The morning call., 1892-10-02
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT.
Joaquin Miller Talks About
the Pathfinder.
A CALIFORNIAN AUTHOR.
The Honest Old Soldiers Experience With
Tricky Pub'ishei-His La
Days
written for THE MORNING CALI

authors would be shorn Of their best adorn-
ment IL this first author of all should be left
out Soon 1t vii. be half century since
Fremont published his first book, with this
wondrous new world of ours for his theme.
Years before gold was found this man
pitched camp on mountainside sloping to
the Pacific, saw the golden fleece as the sun
poured his awful splendors through the
r0ck-locked pass Of San Francisco Bay. and,
| as if with prophetic ken. named 1t in his
first report TO Congress 1.-The Golden GatsI'
For nearly fifty years this author and
soldier and most perfect gentleman was the
| ideal Of the young and honest and enthu-
slastc Americans. Fer nearly fifty years
he was the envy. the red flag, the scape-
| goat OF the soured, the malicious. the evil
hearted Of every land on earth. But let US
| pass over all this. Perhaps no man ever
| lived who had so much ill said Of him, not
even General Grant. for Grant was. COM
paratiyey, but little time before the
| world.
How pitiful is envyl Had Fremont not
| stood at the head Of all men at the begin
ming OF the war he probably would have
stood at the head Of all at the end Oh 1t. But
the world grew weary hearing all the time
| OF 1.-THE just Aristides."
And so it was that found Fremont some
| years ago In little garnet room of the Stur-
tevant House, New York, an almost for
| gotten old man. And his hands as empty as
| dead mans hands. He was trying TO get
| together some material for his memoirs for
some Chicago publishers. l think they
were starving him or doing him some sort of
wrong, for more than once at the time and
ofttimeS he said, THAT man Bedford will
drive me mad" 1 never heard him complain
or say anything impatient or unkindly of
any one besides. So | think they must have
been treating him badly. This Belford is
the little Canadian who. after pirating
BOOKS there, came TO the United States and
alter doing an astounding business of the
like sort in Chicago failed" after publish
ing the first volume OF Fremont's book, for
several hundred thousand. 1t seems 10 have
been FTemonts fault, or at least misfortune,
to trust all men and believe all men. And
SO II was that more than once "he fell among
thieves"
Seeing how things were with Fremont.
went 10 Sherman and Logan and lot of old
| timers who happened to be at the Fifth
Avenue. and, although Logan himself had
refused pension, he and every one else
| said enphaticaliy that Fremont ought to
| have back pay as a Mexican War veteran
| and also pension for his services In the
| civil war.
Murat Halstead. Henry Watterson, Story
| and dozen other big editors took the mat
| ter up. and wrote and duly published in
each Of their papers at the same time the
following facts about Fremont | wrote
the sketch at this great and good mans side.
lie. this answer; for | can write nothing
better now. Meantime let US be thankful
that both Congress and Southern California
came forward, and he did not die empty
handed. But we can't help deploring that
he died just as hh was sitting down with Us
at Los Angeles, with ample competence.
and before his second volume was done
This is what L wrote:
After nearly thirty years met in this
city and spent the day with the most famous
man in America. / was told-not by him:
no, indeed; he is proud, patient and hope
Iui gentleman, gentleman in the DID, true
sense. when men did not thrust themselves
forward as they do now and demand the
whole earth. But. as was going on to say,
am told he has not money enough to pay
Tor his bread. And maybe this will reach
the heart OF Congress, and so l can help
him along bit. OF course he will be angry
ana impatient With me for saying he is so
poor But better have his hatred on my own
mead than the shame of his death by starva-
ton In this vast and prolific land few
months or. at most. few years ahead.
Before helpless and honorable old age like
that Of this man, who goes out every day.
rain or shine. to do what he can in his feeble
way, demand that you shall be silent for a
few minutes and listen TRANQUILITY to .tbe old
new story OF this courteous and scholarly
old mans life. He was born in Savannah
Ca, in 1913. His father was Frenehmap'
teacher OF languages; his mother was a
naive Oh Virginia. AT 20 he also became
teaeher. lie went to sea for two years as a
teacher OF mathematics ON a man-of-war
Then he returned and became suryeyor in
the mountains of Tennessee. Then he was
sent to survey the headwaters of the Mis-
souri, ana established the line between Brit
Ish Columbia and the States. This was long
before the most of us were born.
Finaiiy, In 1888. President Van Buren,
sent nun commission as lieutenant in the
topographic corps of engineers, aud he was
ORDERED to explore the Rocky Mountains.
In 1S43 this now very old and feehIa man
penetrated the Great American desart,
and gave the world the first authentic ae-
count or It's resources and fertility and of
ire existence and peculiar characteristics of
Salt Lake He climbed the Hottest noun
tains, measured the vast and bushless
plains. and unfurled the stars and stripes
where the face of civilized man had never
been seen before.
Il remember one picture of thosa adyen-
lures which made strange and lasting i'm.
preston on my childish fancy for nv
father read me this mans travels. And. in
fact, this is what taok US to Oregon. Yet
of all the thrilling things set down in that
wonderful stoTy of travels this one little in
cident which L remember so wildly was of
comparative insigHifcance. 1t was this:
The party of skin-elad pioneers. led by
Kit Carson, bad climbed TO the loftiest sum-
init of the Rocky Mountains They were
weary. so weary. The world bsfore them. far
below and all UNEMPLOYED, appealed to them
strangely The stars and stripes was
planted there, and as the beautiful flag
foated away over the lofty SHOWS in the
winds of unnamed States, the great heart
oil the hardy young captain was too full for
words. He sat down under the beautiful
flag in the snow. And as he sat there.
weary, so weary, little brown bee that had
lost its way or been blown by cross winds
frem the sea OF flowers far below came
flying slowly, YEARLY by. II alighted on
the tired and wondering captains knee.
rested little time, took its bearings and
then flew away to It's work again. And |
then the weary captain, with this lesson
from the little brown bee, rose up and set
his face for the far-off and UNEMPLOYED Pa |
cifc.
II trust have set the incident down cor
rectly. never read it myself, but only
from a borrowed book. But that little para |
graph made me m0untaineer.
England was now audaciously claiming |
all Oregon and part of California The |
Oregonians had met under their pines and |
declared themselves a part of the United |
States. They organized government
raised a little army, and sent Joe Meek to |
Congress across the plains on horseback. |
But poor, Sophisticated and honest old |
Joe Meek did not reach Washington till |
nearly HAL year altof tue hQJ0uTnme0b OIL
Congress; and to add to his troubles he
had lost all his papers in swimming river;
and so lie was set down as crank by the
President and his Cabinet. and no one be-
lieyed he had ever seen Oregon. | know |
the modern Congressman may smile on this
timid old man being abashed and |
driven away from the White House
and compelled to return to Oregon
without hearing, but it is true; and |
England now pushed her claims boldly
Russia also had laid hands on California t
at Russian River. Spain had let 60 her
hold, but Mexico held the Inheritance with /
doubtful grasp. And so England was, with
some gold and much audacity, reaching |
steadily and determinedly for the vast |
Pacific Coast. Her policy was to pool her
own claim to Oregon with the elaima NJ