Overland with Kit Carson: A Narrative of the Old Spanish Trail in '48

by George Douglas Brewerton, Marc Simmons (Introduction)

Gold had just been discovered in California at the close of the Mexican War when Kit Carson started east from Los Angeles with Dispatches. Going with him was Lieutenant George Douglas Brewerton, who describes their journey over the Old Spanish Trail. It was a torturous route across deserts and mountains requiring the kind of expert survival skills that made Kit Carson famous. The scout, who was carrying the news that would begin the rush for gold, went as far as Taos, where he was reunited with his wife. From there Brewerton joined a wagon train that labored over the Santa Fe Trail to Independence, Missouri.  
Overland with Kit Carson is a colorful and authentic account of encounters with Indians and white adventurers and of the hazards and hardships that accompanied anyone who undertook such a long journey in a sparsely populated country.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

301 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1993

About the author

George Douglas Brewerton (1820 - May 31, 1901) was an American artist, author, journalist, Yankee Protestant pastor, historian, lawyer, poet, and army officer. He specialized in painting landscapes and marines, and in sketch art.

Brewerton trained as a soldier at West Point, and crossed from California to New Mexico Territory in 1848 as part of the Army attachment accompanying Kit Carson.

Brewerton's Southwest oil paintings were some of the first landscapes of the New Mexico territory exhibited in New York.

He died in 1901.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic 19th century American Travelouge through the reccently annexed southwest. Chalk full of adventure and humor by a surprisingly articulate and clever writer. If you are interested at all in the time period or the region this short and sweet little classic deserves a spot in your library. Highly recommended.