John Charles Frémont was an explorer, topologist, botanist, soldier, politician, railroad tycoon, gold miner, abolitionist, and one of the most controversial figures in the opening of the American West. He achieved fame and infamy, wealth and destitution, military command and court-martial. His life was as up and down, challenging and exhilarating, as the trails he blazed across the continent.
He was born under the surname Frémon, the illegitimate son of a French-Canadian schoolteacher named Charles Frémon and Anne Whiting, the married woman he had been hired to teach French. Anne was married to John Pryor, a Richmond tobacco merchant of considerable wealth. However, Pryor was in his 60s, and his young wife was but 17 years of age, so the dashing French-Canadian soon swept her off her feet.
When Pryor learned his young wife was having an affair with her tutor, he enlisted the Virginia authorities to have Frémon arrested. Frémon and Anne fled to Savannah, Georgia, where she gave birth to a son on January 21, 1813. The infant was given the name John Charles Frémont, retaining the French aigu over the letter e in his last name, indicating it was pronounced with the sound “-ay”. Though texts still record his last name with the aigu, it is almost uniformly pronounced with the sound of “ee”, as in “free” or “tree”.
Eventually, Frémon made his way back to Norfolk, Virginia, where he died in 1818 after failing to obtain a writ of divorce from the Virginia Assembly. His widow and children found themselves with little income. They moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where young John, well aware of the circumstances of his birth, grew to be a rebellious, proud youth, unencumbered by friends and somewhat contemptuous of rules and societal norms. A Charleston lawyer named John Mitchell took an interest in Anne, and thus in her son John, and helped provide his early education. In 1829, young John entered the College of Charleston, though his indifferent attendance led to his withdrawal in 1831.
Becoming the Pathfinder
John had developed a strong knowledge of mathematics, as well as astronomy, and, in 1833, he gained the support of another Charleston attorney and politician, Joel Poinsett. Poinsett used his then considerable influence to obtain for John an appointment as a teacher of mathematics to midshipmen aboard the USS Natchez. John remained in the Navy for just a short period of time, resigning to take a position with the newly created United States Topographical Corps. He joined an expedition to chart a route for the proposed Charleston, Louisville, and Cincinnati Railroad.
For several years, he worked in surveys from the Piedmont to the Great Smoky Mountains, including preparing routes for the removal of the Cherokee Indians to the newly created Indian Territory in the west (today’s Oklahoma). In 1837, Poinsett became Secretary of War under President Martin van Buren. Poinsett supported an expedition to explore and map the lands between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and after obtaining the necessary appropriations, he hired a noted French explorer, Joseph Nicollet, to lead it, assisted by John Frémont as lead topographer. By then, John had become an expert not only in topography but in astronomy, geology, navigation, and botany.
By working with Nicollet, Frémont came into contact with many of the men whose names would resonate throughout the history of the American West. Among them were the mountain men, as they were called, the earliest explorers of European and African descent to penetrate the far western territories. Frémont became a confidant of men like Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith, and Henry Sibley. He also became known to the leaders of the western Native American tribes, including the then-friendly Sioux Nation, the warlike Utes, the Arapaho, the Cheyenne, and others.
His explorations with Nicollet brought him considerable acclaim, and his written reports of the expeditions were reprinted by eastern newspapers and magazines. Frémont found himself in demand in Washington City, consulted by politicians and powerful interests, all looking toward the western lands and the emerging concept of Manifest Destiny. Among the powerful politicians who sought his counsel was Thomas Hart Benton, Senator from Missouri. Benton was an early proponent of Manifest Destiny and, with more than 30 years of Senate seniority, one of the most powerful men in Washington.
He was also the father of a 16-year-old daughter named Jessie, with whom John was quickly and thoroughly smitten. It seems the feelings were reciprocated. Sen. Benton did not approve, in part due to the circumstances of John’s birth and his low social standing. Undeterred, John and Jessie eloped in 1841. Before Benton could intervene, the couple were married. John was then 28 years of age, and though his bride had not yet reached the age of majority, such marriages were common at the time. Eventually, they had five children together. Benton’s fury gradually dissipated; his daughter won him over, and Frémont acquired a powerful patron in the form of his father-in-law.
The Way West
The expansionists in Washington and throughout America faced considerable obstacles in implementing the policy that they called Manifest Destiny in the mid-19th century. From their vantage point in Vancouver, Great Britain coveted the section of the North American continent then known as the Oregon Territory, leading to an ongoing dispute between Britain and America over the exact location of the boundary between American territory and British Canada. To the South and West, Mexico controlled a wide swath of land, including California, blocking American access to much of the Pacific coastline, as well as much of what is now Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming.
In between, in the Great Plains, the Great Basin between the Rockies and the Sierras, and in the mountains themselves, Native American tribes lived on, hunted, and roamed the lands. Expansionists wanted American settlers on those lands. To get them there, routes were needed, as were reports on the nature of the lands themselves: how they were watered, how fertile they were, how they could be defended, and how they could be connected via roads, waterways, and the newly emerging transportation opportunities afforded by steam locomotives on rails.
Thomas Hart Benton and other leading expansionists supported the funding of military and scientific expeditions into the West, and were tasked with mapping the continent and assessing its wildlife, flora, fauna, and mineral wealth. Benton tapped his son-in-law to lead his first of these expeditions in 1842, sending him to the Oregon Territory. Frémont was to lead the small scientific and exploratory party to explore the Oregon Trail, alternative routes, and to examine sites for the establishment of forts and trading posts along the way.
Frémont departed on the exploration in June 1842. His five-month trek through the wilderness, accomplished via river travel and afoot, included his scaling what is now known as Frémont’s Peak, at 13,745 feet, the third highest peak in modern-day Wyoming. On its summit, he planted an American flag and used it to claim the Rocky Mountains and the lands on both sides of the range for the United States. Upon his return to Washington in October, with the literary assistance of his wife Jessie, he wrote Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains.
Their account of the journey minimized the dangers, maximized the opportunities the land offered, and made Frémont a celebrity in the East. The famed American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote of him, “Frémont has touched my imagination. What a wild life, and what a fresh kind of existence!” Eastern newspapers praised Frémont and bestowed upon him a new name, borrowed from a novel by James Fenimore Cooper, published in 1840. They called him The Pathfinder.
From Pathfinder to Political Opportunist
Frémont’s 1842 expedition was the first of several he led during the turbulent decade of the 1840s. Among the controversies that roiled American society during those years were the role of slavery in the expanding territories, quarrels with Britain over the Canadian border, the admission of Texas to the Union, and the resulting border disputes with Mexico. Frémont’s expeditions contributed to the debates as his reports lauded lands for settlement, and led to increasing American demands for ownership of lands then claimed by others.
His second expedition, beginning in the summer of 1843, took his party to the Great Salt Lake, along the Snake River in modern-day Idaho, and along the Columbia River. He then led his group south into the Great Basin between the Rockies and the Sierras, eventually reaching Lake Tahoe. From there, they crossed the High Sierras, led by Frémont and Kit Carson, reaching Sutter’s Fort near today’s Sacramento in the early spring, 1844. While refitting his party at Sutter’s, Frémont observed the large number of non-Mexican settlers there and the lack of authority exhibited by the Mexican government.
By August 1844, Frémont and his party had returned to St. Louis. Frémont then journeyed to Washington, where he, again assisted by his wife Jessie, published his findings as a report to Congress. Congress ordered his “Report and Maps” printed for public dissemination, and 10,000 copies appeared in the first printing in 1845. Frémont’s report became one of the first travel guides in American history, used by pioneers and settlers moving into the West.
In 1845, with prominent Manifest Destiny proponent James K. Polk entering the White House, Frémont prepared for another expedition to the West, one which added political and military aspects to its exploratory and scientific goals. Polk’s campaign had openly discussed his goal of the United States seizing California from Mexico. These desires were expressed to Frémont both directly by the President and in detail via Senator Benton and Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft.
Frémont’s third expedition, his largest to date, was formed to serve as a military force in California under his command, working with US Navy frigates and steamers once war with Mexico was declared. Frémont departed from St. Louis in June 1845, and by the end of the year, his force was near Sutter’s Fort. In early 1846, Mexican authorities ordered Frémont and his large party to leave Mexican lands, and though the American made a show of departing for the Oregon County, he was soon encamped on today’s Fremont Peak (California), where he defied the Mexicans by displaying the American flag.
Frémont then led his expedition northward, encountering several hostile native settlements en route. Conflicts with the tribes led to atrocities, including the murder of prisoners, perpetrated by both sides. In the spring of 1846, Frémont led his troops back to California, where he met with US Navy forces stationed near Sausalito. After requesting supplies for his expedition, he informed the Naval authorities of his intention to return that summer to St. Louis.
The Bear Republic
By late May 1846, Frémont was encamped once again near Sutter’s Fort, where he encouraged American settlers to join his forces in a rebellion against the Mexican government. In June, a force of American irregulars captured Sonoma, over which they raised the flag of the Bear Republic. Though Frémont had incited the Americans to rebel, he disassociated himself from their actions after the fact. He began signing his correspondence as the Military Commander of United States Forces in California.
In July 1846, US Navy forces arrived in Monterey, and although they did not carry definitive news of war between the United States and Mexico, hostilities nonetheless continued between Mexican and American settlers. The US Naval commander in California, Commodore John Sloat, posted proclamations claiming California as part of the United States. During this time, Frémont used his assumed authority, backed by his armed troops, to absorb irregular troops of the Bear Republic under his command.
Commodore Sloat was relieved of command when Commodore Robert Stockton arrived in California in July. Both Naval officers believed Frémont was operating under orders from the War Department in Washington. That belief ended when General Stephen Kearny arrived in late 1846. Kearny carried orders from Polk directing him to seize California and establish a civil government. By then, most of the coastal settlements had already been taken by Frémont, conducting joint operations with Stockton’s ships and Marine detachments. Kearny attempted to assert his authority by ordering Frémont to place his troops and himself under his command. Frémont refused, claiming he was under the command of Stockton.
None of the three commanders in California, Stockton, Kearny, and Frémont, held sufficient troops to establish military control over the vast region on their own. In early 1847, Stockton assigned Frémont as military governor, which contradicted Kearny’s expressed orders from Washington. Co-operation between Kearny and Frémont was virtually non-existent. Throughout the summer of 1847, the two quarreled over each other’s authority and the best use of their respective commands. Rumors during the summer reached Kearny’s ears that Frémont supported the continued existence of the independent Bear Republic, rather than California becoming a US territory.
In August 1847, Kearny had Frémont arrested, charged with mutiny, and sent to Washington to stand trial. In January 1848, Frémont was found not guilty of mutiny but guilty of disobedience toward a superior officer. Senator Benton intervened on his son-in-law’s behalf with President Polk, who commuted his sentence to a dishonorable discharge. The President did not pardon Frémont, nor did he overturn the court-martial’s findings.
Frémont received the President’s commutation petulantly, resigning his commission rather than accepting what he viewed as partial vindication. After leaving the army, he returned to California, putting him in the territory just before one of the most famed events in that region’s history.
Wealth, Fame, and the Fourth Expedition
Benton was an early supporter of a railroad across the continent, from St. Louis to San Francisco along the track of the 38th parallel of latitude. In October 1848, Frémont left St. Louis with a party of 35 men, intent on proving the viability of the proposed route. By the time his group reached Bent’s Fort in southeastern Colorado, the snow was already too deep for them to progress more than a handful of miles per day. The fourth expedition was a failure, at least in terms of finding proof of a viable railroad route.
Yet while his reputation had been damaged by his military adventurism, and his role as The Pathfinder was tarnished by the failed fourth expedition, Frémont had consolation for his troubles. In 1847, he purchased a ranch of over seventy square miles near Yosemite, in the foothills of the Sierras. He installed a sawmill in 1848, intending to ship lumber from his ranch to the growing communities in coastal California.
The following year, Frémont learned that his ranch included a vein of quartz that stretched over five miles and held enough gold for hundreds of pounds to be mined every month. John C. Frémont became fabulously wealthy virtually overnight, though the wealth brought problems as well. Legal issues arose over the ownership of mineral rights in what had formerly been Mexican lands, with deeds of title stretching back, in some cases, to the days of the Spanish Conquistadores. As the California gold rush boomed, squatters appeared on land claims, forcing owners to hire guards to protect their property.
Frémont’s legal issues centered upon the fact that the owner from whom the land had been purchased while under Mexican control had never resided upon it, a violation of Mexican law. In addition, the borders had never been formally entered upon the deed while in Mexican control. Frémont thus had legal disputes with neighboring owners desirous of his gold-rich property, and tax settlement issues with the local government. Not until 1856 would the US Supreme Court rule on the case, though when it did, it found for Frémont, allowing him to retain his land and the wealth it created for him.
The Lure of Politics
With wealth, fame, and considerable public sympathy for what some viewed as an unjust court-martial, it was probably inevitable that John Frémont entered politics. He was one of two Senators elected by the State legislature to represent California in Washington, DC in December 1849. California had not yet been granted statehood, and Frémont entered the Senate as a Shadow Senator, unable to vote or to participate in legislative activities. The following September, he became a full-fledged Senator from California.
Frémont served in Washington a total of just 21 days, during a term in office of 175 days. He devoted most of his time in office to attempting to enact legislation that would establish laws clearly supporting his own land claims in California, then still enmeshed in litigation. He also supported laws that would prevent foreign ownership of any mineral rights, particularly gold claims, another brazen attempt to feather his own nest through Congressional action. Both failed, as did his campaign to win re-election to the Senate in 1851. His brief tenure did establish his reputation as an ardent supporter of the abolitionist movement, as well as the prevention of slavery in new states and territories. He was not finished with politics.
In 1856, Frémont ran for the Presidency. Though he had been a member of the Democratic Party during his earlier political endeavors, he switched to the fledgling Republican Party in 1854 and was that party’s first nominee for President in 1856. Throughout the campaign, Frémont remained at his New York residence while his supporters emphasized his views with the slogan, “Free soil, free men, and Frémont”. Not only did Frémont lose the general election, but he also failed to carry California, the state with which he was most deeply connected in the public image. Following his defeat, he returned to California and his ranch and gold mines.
Return to the Military
In 1861, Frémont traveled to Europe, hoping to attract investment partners in his mining and railroad interests. He was in France when the Civil War broke out in North America, and President Lincoln expressed his desire to make Frémont Ambassador to France. Lincoln believed Frémont’s well-known opposition to slavery would strengthen the American position with the French government. Secretary of State Seward opposed granting Frémont an Ambassadorship, fearing he was too radical. Lincoln deferred to his Secretary of State.
When Frémont returned to America, arriving at Boston in June 1861, he learned the President had commissioned him as a Major General and assigned him to command the Department of the West. Frémont journeyed to Washington to discuss his command with Lincoln and his generals before establishing his headquarters in St. Louis in late July. His task was immense, including recruiting, training, and equipping an army before leading it to secure Missouri, Kentucky, and the western counties of Virginia, as well as south along the Mississippi to New Orleans.
He immediately demonstrated he was not up to the task. Rumors of corruption, kickbacks from contractors, and criminal activities by the California business and political contacts to whom he assigned leading roles in his command were rife. He created his own personal guard, a troop of 300 Kentuckians, and a house guard of foreign troops, assigned to protect the lavish mansion he selected as his headquarters. The one action Frémont took that proved to be fortuitous was his selection of Brigadier Ulysses S. Grant to command his troops. Grant assumed command in August and was soon on the offensive in Kentucky and eastern Missouri, winning small but important victories in what was referred to in Eastern newspapers as “The West”.
Meanwhile, Frémont reacted to increasing pressure to quell the partisan warfare in Missouri by placing the entire state under martial law, and in so doing, emancipated the enslaved peoples within the state. In Washington, Union leaders opposed the action, fearing it would inspire Kentucky to secede. Lincoln responded by directing Frémont to rescind his order. Frémont refused and instead dispatched his wife, Jessie, to Washington to make his case to the President. Frémont’s refusal to obey the orders of his Commander-in-Chief, coupled with the corruption surrounding his command and his previously established reputation for disobeying orders, led to Lincoln dismissing him from command on November 2, 1861.
In addition, Frémont’s private guard was disbanded, and all contracts that he had generated were suspended until they could be reviewed and amended by authorities in Washington. As a concession to the still popular Pathfinder, at least among Radical Republicans, Frémont was assigned to command the Mountain Department, which included western Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and eastern Kentucky. In June 1862, after several failed actions in the region, Frémont resigned, returned to New York, and began plotting his future.
The Lost Pathfinder
In 1864, Frémont again became a thorn in Lincoln’s side, helping to create the Radical Democracy Party and accepting its nomination as their candidate for President. The new party effectively split the Republicans. Lincoln adroitly maneuvered to assuage the Radical Republicans who supported Frémont’s candidacy, and in September of that year, the Pathfinder announced his withdrawal from the election. He and Jessie purchased an estate in New York, which they named Pocaho, near Sleepy Hollow. Having retired from politics with his withdrawal in the election of 1864, Frémont turned to his business interests.
His fabulous gold strike in California had by then petered out, and his railroad investments soon followed. The Panic of 1873 wiped out what remained of the rest of his fortune. He was forced to sell Pocaho in 1875 and returned to New York City. In 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Frémont as the Governor of the Arizona Territory. The Frémonts found life in Arizona not to their taste, and they spent so little time there that he was eventually directed to remain in the territory and attend to their duties or resign. He resigned in 1881, and he and Jessie remained in New York, in a house on Staten Island, dependent on her writing income to make ends meet.
Jessie wrote several books on her experiences in the West, including four that were published prior to her husband receiving an Army pension in 1890. Shortly after that fortuitous event, the Pathfinder was taken ill. He died on July 13, 1890, of peritonitis, in his bedroom at home on Staten Island.
Frémont’s name is attached to counties, cities, towns, and numerous promontories across the United States. Historians regard his exploratory expeditions as major contributors to the opening of the American West, and his fame during his life spread throughout the continent and to Europe as well. Yet his military and political careers were checkered with self-serving irregularities which still adversely affect his reputation. John Frémont followed his own path, regardless of where it led him, and left behind a legacy for others to sort out, indifferent to the results.
