Character Analysis
Kit Carson isn't just some dude that Willa Cather made up. He's a real guy who actually lived around New Mexico during the mid-nineteenth century. History tells us that he was a quick-shooter from the Wild West who ended up travelling around and performing tricks with his guns.
According to this book, Carson is a nice enough guy. When Father Latour first meets him, his impression is one of surprise:
[Latour] had supposed [Carson] to be a very large man, of powerful body and commanding presence. This Carson was not so tall as the Bishop himself, was very slight in frame, modest in manner, and he spoke English with a soft Southern drawl. (2.2.49)
The legends that have grown up around Carson have led people to believe that he's a big, strong hero. But in reality, he's fairly average looking.
When Father Latour first arrives in New Mexico, the area is practically unknown to any white person. That's why Latour and Vaillant constantly have to rely on Carson, who is one of the few white men who have lived in the area for a long time. As the narrator tells us:
The great country of desert and mountain ranges between Santa Fe and the Pacific coast was not yet mapped or chartered; the most reliable map of it was in Kit Carson's brain. (2.2.53)
Kit Carson might be an illiterate cowboy, but the knowledge he has in his brain is worth ten stacks of Father Latour's books, at least when it comes to living on the frontier.
Unfortunately, the historical Kit Carson wasn't just known for his gun tricks and hearty attitude. He's also well known for killing Native Americans and driving them off of their land as white American settlers pushed into the southwestern part of North America. As Father Latour sadly notes:
It was his own misguided friend, Kit Carson, who finally subdued the last unconquered remnant of that [Native American] people. (9.7.2)
At the end of the day, Kit Carson turns out to be a mercenary who helps American settlers exploit and kill Native Americans. Father Latour is sad about this because he still considers Carson a friend. But he ultimately dies worrying that Carson and people like him will end up wiping out the Native Americans completely.