In 1856, Carson told his life story to someone who wrote it down. This book is called "Memoirs". Some say Carson forgot dates or got them wrong. The manuscript was lost when taken East to find a professional writer who would work it into a book. Washington Irving was asked, but declined. The lost manuscript was found in a trunk in Paris in 1905. It was later printed. The first biography of Carson was written by DeWitt C. Peters in 1859. The book was called "Kit Carson, the Nestor of the Mountains, from Facts Narrated by Himself". When the book was read to Carson he said, "Peters laid it on a leetle too thick."