Hit the double-nickle today. Damn. How did that happen?
Since I turned 50, this has been my go-to birthday song. Take it Waymore…
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One of the multitude of things I’m grateful for is robust health. It’s not something to take for granted.
As we’ll explore soon in the forthcoming Frontier Partisans Podcast, Kit Carson was used up by the time he hit his mid-50s. It’s not entirely clear what ailed him. He had likely suffered internal injuries when a horse fell and rolled on him coming down a scree slope during a hunting trip, and the rigors of his trapping life seem to have left him with chronic pains in his legs that might have been circulatory problems, arthritis — or both.
A fine horseman, he spent most of his 50s riding in carts to spare his legs, and by the end he couldn’t mount a horse at all. His last years were an agony; only his extreme sense of duty kept him in the field through his last — very strenuous — campaigns. He died in 1868, age 59, apparently of a ruptured aortic aneurysm.
Photographs from the 1860s show his rapid decline:
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One of the major themes of Frontier Partisans is Continuity & Persistence — the recognition that frontier conditions persisted (and persist) long past Frederick Jackson Turner’s official closing of the American frontier in 1890. Linked to that recognition is the effort to “make the past present” — to take inspiration for contemporary living from the mighty deeds of the past.
And sometimes we just like to play with anachronisms. Case in point, which I send out to Craig Rullman with gratitude for his patience in hauling my armament and tactical sensibilities into the 21st Century:
Tonight we shall celebrate birthdays, friendships, Continuity & Persistence and all manner of good things at The Cowboy Dinner Tree — a steakhouse out in the Oregon Outback that is a carnivore’s glimpse of the Promised Land. Been many years since I’ve been there; I am ready for the feast.
Chuck says
Feliz cumpleaños viejo!
JimC says
Thank you!
deuce says
Congrats on seeing another sunrise, Jim! I’m trailing behind you by a little over a year. I’ll have to see what double-nickels look like then. Have a good time at The Cowboy Dinner Tree.
JimC says
Thanks amigo!
Keith West says
I’m just over two years behind you, Jim, so it looks like you’re leading me and Deuce in a birthday parade.
Happy birthday, pardner!
JimC says
Thx Keith.
Matthew says
Interesting that Carson was all worn away by the end of his life. Contrast with another Frontier Partisan, Seleous, who seemed to be in great health until the end of his life. (I think.)
Hope you enjoy your dinner. Continuity and Persistence are eternal.
JimC says
Thanks Matthew.
Ugly Hombre says
Happy Birthday Amigo!
Its all relative- remember-yer still a youngster to some!
Cheers!
U/H
Quixotic Mainer says
Tap and rack Samuel! I got a good laugh out of that one. I recently got certified as an AR armorer, and one thing that made my anachronistic brain happy was the hammer and trigger. As high tech as the black gun is, the hammer and trigger assembly is very similar to the innards of a muzzleloader. Continuity!
As to poor ole Kit, they never specify, but I’ve always thought the horn of his saddle must have got him. He’s usually described as riding a Mexican saddle, and that big horn driven by the weight of his horse could definitely ruin a man. Looking forward to the podcast!
JimC says
I’m betting you’re right re: saddle horn.
Dave T says
I went to SE Asia in 1969 and stayed for 19 months. Deputy sheriff until a collection of herniated discs retired me on a medical retirement. Ran my own firearms training business for 10 years. All those years I ran and competed in both CAS and practical shooting matches.
It’s all caught up, some because of wear and tear, some genetic (arthritis), and just flipping the calendar and piling up the years.
Good for you and your gift of good health. Take care of what you have left on this ol’ ball of dirt.