The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-18 00:00:00

TFIE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENINtx, OCTOBER 18, 1861.

,f This Day. 1

GENER.IL FREMONT.

(From the New American Cyclopedia.)

Fremont, John Charles, an American explorer,
born in Savannah, Georgia, January 21,1813. His
father was a Frenchman who had settled in Nor-
folk, "Virginia, where he supported himself by teach-
ing his native language. His mother, whose maiden
name was Anne Beverley Whiting, was the daugh-
ter of an opulent and prominent Virginian, con-
nected by marriage with the Washington family.
She was left an orphan at an early age, and when
seventeen years old was persuaded by her relatives
to marry Major Pryor, a rich and gouty gentleman
forty-five years her senior. This union was child-
less and unhappy, and at the end of twelve years was
terminated by a divorce which the friends of both
parties combined to procure from the Legisla-
ture. Major Pryor soon married his housekeeper.
and Mrs. Pryor married Mr. Fremont. He died in
1818. The widow, with three infant children,
settled in Charleston, South Carolina. At the age
of 15, John Charles Entered the junior class of
Charleston College. For some time he stood high
in college, and made remarkable attainments in

mathematics. " But about this time," says Mr.
Bigelow, one of iais biographers, " he became ac-
quainted with a young West Indian girl, whose
raven hair and soft black eyes interfered sadly
with his studies." His inattention and frequent
absences at length caused his expulsion from the

college. After this event he obtained employment
as a private teacher of mathematics, and took
charge at the same time of an evening school.
In 1833 he obtained the position of teacher of
mathematics on board of the United States
sloop of war, Natchez, which was then in the
port of Charleston, from which she sailed
on a cruise to the coast of South America.
Fremont was absent in her for more than two
years, and on his return to Charleston received from
the College which had expelled him the degrees of
Bachelor and Master of Arts. Shortly afterward
he missed successfully a rigorous examination at
Baltimore for Professorship of Mathematics in the
navy, and was appointed to the frigate Indepen-
dence ; but he soon resolved to quit the sea, and
engaged himself as a surveyor and railroad engineer
on a line between Charleston and Augusta, Georgia.
In 1837, he accompanied Captain Williams, of the
United States army, in a military reconnaissance of
the mountainous Cherokee country in Georgia,
North Carolina, and Tennessee. In 1838-9, he
accompanied M. Nicollet, a Frenchman, and a dis-
tinguished man of science, in explorations of the
country between the Missouri and the British line.
These explorations were made under the authority
of the government, and, while engaged in them
in 1838, Fremont received from President Van
Buron, under date of July 7, a commission as Second
Lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers.
While at Washington, in 1840, employed in the
preparation of the report of these expeditions, Fre-
mont become acquainted with Miss Jessie Benton,
a daughter of Col. Thomas H. Benton, at that time
a senator from Missouri. An engagement was
formed, but as the lady was only 15 years of age,
her parents, notwithstanding their high personal
regard for Fremont, objected to the match, and sud-
denly, probably through the potent influence of
Colonel Benton, the young officer received from
the War Department a peremptory order to make
an examination of the river Des Moines upon the
western frontier. The survey was rapidly
executed, and shortly after his return from this
duty the lovers were secretly married, October
19, 1841. In the following year Fremont projected
a geographical survey of the entire territory of
the United States, from the Missouri River to the
Pacific Ocean, the feasibility of an overland com-
munication between the two sides of the continent
being then a leading idea in his scheme of explora-
tions. He accordingly applied to the War Depart-
ment for employment on this service, and having
received, at his own suggestion, instructions to
explore the Rocky Mountains, and particularly to
examine the South Pass, he left Washington May
2, 1842, and on June 10 began his expedition. Im-
mediately after the publication of his report Fre-
mont planned a second expedition of a much more
comprehensive character than the first. He deter-
mined to extend his explorations across the conti-
nent, and to survey the then unknown region lying
between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
In May, 1843, he commenced his journey with 39
men, and in pursuance of his instructions proceeded
up the Kansas River far enough to ascer-
tain its character, and then crossed over to the
Platte, which he ascended to its source in the moun-
tains, where the Swc et Water, one of its tributaries,
springs from the neighbourhood of the South Pass.
He reached the Pass on August 8, went through it,
and saw the head waters of the Colorado flowing
toward the Gulf of California. On September 6,
after travelling over 1,700 miles, he came in sight
of the Great Salt Lake, of which no accurate account
had ever been given, and of which very vague and
erroneous notions were entertained. His investi-
gations effected important rectifications in our geo-
graphical knowledge of this portion of the conti-
nent, and had subsequently a powerful influence
in promoting the settlement of Utah and
of the Pacific States. From the Salt Lake
he proceeded to the upper tributaries of
the Columbia river, whose valley he descended
till, on November 4th, he reached Fort Van-
couver, near the mouth of the Columbia. On Nov.
10, he set out on his return to the States. He
selected a south-east route, leading from the lower
part of the Columbia to the Upper Colorado, through
an almost unknown region, crossed by high and
rugged mountain chains. He soon encountered
deep snows, which impeded his progress and forced
him to descend into the great basin, and presently
found himself in the depth of winter in a desert,
with the prospect before him of death to his whole
party from cold and hunger. By astronomical
ob-
servation, he found that he was in the latitude of
the bay of San Francisco ; but between him and the
valleys of California was a rar ge of mountains
covered with snows which the Indians declared no
man could cross, and over which no reward could
induce them to attempt to guide him. Fremont
boldly undertook the passage without a guide, and
accomplished it in forty days, reaching Sutter's Fort
on the Sacramento early in March, with his men
reduced almost to skeletons, and with only thirty-
three out of sixty-seven horses and mules remain-
ing, and those that survived so weak and thin that
they could barely walk while led along. He re,
sumed his journey March 24, and, proceeding south-
ward, skirted the western bass of Sierra Nevada,
crossed that range through a gap, entered the great
basin, and again visited the Salt Lake, from which
through the South Pass, he returned to Kansas in
July, 1844, after an absence of fourteen months,
during the greater part of which he was never
out of sight of snow. Fremont was breveted
captain in January, 1845, and in the spring of
that year he set out on a third expedition to ex-
plore the great basin and the maritime region of
Oregon and California. The summer was spent
in examining the head waters of the rivers whose
source is in the dividing ridge between the Pacific
and the Mississippi valley ; and in October he
encamped on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
From thence he proceeded to explore the Sierra
Nevada, which chain he crossed again, in the dead
of winter, with a few men, to obtain supplies from
California for his party, with whom, after perilous
adventures among the mountains, and some suc-
cessful encounters with hostile Indians, he made
his way into the valley of the San Joaquin,
where he left his men to recruit, and went him-
self to Monterey, which was at that time the
capital of California, to obtain from the Mexi-
can authorities permission to proceed with his
exploration. Permission was granted, but was
almost immediately revoked, and he was peremp-
torily ordered to leave the country without delay.
Fremont as peremptorily refused to comply. His
men, exhausted by the hardships they had suffered,
and destitute of supplies and animals, were in no
condition to re-pass the mountains and the deserts
from which they had just emerged. The Mexican
Governor, General Castro, mustered the forces of
the province, and prepared to attack the Americans,
who were only sixty-two in number. Fremont
took up a strong position on the Hawk's Peak, a
mountain thirty miles from Monterey ; built a rude
fort of felled trees ; hoisted the American flag; and,
having plenty of ammunition, resolved to defend
himself. He wrote to the American Consul at
Monterey, in reply to a private message, March 10,
1846 :—" We have in no wise done wrong to the
people or the authorities of this country, and if we are
hemmed in and assaulted here, we will die, every
man of us, under the flag of our country." The
Mexican General formed a camp with a large force
of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, in the plain
immediately below the position held by the Ameri-
cans, whom he hourly threatened to attack. On
the evening of the fourth day of the siege, Fremont,
tired of inaction, withdrew with his party, and pro-
ceeded towards the San Joaquin. The fires were
still burning in his deserted camp, when a messen-
ger arrived from General Castro to propose a cessa-
tion of hostilities. Without further molestation,
Fremont pursued his way northward through the
valley of the Sacramento into Oregon. Near
Tiamath Lake, on May 9, he met a party in search
of him with despatches from Washington, directing
him to watch over the interests of the United States
in California, there being reason to apprehend that
the province would be transferred to Great
Britain. There was also reason to believe that
General Castro intended to + th„ A
settlements on the Sacramento. Fremont promptly
retraced his steps to California. General Castro
was already marching against the settlements. The
settlers rose in arms, flocked to Fremont's camp,