U.S. Southwest:

Taos,

New Mexico

August 28, 2019

(Elevation: 6,969 ft.)

Taos Gallery Association

The village of Taos, first called Fernando de Taos, was established in about 1615, following the Spanish conquest of the regional Indian Pueblo villages.

A larger-than-life mountain man, trapper, scout, soldier, and Indian fighter, Kit Carson, spent 25 years in Taos, and was in his lifetime one of the most famous characters of the American West.

Beginning in 1899, artists began to settle in Taos; six formed the Taos Society of Artists in 1915. Over the ensuing decades, an Taos art colony developed. Many paintings were made of local scenes, especially of Taos Pueblo.

Kit Carson Home and Museum

Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868), better known as Kit Carson, was an American fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. Carson became a frontier legend in his own lifetime via biographies and news articles. Often exaggerated versions of his exploits were the subject of dime novels.

The Kit Carson Home and Museum, located in the heart of Taos, commemorates his life and time here in Taos. Built in 1825, it was from 1843 until his death in 1868 the home of the Carson. An example of Spanish Colonial architecture, it is now owned by the local Masonic fraternity, and serves as a museum dedicated to Carson's life. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963.