BLOOD AND THUNDER

The title of the book is the moniker used to describe the dime novels written about Kit Carson's adventures during the turbulent Indian Wars of the 1850's through the 1860's. Hampton Sides writes an epic account of what really happened in the Southwest. This non-fiction work is more than a story about Carson's life; it's also about America's first imperialistic strike westward led by our 11th President, James K. Polk. During his four year term, The U.S. Government annexed California from Mexico. The guts of the book deals with what happened next - What to do about the colliding worlds of the Indians, especially the nomadic and fearsome Navajo tribe, and the white settlers moving west to occupy the newly won territories.

Based on Hampton Sides research, I found Kit Carson's life quite incredible. Here is a man who couldn't read or write, yet spoke Spanish and seven different Indian languages. He lived as a frontiersman, trapper, Indian fighter, guide, and as a Colonel in the Union Army. He had the innate ability to see right from wrong, act with bravery, honor, and commitment. During his lifetime, he was married three times and had eight children. His first wife was Arapaho, the second was Cheyenne, and the third wife was Spanish. He had meetings with President Polk, he was a friend of General William Tecumseh Sherman, Navajo leader Narbona, Senator Thomas Benton, John C. Fremont, and General Stephen Watts Kearny, the father of the American cavalry. Kit's escapades gave me the feeling that he was truly an American hero. This book was worth reading just to discover what a miraculous life he led during this dangerous period in the history of America's Southwest. Yet, the author cites incidents where Kit Carson gunned down people in cold blood because he was ordered to do it by a superior officer or someone he respected. Go figure!

The inane killing of Navajo leader Narbona by a drunken Union soldier over a stolen horse caused the leader's son-in-law, Manuelito, to declare war against America. While the Union Army fought the Confederates from Texas during the Civil War, the Navajo had carte blanche to murder emigrates and steel their cattle and sheep. After the Civil War ended, the U.S.A. realized that the Navajo had to be stopped, or else the move westward couldn't continue. Enter General James H. Carleton. He prodded Col. Kit Carson to prosecute the Navajo, burn their food supply, and force them to accept a reservation life far from their natural boundaries. Many Navajo were killed, while the survivors were in a state of starvation. The rest of the book deals with the "Long Walk" of the Navajos from New Mexico to the Bosque Redondo (Round Forest) Reservation, where infectious corn crops, dysentery, syphilis, and Comanche attacks almost destroyed the Navajo people. If you want to know how they survived, you will have to read this wonderful book.

As a child I watched The Adventures of Kit Carson, staring Bill Williams on television, thinking he wasn't a real person. Wow, now I know better! His T.V. sidekick, El Toro doesn't show up in this book. I also watched The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok.  These cowboys were real heroes from the 1800's and need to be studied. I find myself searching for books about old western characters that helped shape America in it's early years. Hampton Sides did a yeoman's job in his research and storytelling. While it's not non-fiction that reads like fiction, it is very close. I guess that's why I felt that I wasn't reading a history book, but a good old western! I give this palatable book my highest rating.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: The term "blood and thunder" originated as a oath, though not necessarily a religious one. It was used by Lord Byron in the poem, Don Juan, 1818-24. It became a term for cheap literature in 1859 London. The term was used by Irwin P. Beadle & Company in America for paperback fiction at 10c a copy. Kit Carson was given the rank of Breveted General near the end of his life. This was a temporary rank with no pay increase. Kit Carson died of an aneurysm at 58 years old in Fort Lyon, Colorado shortly after his beloved wife died from complications while giving birth.