General Grant must’ve known Kit Carson. They both fought in the Mexican American war, in California. Kit was the messenger, Grant was the warrior. General Grant and Mark Twain almost had a battle in 1860 in Missouri. After two weeks of being in the confederacy Sam, quit. He had some explaining to do, for the rest of his life. Both men have some history of being in California, before the Civil War.
I found it interesting that Palo Alto and Monterey California are inscribed at the base of the statue along with all the other battles he was in. He fought in the Mexican American war in the 1840s distinguishing himself. So he traveled all over this country before there were decent roads.