Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 - May 23, 1868), better known as Kit Carson, was an American frontiersman. He was a mountain man (fur trapper), wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. Carson became a frontier legend in his own lifetime via biographies and news articles. Exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of dime novels.
Third expedition, 1845
In 1845, Carson guided Fremont on their third and last expedition. They went to California and Oregon. Fremont made scientific plans, but the expedition appeared to be political in nature. Fremont may have been working under secret government orders. President Polk wanted the province of Alta California for the United States. Once in California, Fremont started to rouse the American settlers into a patriotic fever. The Mexican government ordered him to leave. Fremont went north to Oregon, though not before instigating the Sacramento River massacre, in which at least 150 Indians were killed in an unprovoked attack. The party moved up along the Sacramento River, continuing to kill Indians as they went, then camped near Klamath Lake. Messages from Washington, DC made it clear that President Polk wanted California.  At Klamath Lake in southern Oregon, Fremont's party was hit in a revenge attack by 15-20 Indians on the night of May 9, 1846. Two or three men in camp were killed. The attackers fled after a brief struggle. Carson was angry that his friends had been killed. He took an axe and avenged the death of his friends by chopping away at a dead Indian's face. Fremont wrote, "He knocked his head to pieces."  In retaliation for the attack, a few days later Fremont's party massacred a village of Klamath people along the Williamson River in the Klamath Lake massacre. The entire village was razed and at least 14 men, women and children were killed. There was no evidence that the village in question had anything to do with the previous attack.
What was significant about Carson's third expedition?
In 1845, Carson guided Fremont on their third and last expedition. They went to California and Oregon.
In 1845, Carson guided Fremont on their third and last expedition. They went to California and Oregon.