In telling the story of Kit Carson, a vast panoramic tapestry of some of the most exciting moments on the western frontier is woven. Including portraits of the Spanish and Mexican Southwest as well as the Indian nations and the fur trade, this biography of the frontiersman, fur trapper, Army scout and trusted friend to the Indian nations - Kit Carson - focuses primarily on the seventeen years from 1831 to 1848. Carson was among the foremost of the mountain men engaged in trapping beaver in the pristine wilderness. The Indian nations, also actively gathering pelts to sell, regarded white men as little better than poachers on their land and fiercely defended their sovereignty. It was while trapping that Carson met and fell in love with Singing Grass, an Arapaho woman. He and Singing Grass married and had a daughter. Tragedy struck when Singing Grass died. After her death, Carson's encounter and romance with Josefa Jamarillo introduced him to the society of the Spanish "ricos" in New Mexico.