Kit Carson was an extraordinary man who was capable of great things but, because of the disgusting society that led him and issued terrible orders that he felt obliged to follow, he was responsible for a lot of death. My feelings toward him are similar to those towards Teddy Roosevelt: I admire his strength, cunning, resourcefulness, and honesty, but I disagree with his bloodlust and imperialism. This was a very well told narrative and I enjoyed reading it, even if reading about the atrocities we perpetrated against the Native American tribes is shameful and depressing af. Recommended for anyone interested in American history.

This is a fabulous, spectacular book full of unforgettable and nuanced stories peopled, perhaps haunted might be the better word, with legendary and tragic figures in a mythic and tragic land. If you are interested in the American southwest, you must read this book. Just ... wow. Six stars, I'd give it, but Goodreads only affords five.

I usually save 5 stars for books that are about vastly illuminating or mindset-altering. This isn't quite that, but it's such a huge and entertaining narrative that I award it 5 anyway. A great Western history.

I don't read history books very much, but once I started, I kept going even though this chapter of American history is pretty painful. Sides writes an engaging story, and maintains a very objective viewpoint throughout. Unfortunately, the version I read was abridged (I didn't know that when I started), so I can't really comment on the writing. Still, I think all Americans should remind themselves periodically that the borders of this country did not spring into being on their own, but were established via violence, death and suffering of many people.

My favorite historical non-fiction to date. Hampton sides gives an incredibly rich experience on subjects that have far reaching consequences to the modern Era. As a New Mexican, reading this gave me a profound respect for my state and the stories that happened within it.

An absolute must for Western lovers.

Damn but Native Americans really got the shaft. I didn't realize until reading this book that slavery extended beyond the Emancipation Proclamation in the form of Indian chattel captured by New Mexicans (and Texans, etc.). I didn't realize that Arizona was at least partially formed because racist New Mexicans wanted New Mexico to be a slave state. I also didn't realize that the Indian Wars were fought at largely the same time as the Civil War. Madness. A good book; one that uses Kit Carson as the focal point of a look at the way Plains Indians, particularly the Navajo, were beaten into some semblance of a Christian, agricultural existence. All the while, all the "Americans", including Carson, see the transformation as an inevitability, and when the change doesn't take hold, see the extinction of the American Indian as a sort of God-ordained, unstoppable thing. Good times.

A gripping story and expertly written