In 1842 John C. Fremont led a party of twenty-five men on a five-month journey from Saint Louis to the Wind River Range in the Rocky Mountains; his goal: to chart the best route to Oregon. In 1843 Fremont was commissioned for another expedition, to explore the Great Salt Lake, Washington, eastern California, Carson Pass, and the San Joaquin Valley, places that did not yet belong to the United States.
His journals from these expeditions, edited in collaboration with his wife, Jessie Benton Fremont, and published by Congress, thrilled the nation and firmly established Fremont s persona...
In 1842 John C. Fremont led a party of twenty-five men on a five-month journey from Saint Louis to the Wind River Range in the Rocky Mountains; his...