I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1192 

To redesignate Mammoth Peak in Yosemite National Park as ‘‘Mount Jessie 

Benton Fre ́mont’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2013 

Mr. MCCLINTOCK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To redesignate Mammoth Peak in Yosemite National Park 

as ‘‘Mount Jessie Benton Fre ́mont’’. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that Jessie Benton Fre ́mont— 

5 (1) was the daughter of United States Senator 

6 Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, a leading pro7 ponent of the concept of Manifest Destiny that advo8 cated for the Nation to expand its borders westward; 


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1 (2) became fluent in French and Spanish, was 

2 a gifted writer, and was at ease in any political dis3 cussion; 

4 (3) married John C. Fre ́mont, who was as5 signed to explore the West; 

6 (4) transformed John C. Fre ́mont’s descriptions 

7 from his treks into prose that was used by pioneers 

8 to guide their route West; 

9 (5) traveled to California in 1849 to join her 

10 husband at their Mariposa ranch, where gold had 

11 been discovered; 

12 (6) became involved in John C. Fre ́mont’s 1856 

13 campaign for Presidency, which proposed the aboli14 tion of slavery, a notion that Jessie Benton Fre ́mont 

15 also supported; 

16 (7) moved to Bear Valley, California, with her 

17 husband John C. Fre ́mont in 1858 and thereafter 

18 realized the need to preserve the land that would be19 come Yosemite National Park for future generations; 

20 (8) entertained men such as Horace Greeley, 

21 Thomas Starr King, and United States Senator Ed22 ward Baker of Oregon, and urged them to begin a 

23 process that ultimately led to the establishment of 

24 Yosemite National Park; 


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1 (9) influenced President Abraham Lincoln to 

2 sign the Act entitled ‘‘An Act authorizing a Grant 

3 to the State of California of the ‘Yo-Semite Valley’ 

4 and of the Land embracing the ‘Mariposa Big Tree 

5 Grove’ ’’, approved June 30, 1864 (commonly known 

6 as the Yosemite Grant), the first instance of land 

7 being set aside specifically for its preservation and 

8 public use by a national government; and 

9 (10) set the foundation for the creation of na10 tional parks and California State parks through her 

11 advocacy for and influence on the Yosemite Grant. 

12 SEC. 2. REDESIGNATION OF MAMMOTH PEAK AS MOUNT 

13 JESSIE BENTON FRE ́ MONT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The peak known as ‘‘Mammoth 

15 Peak’’ in Yosemite National Park (located at NPS coordi16 nates 37.855° N, -119.264° W) shall be redesignated as 

17 ‘‘Mount Jessie Benton Fre ́mont’’ and may be known infor18 mally as ‘‘Mt. Jessie’’ in honor of the contributions of Jes19 sie Benton Fre ́mont to the approval of the Yosemite 

20 Grant. 

21 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, reg22 ulation, document, record, or other paper of the United 

23 States to the peak described in subsection (a) shall be conVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:18 Mar 22, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1192.IH H1192

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1 sidered to be a reference to ‘‘Mount Jessie Benton 

2 Fre ́mont’’. 

Æ 


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