Dozens of books and dime novels have been written about the reckless, daring adventures of Kit Carson's youth. Little has been told of the wisdom and greatness of his later years.--Ralph Moody In 1826 an undersized sixteen-year-old apprentice ran away from a saddle maker in Franklin, Missouri, to join one of the first wagon trains crossing the prairie on the Santa Fe Trail. Kit Carson (1809-68) wanted to be a mountain man, and he spent...