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The Kit Carson Home and Museum in Taos, New Mexico, celebrates the life of one of America’s most famous frontiersman. It’s located in the Downtown Taos Historic District.
History
Kit Carson (1809-1868) was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and US Army officer. He lived in the house from 1843 to 1866 with his wife, Maria Josefa Jaramillo (1828-1868).
The adobe house was built in 1825. It has a U shape and faces a central courtyard. The front three rooms are the oldest and contain the museum exhibits.
The house first became a museum in 1937. In 1952, the Bent Masonic Lodge #42, AF & AM, acquired the house and further developed the museum. It has been operated by the Kit Carson Memorial Foundation since 1953, and the house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963.
Visiting
The Kit Carson Home and Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 4pm. Adult admission is US$10 (as of February 2024).
Museum
The Kit Carson Home and Museum contains several personal items belonging to Carson and his wife. Many of them were left behind when they moved to Fort Garland, Colorado, in 1866, but these items were dispersed over the years.
The museum has been able to track down several of the family’s authentic possessions and repatriate them to the house. They include guns, uniforms, a sewing kit, and farm tools. Other items on display include books about Carson published in several different languages.
Furnishings in the house are Spanish Colonial and Territorial period pieces that were typically used during the time Carson and Jaramillo would have lived in the house.
