New-York tribune., 1906-06-17

Monument above the streets of the national cap
ital It is in the best part of the cemetery, the
highest third plateau" as it is called, ana
near it stand many monuments OF more than
ordinary size At a short distance from the
Fremont plot is the stone erected in memory OF
Lieutenant Commander Garringe, who brought
the obelisk which stands in Central Park
TO this country. On the plateau below is a small
reservation owned by the Order of Lafayette of
New York, for this part of the cemetery was
used by the French general and his troops at
one time in the Revolutionary War as a camp
ing ground. 1t is nearly opposite the farm on
the eastern shore of the river, near Tarrytown
where for many years before his death The
Pathfinder had his summer home. 1t was
while living there that he frequently crossed the
Hudson to visit his friend, w H. Wilton, of
Piermont. Their favorite walk together was
through the Rockland Cemetery, and often did
General Fremont express the wish that he
should al last be buried there.
HIS CLAIM ON P0STERITY.
The movement to honor Fremonts grave
should appeal as much 10 the scientist as 10 the
soldier In the service of the government he
made three expeditions through the wildernesses
west Of the Mississippi and contributed more
than any other in his day to obtaining
knowledge of its mountains plains and rivers.
One of his most adventurous feats as a govern
ment engineer was his ascent of the tallest peak
of the Rockies. which he found TO be 1850 feet
high. 1t has ever since been known as Fremont
Peak. He made the climb August 10, 1912.
Having divested ourselves of every unnec-
essary incumbrance. commenced the as
cent" wrote Fremont in d personal narrative
Of the achievement. This time, like expe-
rienced travellers, we did not press ourselves,
but climbed leisurely sitting down SO soon as we
found breath beginning TO fail. At intervals we
reached places where a number of springs
gushed from the rocks and about eighteen hun
dred feet above the lakes came to the snow
line From this point our progress was unin-
terrupted climbing. Hitherto I had worn pair
OF thick moccasins. with soles of parfeche, but
here I put on a light. thin pair, which had
brought for the purpose The use of our toes
now became necessary 10 a further advance.
Il availed myself of a sort of comb Of the
mountain. which stood against the wall like a
buttress. and which the wind and the solar ra-
diaton, joined to the steepness of the smooth |
rock, had kept almost entirely free from snow |
Op thls made my way rapidly. Our cautious |
method OF advancing at the outset had spared |
my strength, and with the exception of a slight |
disposition TO headache, I felt remains of yes |
terday illness. In few minutes we reached d |
point where the buttress was Overhanging, and |
mere was no Other way of surmounting the diff |
hculty than by passing around one side of it, 4
Which was the face of vertical precipce of sew
eIdl HundIed feet Putting hands and feet in |
the crevices between the blocks I succeeded in |
getting over it, l sprang upon the summit and |
another step would have precpitated me into
an immense snow field five hundred feet below !
TO the edge Of this field Il sheer icy preci- |
pee, and then with a gradual fall the field |
sIoped off for about a mile until 1t struck the |
loot of another lower ridge 1 stood on q narrow |
crest about three feet wide. AS soon as I had |
eFauhed the first feelings Of curiosity 1 de- |
Scended, and each man ascended in his turn for |
would only allow one at a time TO mount the |
unstable and precarious slab, which ii seemed |
d breath would hurl into the abyss below
Ihen We mounted the barometer in the snow
Of the summit, and, fixing ramrod in a creytce |
unfurled the national flag 10 wave in the breeze
where never flag waved before"