Editing Kit Carson (section)

== Monument and memorials ==

The first Kit Carson monument, erected in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] in 1885 at the [[Santiago E. Campos United States Courthouse|federal courthouse]], was a simple stone obelisk with inscriptions including the words "pathfinder, pioneer, soldier", and "He Led the Way". Union Civil War veterans, the [[Grand Army of the Republic]], led the fundraising and dedicated it "to remember the brave deeds of a pioneer and patriot who fought for his country".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simmons |first1=Marc |title=Remembering Santa Fe's Forgotten Monument |journal=New Mexican |date=January 26, 1902 |page=7}}</ref>

In 1907, the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] began placing monuments along the [[Santa Fe Trail]] and other sites that Carson had known. For example, the DAR guides noted the monument to Carson at Santa Fe and his and Josefa's home in Taos and the nearby cemetery, where his grave had been marked by the Grand Army of the Republic.

The first statues were erected in Colorado. In 1911, the granddaughter of Carson unveiled an equestrian statue at the community park near the state capitol in Denver. It "honored the great explorer" and was inscribed as well with "He Led the Way".<ref>{{cite news |title=Albuquerque Evening Heald |date=January 24, 1911}}</ref> In Trinidad, Colorado, the Daughters of the American Revolution and Boy Scouts of America led fund raising for the bronze statue of Carson in the city's new Kit Carson Park, placed in 1913.<ref>{{cite news |title=Courier-Post |date=May 30, 1913}}</ref>

Californians followed with a statue of Carson on [[Olvera Street]] in [[Los Angeles]], and a bronze representation of a tree trunk with "Carson 1844" inscribed on it, placed at [[Carson Pass]] in the Sierra Nevada.<ref>{{cite news |title=Los Angeles Evening Express |date=September 9, 1931}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Stockton Daily Evening Record |date=June 18, 1921}}</ref> Both represented him as the explorer. Other statues or monuments followed in California, Washington, D.C. (sculpted by [[Isidore Konti]]), Nevada, and elsewhere.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}