El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-05-23
Famous Loves of Famous Americans

Benton declined TO call the girl and
begged him TO give her up. Fremont
assured her he could not.
They were thus engaged when Jessie
entered the room She ran to Ere
mOnts arms at once. despite all her
mother could do to stop her. and when
Fremont then and there asked her II
she would marry him she answered
him as did Ruth:
"Whithersoever you shall 20, I will
go; and where thou shalt dwell, I also
will dwell. Thy people shall be nv
people and thy God my God"
Beautiful and heroic Il was on the
part OF the girl. but Mrs Benton was q
masterful woman and by no means
beaten. When she managed to get rid
Of Fremont that day she practically
made a prisoner Of Jessie. Fremont
was denied the house and all his pleas
and threats TO the senator were use
less 1t was not until he bribed a SER
want and Jessie got out OF the house
after night fall that he checkmated
Mrs Benton Within half an hour
after Jessie's leaving the house, she
and John c. Fremont were married
with only a hackman and a servant
girl as witnesses
A Happy Love Affair.
Few love affairs OF great Americans
have turned out more happily for few
were better mated than Fremont and
Jessie Benton Whether the pathway
leu dAouE the desert plains or into the
primrose way. they were inseparable in
heart and mind. He had Imagination
ambition, courage. She had inherited
from her father a good deal OF his fine
mental grasp OF things, quick percep-
ton and power OF analysis She was
warm In her sympathies, OF a sweet.
happy temperament-just the sort Of
woman 70 give proper balance 10 an
ardent, temperamental and occasional
" too positive man.
Fremont was commissioned to under
take the first extended plan OF geolOgi-
Cel survey OF the vast territory be-
tween the Missouri river and the Pa
cirlc ocean In the early stages OF this
expedition, Jessie Benton was her hus-
bands companion as Anne Beverly had
been the companion OF Fremonts faith
er. They lived in prairie camp. in
mountain fastness. in forest depths, IN
indian village, IN arid waste. or by the
torrent side
The expedition was viewed with won
der by the indians. The Astronomical
instruments were looked upon with
awe first and then profound admira-
ton Fremont and his squaw were big
medicine biz, big. medicine, for they
could talk with the moon. the sun and
the stars II was not all this way.
however Some tribes were on the
war path There were killings now
and then reported and the party vas
In peril frequently.
The trip was ar great Importance
and won national recognition for Ere
mont. but IL was in 1913 that he started
on his second one-the expedition that
proved to be the most eventul ard
marvellous OF modern times. But for
his wife. Fremont might have turned
back from that and. possibly. Califor-
MIA would have been lost to the union
The Orders Fremont Never Received.
The Importance OF the work he had
done and the attention he was receiv-
ing had aroused the Jealousy OF some
Of the West Point men in the army
They brought influence to bear on the
officials in Washington. and after
Fremont had started preemptory or
ders were sent directing him 10 return
The orders were received by Mrs Ere
father in St Louis. She knew enough
OF Washington life to know what was
back OF the orders. She filed them
away IN secret drawer in her desk
until years after, when the fact was
brought TO his attention by the gov
eminent and he was asked TO explain
What Fremont did in finding the
passes through the mountains and
clearing the way for civilization -
recognized by the title that came to
him-one OF the noblesc that man can
bear-the Pathfinder. Not so much is
known Of his raising the American
flag over California. Of his governor
ship. or OF his United States senator
ship. or OF his arrest by general
Stephen Kearney and his being
brought across the plains and marched
in the rear BY that erratic officer be-
cause Fremont in a controversy be-
tween commodore Chauncey and gen
eral Kearney. had rightly OF wrongly
refused 20 take orders from Kearney.
On the charges preferred by Kearney
OF mutiny, disobedience Of orders and
conduct TO the prejudice Of good order
and military discipline, Fremont was
found guilty and sentenced TO be dis
missed from the service. President
Polk refused 10 confirm the verdict Of
the court as to the main charge. but
approved the sentence and then set il
aside. Fremont who had become a
towering national figure. refused to
accept the presidents remission OF the
sentence. Well he might California
had made him her first United States
senator. He was not yet thirty seven
His wife had been the principal agent
in the campaign TO have California ad-
mitted as a free state and she had the
distinction Of having a United States
senator for a father aad a United
States senator for a husband.
Honors came in floods 20 the Ere
monts in the next few years When