Summary of Hampton Sides's Blood and Thunder

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 Kit Carson was a trapper, scout, and explorer who had traveled extensively in the Western wilds. He had never been to the East, but he had traveled extensively in the Western regions, and had seen the Pacific Ocean.

#2 Kit Carson was a man of many habits and superstitions. He never took a second shot at standing game if his initial shot missed, and he was a straight arrow who did not drink or womanize.

#3 Kit Carson was a lovable man, but he was also a natural born killer. He could be brutal even for the West of his day. He did not hate Indians, but he fought against them in many skirmishes that could have gone either way.

#4 Christopher Houston Carson was born in 1809 in Kentucky. His family moved to the Missouri frontier in 1815, and he grew up on a farm near the Missouri River. He was a quiet, stubborn, and reliable kid with bright blue eyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669354604

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Kit Carson was a trapper, scout, and explorer who had traveled extensively in the Western wilds. He had never been to the East, but he had traveled extensively in the Western regions, and had seen the Pacific Ocean.

#2

Kit Carson was a man of many habits and superstitions. He never took a second shot at standing game if his initial shot missed, and he was a straight arrow who did not drink or womanize.

#3

Kit Carson was a lovable man, but he was also a natural born killer. He could be brutal even for the West of his day. He did not hate Indians, but he fought against them in many skirmishes that could have gone either way.

#4

Christopher Houston Carson was born in 1809 in Kentucky. His family moved to the Missouri frontier in 1815, and he grew up on a farm near the Missouri River. He was a quiet, stubborn, and reliable kid with bright blue eyes.

#5

The Boone’s Lick country, though uncultivated, was not uninhabited. The settlers there had to live huddled together in cabins near forts, and the men tended the fields with armed sentries constantly patrolling the forest clearings.

#6

When he was fourteen, Kit signed on as a laborer for a large merchant caravan heading to Santa Fe. He was grateful to find himself sitting in saddles instead of making them.

#7

Carson’s adventure began when he ran away from his master, a saddler in Franklin, Missouri. He made his way to the upper part of the state, where he was spotted and arrested by a deputy sheriff. He was returned to his master, but the experience taught him a lot about the American frontier.

#8

Kit Carson, the explorer, was fascinated by the life on the Santa Fe Trail. He did not like Santa Fe, however, and went to Taos instead. He learned how to make a good bed of cornhusks and a buffalo robe, and how to hunt bison.

#9

Kit Carson was a cook for a mountain man named Ewing Young in 1828. He had finally received his wish: he was embarking on his first full-fledged expedition as a trapper. The profession would hold his interest for the next dozen years.

#10

Carson began to learn about the trapping trade from his new comrades, and he began to enjoy the food they prepared. He also learned about the language of the mountain men, a colorful patois of French, Spanish, English, and Indian phrases mixed with phrases entirely of their own creation.

#11

Carson learned how to deal with the Western Indians, how to detect an ambush, when to fight, when to bluff, and when to flee. The mountain men knew firsthand that Native Americans were fierce fighters, but they also knew that their method of battle was often different from European warfare.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The Navajo were a tribe that lived in the area that is now New Mexico. They were raiders, and they would attack settlements and steal livestock. The Spanish had tried to Christianize them, but they would not tolerate Spanish missionaries.

#2

The Navajos were a very peaceful tribe, and they did not have a reputation for being particularly fierce or effective warriors. But they were the masters of the raid. They were a evanescent people, proud thieves on horseback, and they were adroit in the techniques of the swift attack and the quick disappearance.

#3

The Navajo were a pastoral people, who followed the slow and watchful life known as transhumance. They were also raiders, who stole sheep and goats from the Spanish ranches to the east.

#4

The Navajos were a tribe that were extremely dependent on their sheep for food, clothing, and income. The horse gave them the speed and mobility to become sheep robbers on a large scale, thinning the flocks of the long and vulnerable Rio Grande Valley with impunity.

#5

The Navajo were a tribe that had migrated down the spine of the Rockies from Canada. They were very American in their ways, yet they were never finished. They always left themselves an out.

Insights from Chapter 3

#1

In 1846, the United States went to war with Mexico. The Missouri volunteers were among the many soldiers who answered