The Carson House, now a National Historic Landmark, was built in 1825 and purchased by Kit Carson in 1843 as a wedding gift for his beautiful bride, Josefa Jaramillo, member of a prominent Taos family. The building was to be their permanent home for the next twenty five years, their lifetime together. Within its thick adobe walls, their children were born and reared along with several adopted Native children. Spanish was the primary language spoken in the Carson household. Many famous men of that period were overnight guests and entertained by the Carson’s. It was a simple, but comfortable home.

The various vocations of Kit Carson during his married life with Josefa allowed him very little time to be with his family in this house, but it was always home. His family was always there awaiting him on his return from the various scouting trips with John C. Fremont and other officers, and later from his duties as Indian Agent and as an Army Officer during the Civil War period. During his 25 years of marriage with Josefa, the longest period of time that Kit was with his family in this house was during the time he served as Ute Indian Agent from January 1854 to June 1861, when he had his Agency headquarters in Taos.

The first of three periods that the whole Carson family did not occupy the Taos house was during the years of 1851 to early 1854 when Kit tried to ranch on the Rayado south of Cimarron. Kit went to the Rayado in April 1849 to start work on the ranch and to a build a house there. He did not move the family from Taos until 1851 when he had completed the ranch house. Accepting the appointment as Ute Indian Agent on January 6, 1854, Kit moved the family back to Taos.

  The second period was from May 1866 to November 1867, when Brevet Brigadier General Carson was serving as Commanding Officer of Fort Garland, Colorado, the first time in his military career that he could have his family with him on an Army Post. There were other times, however, during the Civil War days when the family did visit Kit at various Army installations and may have stayed for a short time, but these were merely visits and not permanent moves.

Of course, the third and final move from Taos was early in 1868 when Kit, having resigned from the Army and being quite ill, moved the family to Boggsville, Colorado. After a period of illness, Kit followed his wife Josefa in death on 23 May 1868 at Fort Lyon. Their bodies were later brought back to Taos for reburial in the American Cemetery in May 1869.

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