Fremont, Pathmarker of the WestOne of the most controversial and romantic figures in American history, John C. Främont experienced a dizzying succession of public triumphs and humiliations. He made his name exploring the West, surveying, mapping, and describing the Rockies, the Great Basin, and Oregon country. Allan Nevins gives Främont full credit for his achievements as a topographer, soldier, and politician while noting how often his rashness attracted enemies and led to his downfall: to a court-martial for disobeying orders during the Bear Flag Rebellion, to a disastrous winter expedition in the San Juan Mountains, to his defeat as the first presidential candidate of the Republican party, to the loss of his Civil War command. Through sickness and health, poverty and wealth, his wife, the vivacious Jessie Benton Främont, stood by him. Their enduring romance occupies much more than the background in this absorbing story of his life. The dean of American historians, Allan Nevins won the Pulitzer Prize for his biographies of Grover Cleveland and Hamilton Fish. |
Contents
CHARLESTON BOYHOOD | 1 |
An EXPLORERS TRAINING | 19 |
FIRST VIEW OF THE GREAT WEST | 29 |
WASHINGTON COURTSHIP | 46 |
A RUNAWAY MARRIAGE | 60 |
THE STAKES OF THE WEST | 72 |
THE FIRST EXPEDITION | 89 |
SOUTH PASS AND FRÉMONTS PEAK | 104 |
STARVATION AND CANNIBALISM | 343 |
CHAPTER PAGE XXIII GOLCONDA AND THE SENATE | 373 |
MANAGING THE MARIPOSAS | 393 |
THE FIFTH EXPEDITION | 408 |
THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION | 421 |
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1856 | 439 |
NEW MARIPOSA TROUBLES | 459 |
CIVIL WAR IN THE WEST | 473 |
THE FIRST REPORT | 116 |
OUTWARD BOUND | 127 |
OVER THE WINTER SIERRAS | 147 |
SUTTERS FORT AND CALIFORNIA | 161 |
HOMEWARD OVER THE ROCKIES | 175 |
WASHINGTON EXPANSIONISTS AND THE FAR WEST | 190 |
THE THIRD EXPEDITION | 206 |
A CLASH WITH CALIFORNIANS | 217 |
THE MESSAGE FROM GILLESPIE | 234 |
THE BEAR FLAG OUTBREAK | 253 |
THE CALIFORNIA BATTALION | 287 |
THE QUARREL WITH KEARNY | 305 |
A FAMOUS COURTMARTIAL | 327 |
FREMONT VS BLAIR AND LINCOLN | 503 |
THE END OF THE HUNDRED DAYS | 529 |
THE MOUNTAIN DEPARTMENT | 550 |
THE DEFEAT OF THE BLAIRS | 564 |
A FINANCIAL DEBACLE | 583 |
POVERTY AND LABOR | 602 |
CHARACTER AND FAME | 612 |
SOME NEW LIGHT ON FRÉMONT | 623 |
FRÉMONTS CHILDREN | 663 |
E M KERNS LETTER | 667 |
| 671 | |
| 675 | |
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Common terms and phrases
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