[1] On June 15, 1850, he married Caroline Catherine Butcher, the daughter of a black mother and half-Native American and half-white father.

From 1850 to 1855, he prospected for gold in California while his wife moved to Ontario, Canada, due to fears of being sold into slavery.

After leaving the army he moved to the western United States by traveling through Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska before arriving in Denver, Colorado Territory.

However, Caroline Catherine Butcher arrived in Denver and accused Hardin of being a bigamist, moving to the western United States to avoid being drafted into the army, and of being the father of Mary Elizabeth, who was born in 1858.

[2] In 1880, he was reelected, although he had attempted to have his name removed from the ballot, after finishing eighth with 1,277 votes and became the only member of the House to serve in both the sixth and seventh sessions.