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History Colorado Reveals Kit Carson Relic

By Alan Gionet

DENVER (CBS4) - History Colorado will bring another rarely seen item out for display Friday morning: Kit Carson's coat and rifle.

Carson was a Colorado mountain man, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and American army officer who lived from 1809 to 1868. The coat is said to be the last one used by Carson. It was once on display at the Centennial Expo in Philadelphia in 1876 and reportedly taken to Paris for display.

"Kit Carson is an interesting figure over time, that is in many ways complicated," said Alisa Zahller, senior curator for artifacts at the History Colorado Center museum. "One of the things that I found interesting about the coat was that it was actually taken to Paris by Frederick MacMonnies, who is the sculptor of the Pioneer Monument. And Kit Carson sits at the top of that monument, so this coat was used to model that figure."

The monument is along Colfax near Civic Center Park.

Pioneer Monument
(credit: CBS)

The rifle was given to O.P. Wiggins in 1839. Wiggins was a deputy U.S. Marshal.

Both go on display at the History Colorado Center, located at Broadway and 13th when it opens Friday morning at 10 a.m. It's part of "Who Knew!? Everything Old is New Again." The exhibit has experts taking rarely seen items out of storage and revealing them anew each week.

Alan Gionet is anchor of the CBS4 Morning News and reports on a wide variety of issues and "Good Question" stories. He started at CBS4 in 1994. Follow Alan on Twitter @AlanGTV.

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