In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought it’d be only fitting to talk about love. But no candle-lit dinners, heart shaped chocolate, and whispered sweet nothings to see here..… probably. The love we’ll be exploring today involves mountain men, sheep, and most likely a lot of questionable facial hair. Saddle up for one of the greatest bromances of the Wild West.
For those of you in the back, let’s define our terms. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a bromance is “a close nonsexual friendship between men.” These friendships are often built of loyalty, shared adventures, and the unspoken understanding that of course you’ll help your buddy move….. even if his new apartment is on the 8th floor and the elevators are out of order.
Pop culture has provided us with some great examples of a bromance. My personal favorite is Chandler and Joey from Friends. There’s also Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street who taught us that one roommate is always cleaner than the other, Ron and Harry from the Harry Potter franchise demonstrating loyalty and teenage angst, and of course Holmes and Watson from Sherlock Holmes, the Victorian-era duo who solved crimes in between roasting each other.
But what about real life bromances? History has almost definitely had its fair share of ride-or-die partnerships. Today’s subjects? Kit Carson and Lucien Maxwell. If the Wild West had friendship bracelets, I’m sure these two would’ve made theirs out of rawhide and horse hair.
Cue their meet-cute: in Taos, New Mexico, early 1830s, where there were many dusty mountain men, traders, trappers, and others generally looking for adventure and gold, a young Lucien Maxwell – 20-something, Illinois- born, and fueled by wanderlust – meets Kit Carson, who is nine years older and beginning to build a reputation as an apt frontiersman with serious credentials.
According to Lawrence Murphy in Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell: Napoleon of the Southwest, “Carson had a winning personality, however, that won him a great many admirers, not the least of whom was Lucien Maxwell, who became his boon companion, closest friend, and frequent business partner.” If that doesn’t scream bromance, I don’t know what does.
The two later assisted John C. Frémont on his first expedition. (it’s unclear who recommended whom, but I imagine it was a bit of them each hyping the other up to the explorer. “Dude, you’ve got to meet my guy Lucien!” “Oh Kit? Absolute legend. Definitely the man for the job.”) Lucien was hired as chief hunter and Kit served as guide. But according to Frémont’s own journal, they often performed their duties together (some of the men even saying that Kit was the better hunter). Murphy comments that the expedition further strengthened their friendship as well as individual reputations, thanks to Frémont’s publicly circulated report of the adventure.
After that first expedition – and another Kit did without his bro (rude) – Kit settled in El Ponil, a settlement started by Carlos Beaubien (Lucien’s father-in-law) and Charles Bent (Kit’s brother-in-law). Not only were these two besties, but they were entangled in a frontier family tree that probably required everyone to have a flowchart at family events.
Five years later, Kit moved just over ten miles south to help Lucien establish a new settlement off the Santa Fe Trail called Rayado. From the early descriptions, Rayado sounds less like a pioneer outpost and more like a Wild West frat house. One visitor from Pennsylvania noted that all the settlers ate together at one giant table and that the place was “of no mean order.” Think what you will, but to me that says it was chaotic, but impressive. Probably loud. Definitely full of stories that began, “You won’t believe this. So this one time..…”
Of course, life on the frontier couldn’t always be communal dining and bro bonding time. Due to the positioning of Rayado, Kit and Lucien dealt with frequent Native American attacks targeting both people and livestock. They had to defend their settlement, protect their neighbors, and keep everything functioning without the help of YouTube tutorials and Home Depot.
Now, nothing says healthy male friendship like a summer getaway, and the two eventually took a much needed mountain retreat with other trapping buddies in Colorado and Wyoming. Picture this: rugged peaks, fur traps, campfire cooking, and at least one argument about who should be brewing the coffee.
Their bromance story gets even better! There are multiple accounts claiming that Kit and Lucien had a dual wedding..… as in a double ceremony….. a two for one matrimony. While records show that each man married in Taos under Padre Martinez (to very young brides, as was common at the time), the weddings actually occurred about 6 months apart. But I refuse to believe they hadn’t attended each other’s ceremonies!
Then in 1843, following in the footsteps of legendary Uncle Dick Wooton, the duo herded over 6,500 New Mexico sheep north to places like Wyoming and California. Over. Six. Thousand. Sheep. I’m inclined to believe these were Churro sheep, a breed popular in New Mexico among the Diné people and Spanish settlers since the 17th century. Hardy, adaptable, and probably side-eyeing the two men the whole time. Imagine the logistics. The dust. The bleating. If your bond can survive 6,500 sheep over hundreds of miles, it can withstand anything.
Soon after that journey, their paths began to shift. Kit moved back to Taos, Lucien relocated about 10 miles north of Rayado and founded Cimarron. Like all great bromances, they evolved. They weren’t always side by side after that. But their early years – expeditions, settlements, mountain retreats, sheep herding – cemented an enduring relationship.
So this Valentine’s Day, while the world is celebrating romances, chocolates, and overpriced restaurant meals, take a moment to appreciate the bromances in your life, and lift your cup of coffee (or stronger brew..… Taos Lightening anyone?) to Kit Carson and Lucien Maxwell. Two men who built settlements, explored the Southwest, and remained “boon companions” through it all.
Mountain Girl
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