning an attack. For Carson, this situation may have reminded him of his childhood, growing up in a similar

settlement in Missouri, constantly wary of attacks. These settlers were little different, and now he was in a position to do something about it. For many of the men in the group, especially the mountain men, this may have been familiar territory as well, and they welcomed the opportunity to chastise the Indians, as they called it. Tempers and fears were running high, so the Americans felt justified in making a preventative strike. They attacked all the Native American villages up the river from Lassen's Ranch.

Native American men were killed or scattered, and the villages and supplies burned to the ground. Accounts of the action vary so widely that it's impossible to get a true understanding of the circumstances or the destruction. But Kit Carson's memorable comment about it probably provides the best insight. He said,

It was a perfect butchery. The comment haunts Kit Carson's history to this day. From what we know of his character, he would not have meant it in a bragging, glorifying way. More likely, it was a simple statement about the level of punishment that was inflicted by the force of settlers and Fremont's men. Relations with the Mexican army were becoming tense, and Fremont and the expedition headed north into Oregon, making camp at Klamath Lake. They had never had hostile encounters with the

tribes in this area on their earlier treks, but after the attacks in California, news spread fast throughout the northern area, and the party was on high alert. The Klamath tribe was known to be aggressive, and while Carson had never had an issue with them, years earlier a party led by mountain man Jedediah Smith was attacked by them. Only Smith and another man survived. At Fremont's camp, two messengers arrived with news that Lieutenant Archibald Gillespie and a small force were on their way to meet up with Fremont. bald Gillespie and a small force were on their way to meet up with Fremont. Gillespie carried urgent dispatches from Washington, but he was afraid his group would be killed unless Fremont sent help. So, Fremont, Carson, and ten men set off to help him. They safely connected and made

camp for the night. Fremont and Gillespie sat up late discussing the messages Gillespie had brought, Fremont and Gillespie sat up late discussing the messages Gillespie had brought, and the rest of the group went to sleep. Apparently, no guards were posted that night, an oversight that would have gruesome results. Kit Carson was awakened in the dead of night by a sound he described as a thwack, but then nothing else happened for a few minutes. He grabbed his weapons and waited.

As his eyes adjusted, he saw there were warriors in the camp. As the other men of the force awoke, a melee erupted in the dark. Fremont's men and Gillespie's force fought the attackers until just before dawn when the warriors fled the scene. Now, with a little light, Carson could see that one of his longtime friends had been tomahawked and killed, along with two of the stalwart Delawares on the expedition. The attackers were the same ones that the expedition had encountered the day before, and they had exchanged gifts without any problems. Carson now called the Klamaths

a mean, low-life, treacherous race. Fremont announced they were heading back to California, which Carson suspected had something to do with Gillespie's dispatches. Before they did, though, Fremont thought they should show the Klamaths some payback. As he put it, I threw all other considerations aside and thought to square things with these people. The column marched around the lake to meet up with the rest of the party that were camped on the other side. Occasional skirmishes with stray Klamaths happened here and there, and two of the Delawares rode off now and then, and usually returned with a fresh scalp or two. Still, no substantial camps were discovered.

Fremont sent Carson ahead with ten men as an advance scouting party, giving Carson freedom to do as he saw fit. They came across a Klamath village of more than 50 lodges that had storehouses and racks of dried fish. Carson and his men, their blood up, charged across the river and into the village, not waiting for Fremont and his larger group to join them. By the time Fremont arrived, 21 Klamath men had been killed and most of the villagers had fled. There appeared to be no women or children killed in the fighting, except for one lone woman found dead in a canoe, but that

was difficult to verify. The Americans burned the village and destroyed everything they could. Fremont was annoyed that Carson's advance party hadn't waited for him, but he called the affair a good chastisement. The expedition made camp a few miles from the burned village. Fremont sent 20 men back to make sure they were not being pursued, and soon a messenger reported that at least 50 Klamath men had returned. Fremont, Carson, and a few Delawares rushed off to reinforce the small group, and another fight erupted. At one point, Carson's rifle misfired,

leaving him open to a Klamath warrior with a poisoned arrow. Fremont rode the warrior down with his horse, and then a Delaware finished him off with a war club. Carson always said Fremont saved his life that day. After the battles with the Klamath, the expedition marched south and crossed the California border. They skirmished constantly as they traveled. Up until this trip, Fremont had prided himself on the good relations with the tribes they encountered. But that was clearly done now. Local tribes became more and more angry about the expedition as it proceeded.

And the bad blood wasn't just between the expedition and the Native Americans. As Fremont's men marched south, they saw relations had deteriorated further among the white American settlers, the Hispanic Californios, and the tribes. In short, everyone hated everyone. In short, everyone hated everyone. Spanish friars and soldiers had worked their way north from Mexico and established missions and settlements in California over the course of 60 years. Hispanic settlers pushed out the Native Americans, and now Americans were arriving to presumably push out the Hispanic settlers and the Native Americans. And that was exactly what Fremont had in mind.

Likely operating on the news that Gillespie had delivered, Fremont decided to seize territory on behalf of the American government, knowing that war between Mexico and the United States was about to be declared. For all he knew, it already had, and word just hadn't reached him. Fremont was never one to timidly stand by. just hadn't reached him. Fremont was never one to timidly stand by. Fremont's party set up camp in the Sacramento Valley, making no pretense that this was still a mapping expedition. Settlers came to him with their grievances, and rather than work out solutions, he encouraged them in their unrest. He fomented revolt, but his men were the largest fighting force in the area. So when the settlers did what he encouraged and fights broke out,

it was up to Fremont and his men to engage. A group of Americans took it upon themselves to seize the village of Sonoma, driving out the Hispanic residents and taking over their homes and the armory. They called themselves the Bears, or Osos in Spanish. They raised a flag and said Sonoma was now part of the Bear Flag Republic, which was how the campaign earned the name the Bear Flag Revolt. In Monterey, south of San Francisco and San Jose, General Jose Castro of the Mexican Army called for all Americans to leave California immediately. It was just what Fremont had been waiting for. Now he called himself Commander of the United States Forces in California and started wearing a green uniform with a gold braid. This turn of events was not what Kit Carson had signed up for, but he had few options and even fewer actual choices. The civilian expedition to make maps of the territory

had morphed into a military campaign to capture the territory. In that volatile climate happened one of the most damning incidents of Kit Carson's life. Two bear flag boys had been captured, tied to a tree, and tortured to death by Mexican guerrillas. When their bodies were discovered, the Americans were outraged. The next day, a small boat was spotted off the coast of Sonoma, and Fremont ordered Carson to intercept it and hold the three occupants. The three were 20-year-old twins who were the sons of the mayor of Sonoma and their elderly uncle. Carson arrested them as they stepped ashore and questioned them about carrying dispatches for the Mexican army. They insisted they were innocent, and the day

dragged on. Fremont, watching from afar, grew impatient. Carson finally asked if Fremont wanted him to take the three prisoners, but Fremont waved his hand, saying he had no use for prisoners. Carson was confused. He wasn't sure what Fremont wanted him to do. The men with him weren't sure what Fremont wanted either, but it gradually dawned on them that Fremont wanted them to shoot the prisoners. Finally, Fremont shouted, Mr. Carson, do your duty, and Kit Carson followed the order. His group shot the two young men and their uncle. Neither Carson nor Fremont discussed the incident in their papers or biographies, and it's likely that Carson at least regretted it.

The two men had a close relationship, but as independent as Carson was known to be, he also followed orders. A similar and more controversial event would happen later in his life with the Navajo, and it wasn't all about military discipline. Carson's frontier background, lack of formal education, and the cultural niceties of the time created a desire for him to be accepted by commanding officers whom he considered his betters. He admired them and seemed to need their approval. Even when he vacillated or resigned from their service,

he always returned. And now, Carson and the rest of the expedition were part of the battalion that Fremont was commanding. They continued south to Monterey, where Fremont met up with the Commodore of the Pacific Squadron, Robert Stockton. It was a meeting of two stupendous egos, and Fremont played up his self-appointed status to the fullest. Fremont had added more titles to his resume and appointed a troop of bodyguards who were mostly made up of Delaware warriors. When Fremont met Stockton, Stockton was taken aback by the sight of warriors in buckskin clothes with rugged frontier gear, some of whom had scalps in their packs.

Still, much to Fremont's dismay, Stockton outranked him. Stockton quickly declared Fremont's army as the Naval Battalion of Mounted Riflemen. He appointed Fremont a major, he made Lieutenant Gillespie a captain, and he made Kit Carson a lieutenant. During that meeting, Fremont, Carson, and the expedition learned that Stockton was convinced the British were planning to take California from the Mexicans. Stockton loaded Fremont, Carson, and most of the expeditionary force onto his ships and sailed them down to San Diego to thwart the effort. Most of the men in Fremont's command had never been on the ocean before. For Kit Carson, who was

born in Kentucky, grew up in Missouri, and spent most of his life in the mountains, it was the worst traveling experience of his life. He was seasick the entire voyage and vowed he would never again venture out onto the high seas. Stockton and his combined forces arrived in Southern California and marched into Los Angeles, claiming victory over the town without a single shot fired. The Mexican army retreated, stating an inability to defend themselves against an overwhelming force. Stockton declared himself governor of California, though he intended to leave almost immediately and named Fremont governor in his stead. The declaration of victory was a little short-sighted. It was 1846, and the

war between Mexico and the United States was just starting. But in the rosy flush of their triumph, and the United States was just starting. But in the rosy flush of their triumph, Fremont and Stockton had a limited focus. They decided to send Kit Carson to Washington, D.C. to inform President Polk of their success. Kit Carson was the only man who was capable of such a mission, and Kit was delighted by the prospect. He would be one of the few men to travel overland from Los Angeles to Washington, but he was also excited to stop and spend time with his wife, Josefa. Fremont and Stockton loaded his saddlebags full of dispatches, and Kit set off on his mule, trailing other mules behind him with a small party of riders. Kit was an accomplished rider,

but he preferred mules over horses if he had the choice. He felt mules were more dependable, stronger, and more sure-footed over any terrain. He vowed to make the trip in just 60 days. Kit set a fast pace, and everyone in the small party kept up. As they passed into the future territory of New Mexico, Carson was surprised to stumble upon a large group of men. It was General Stephen Carney, commander of the Army of the West, and 300 of his dragoons. And Carney was equally surprised to see Carson. Carson said he was headed to Washington with important messages, but Carney had a different idea.

The next day, Kitt lost his chance to make it to Washington in 60 days. Kearney dispatched another delegation to Washington with Kit's saddlebags full of letters, and Kit Carson found himself attached to the United States Army as a guide. He was ordered to lead Kearney back to California in the war that Stockton and Fremont thought was over. Next time on Legends of the Old West, Kit Carson returns to the battle in California, but he eventually makes his trip to Washington, D.C. and meets the president. He's stunned to find that he's a celebrity, and when he returns to the West, he enters the evolving conflict with Native American nations, as civil war looms on the

horizon. That's next week on Legends of the Old West. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week to receive new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials, and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships begin at just $5 per month. This series was researched and written by Kathleen Morris. Original music by Rob Valliere.

I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website, blackbarrelmedia.com, for more details, and join us on social media. We're at Old West Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And all of our episodes are on YouTube. Just search for Legends of the Old West Podcast. Thanks for listening.