Carson hated Native Americans, especially those who had committed crimes such as rape, theft, and murder. He believed Native Americans could not be trusted, and should be punished. Mountain men often had to kill Native Americans to save their own lives. The young Carson's brutal and vicious notions about Native Americans is sometimes considered his greatest moral failing. Carson never killed Native American women and children though. He believed a brave man would never do this, and he scorned those men who did.