45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2001

REQUESTING THE MUSEUM DIVISION OF THE OFFICE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS TO INVESTIGATE THE VALUE OF ADDING THE KIT CARSON HOME, ONE OF FOUR PROPERTIES LISTED AS NATIONAL HISTORIC BUILDINGS IN TAOS, TO THE MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO STATE MONUMENT SYSTEM.

WHEREAS, the Kit Carson home, located in Taos, is being operated as a museum that displays artifacts from the lives of people who lived in Taos in the mid-nineteenth century; and

WHEREAS, the Kit Carson home was built in 1825 and was purchased by Kit Carson in 1843 as a wedding gift to his new bride, Josefa Jaramillo Carson; and

WHEREAS, many in the community of Taos followed the deeds and life of Kit Carson with great pride and honored him for his bravery and service to the country, while Navajo people have a very different opinion of the glory of his deeds; and

WHEREAS, following the death of Kit Carson on May 23, 1868, the house was sold to generate money to support his wife and six children; and

WHEREAS, in 1909, the Masonic grand lodge of New Mexico made a challenge to the Masonic Bent lodge #42 of Taos to purchase and restore the home Kit Carson had lived in over forty years before; and

WHEREAS, although funds were scarce the home was purchased, stabilized and restored; and

WHEREAS, the home was used as a residence until 1953, when the Kit Carson memorial foundation, incorporated, was formed to maintain the buildings and to operate and manage the home as a museum to commemorate the name of Kit Carson; and

WHEREAS, the national park service designated the home as a national historic landmark in 1963; and

WHEREAS, the home Kit Carson lived in has been well-preserved, and provides a glimpse into the lives of people who lived in the mid-nineteenth century in Taos and would be an asset to the state museum and monument system, in spite of the mixed opinions about the legacy of the man;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the museum division of the office of cultural affairs investigate the value to the state of making the Kit Carson home and museum a state monument and preserving this glimpse into the lives of people living in New Mexico in the mid-nineteenth century for generations to come; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the office of cultural affairs.