IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1192 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 15, 2014 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

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, 


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HR 1192 RFS 

1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that Jessie Benton Fre ́mont— 

3 (1) was the daughter of United States Senator 

4 Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, a leading pro5 ponent of the concept of Manifest Destiny that advo6 cated for the Nation to expand its borders westward; 

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

8 a gifted writer, and was at ease in any political dis9 cussion; 

10 (3) married John C. Fre ́mont, who was as11 signed to explore the West; 

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

13 from his treks into prose that was used by pioneers 

14 to guide their route West; 

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

16 husband at their Mariposa ranch, where gold had 

17 been discovered; 

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

19 campaign for Presidency, which proposed the aboli20 tion of slavery, a notion that Jessie Benton Fre ́mont 

21 also supported; 

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

23 husband John C. Fre ́mont in 1858 and thereafter 

24 realized the need to preserve the land that would be25 come Yosemite National Park for future generations; 


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HR 1192 RFS 

1 (8) entertained men such as Horace Greeley, 

2 Thomas Starr King, and United States Senator Ed3 ward Baker of Oregon, and urged them to begin a 

4 process that ultimately led to the establishment of 

5 Yosemite National Park; 

6 (9) influenced President Abraham Lincoln to 

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

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

9 and of the Land embracing the ‘Mariposa Big Tree 

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

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

12 being set aside specifically for its preservation and 

13 public use by a national government; and 

14 (10) set the foundation for the creation of na15 tional parks and California State parks through her 

16 advocacy for and influence on the Yosemite Grant. 

17 SEC. 2. REDESIGNATION OF MAMMOTH PEAK AS MOUNT 

18 JESSIE BENTON FRE ́ MONT. 

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

20 Peak’’ in Yosemite National Park (located at NPS coordi21 nates 37.855° N, -119.264° W) shall be redesignated as 

22 ‘‘Mount Jessie Benton Fre ́mont’’ and may be known infor23 mally as ‘‘Mt. Jessie’’ in honor of the contributions of Jes24 sie Benton Fre ́mont to the approval of the Yosemite 

25 Grant. 


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HR 1192 RFS 

1 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in a law, map, reg2 ulation, document, record, or other paper of the United 

3 States to the peak described in subsection (a) shall be con4 sidered to be a reference to ‘‘Mount Jessie Benton 

5 Fre ́mont’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 14, 2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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