"Memoirs of My Life" by John Charles Fremont. Chicago: Bedford, Clarke & Co., 1887. First edition. Volume 1, only volume published.
John Charles Fremont (1813 – 1890) was an American military officer, explorer, mapmaker and politician. He was one of the principal figures in opening up the American West to settlement and was instrumental in the U.S. conquest and development of California. During the 1840s, when he led four expeditions into the American West, that era’s penny press and admiring historians nicknamed Fremont “The Pathfinder.” After briefly and illegitimately serving as governor of California (which led to his court martial), Fremont resigned his commission and purchased an estate in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Mariposa. It was in the midst of the California gold rush and, after rich gold veins were found on his land, he became a multimillionaire.
Fremont remained popular with the public and he became one of the first two U.S. senators from the new state of California in 1850. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. presidency in 1856 as the first candidate of the newly formed Republican Party. During the American Civil War, he was given command of the Western Armies by President Lincoln. Fremont’s tenure as commander was brief. He tended to make hasty decisions without consulting with Washington or the President. After his emancipation edict that freed slaves in his district, he was relieved of his command by President Lincoln for insubordination
Fremont’s grandest achievement was in exploring the West and making it known through his maps and his lively, readable reports prepared with the help of his wife. They seem to have been influential in the Mormons’ decision to settle in the Salt Lake Valley. He also discovered and named the Great Basin and established the correct elevation of the Great Salt Lake at 4,200 feet.
"Memoirs of My Life" by John Charles Fremont. Chicago: Bedford, Clarke & Co., 1887. First edition. Volume 1, only volume published.
John Charles Fremont (1813 – 1890) was an American military officer, explorer, mapmaker and politician. He was one of the principal figures in opening up the American West to settlement and was instrumental in the U.S. conquest and development of California. During the 1840s, when he led four expeditions into the American West, that era’s penny press and admiring historians nicknamed Fremont “The Pathfinder.” After briefly and illegitimately serving as governor of California (which led to his court martial), Fremont resigned his commission and purchased an estate in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Mariposa. It was in the midst of the California gold rush and, after rich gold veins were found on his land, he became a multimillionaire.
Fremont remained popular with the public and he became one of the first two U.S. senators from the new state of California in 1850. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. presidency in 1856 as the first candidate of the newly formed Republican Party. During the American Civil War, he was given command of the Western Armies by President Lincoln. Fremont’s tenure as commander was brief. He tended to make hasty decisions without consulting with Washington or the President. After his emancipation edict that freed slaves in his district, he was relieved of his command by President Lincoln for insubordination
Fremont’s grandest achievement was in exploring the West and making it known through his maps and his lively, readable reports prepared with the help of his wife. They seem to have been influential in the Mormons’ decision to settle in the Salt Lake Valley. He also discovered and named the Great Basin and established the correct elevation of the Great Salt Lake at 4,200 feet.