John C . Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont ( January 21 , 1813 – July 13 , 1890 ) was an American military officer , explorer , and politician who became the first candidate of the anti - slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States . During the 1840s , that era ' s penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet " The Pathfinder " . Historians call him " The Great Pathfinder " . During the Mexican American War , Frémont , a major in the U . S . Army , took control of California from the Bear Flag Republic in 1846 . Frémont then served as military Governor of California , however , he was court - martialed for mutiny and insubordination . President Polk commuted his sentence and Frémont led a fourth expedition , which cost ten lives , seeking a rail route over the mountains around the 38th parallel in the winter of 1849 . He retired from military service and settled in California . Frémont acquired massive wealth during the California Gold Rush . Frémont was soon bogged down with lawsuits over land claims between the dispossessions of various land owners during the Mexican - American War , and the explosion of Forty - Niners immigrating during the California Gold Rush . These cases were settled by the U . S . Supreme Court where Frémont was allowed to keep his property . Frémont became one of the first two U . S . senators elected from the new state of California in 1850 . He was the first presidential candidate of the new Republican Party , carrying most of the North . He lost the 1856 presidential election to Democrat James Buchanan when Know - Nothings split the vote and Democrats warned his election would lead to civil war . During the American Civil War he was given command of Department of the West by President Abraham Lincoln . Although Frémont had successes during his brief tenure as Commander of the Western Armies , he ran his department autocratically , and made hasty decisions without consulting Washington D . C . or President Lincoln . After Frémont ' s emancipation edict that freed slaves in his district , he was relieved of his command by President Lincoln for insubordination . In 1861 , Frémont was the first commanding Union general who recognized an " iron will " to fight in Brigadier General Ulysses S . Grant and promoted him commander of Cairo . After the Civil War , Frémont ' s wealth declined after investing heavily and purchasing an unsuccessful Pacific Railroad in 1866 . Frémont served as Governor of Arizona appointed by President Rutherford B . Hayes and served from 1878 to 1881 . Frémont , retired from politics and financially destitute , died in New York in 1890 . Historians portray Frémont as controversial , impetuous , and contradictory . Some scholars regard him as a military hero of significant accomplishment , while others view him as a failure who repeatedly defeated his own best purposes . The keys to Frémont ' s character and personality may lie in his being born out of wedlock , ambitious drive for success , self - justification , and passive - aggressive behavior . Early life and education . Frémont ' s mother , Anne Beverley Whiting , was the youngest daughter of socially prominent Virginia planter Col . Thomas Whiting . The colonel died when Anne was less than a year old . Her mother married Samuel Cary , who soon exhausted most of the Whiting estate . At age 17 , Anne married Major John Pryor , a wealthy Richmond resident in his early 60s . In 1810 , Pryor hired Charles Fremon , a French immigrant who had fought with the Royalists during the French Revolution , to tutor his wife . In July 1811 , Pryor learned that his wife , Mrs . Anne Whiting Pryor , and Fremon were having an affair . Confronted by Pryor , the couple left Richmond together on July 10 , 1811 , creating a scandal that shook city society . Pryor published a divorce petition in the " Virginia Patriot " , in which he charged that his wife had " for some time past indulged in criminal intercourse . " Mrs . Pryor and Fremon moved first to Norfolk , Virginia , to live as man and wife ( though unmarried ) ; they later settled in Savannah , Georgia . Mrs . Pryor financed the trip and purchase of a house in Savannah by selling recently inherited slaves valued at $ 1 , 900 . When the Virginia House of Delegates refused Mr . Pryor ’ s divorce petition , it was impossible for the couple to marry . In Savannah , Mrs . Pryor took in boarders while Fremon taught French and dancing . On January 21 , 1813 , their first child , John Charles Fremon , was born . The son was born out of wedlock , a serious social handicap . A household slave called Black Hannah helped to raise young John . In 1818 , Frémont ' s father Fremon died leaving Mrs . Pryor to take care of the child and several young children alone on a limited inherited income . Mrs . Pryor and her family moved to Charleston , South Carolina . The young Frémont was known to be " precious , handsome , and daring " and he had an apt abiltity at gaining protectors . A lawyer , John W . Mitchell , provided for Frémont ' s education and in May 1829 Frémont entered Charleston College . Frémont continued at Charleston College teaching at intervals in the countryside . Frémont , however , was expelled from Charleston College for irregular attendance in 1831 . Although Frémont did not graduate , he had been grounded in mathematics and natural sciences . In " Andrew Jackson , His Life and Times " , H . W . Brands wrote that Frémont added the accented E and the T to his surname later in life . But in " John Charles Frémont : Character as Destiny " , André Rolle wrote that Frémont began using the accent in 1838 at the age of 25 . Rolle relates how Charles Fremon was originally named Louis - René Frémont , born in Québec , Canada , and had changed his name to Charles Fremon or Frémon to avoid pursuit by British naval agents . Thus , John was reclaiming his father ' s true French name . Marriage . In 1841 John C . Frémont married Jessie Benton , daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton from Missouri . Benton , Democratic Party leader for more than 30 years in the Senate , championed the expansionist movement , a political cause that became known as Manifest Destiny . The expansionists believed that the North American continent , from one end to the other , north and south , east and west , should belong to the citizens of the U . S . They believed it was the nation ' s destiny to control the continent . This movement became a crusade for politicians such as Benton and his new son - in - law . Benton pushed appropriations through Congress for national surveys of the Oregon Trail ( 1842 ) , the Oregon Territory ( 1844 ) , the Great Basin , and Sierra Mountains to California ( 1845 ) . Through his power and influence , Benton obtained for Frémont the position of leading each expedition . Early expeditions . The opening of the American West began under President Thomas Jefferson , while envisioning a Western empire , sent out Lewis and Clark to find a passage to the Pacific Ocean and the Pike Expedition to explore the South West . < ref name = Rhonda _ 2012 _ p64 < / ref > Rhonda ( 2012 ) , p . 64 < / ref > British trapper Peter S . Ogden and American trapper Jedediah Smith explored much of the American West in the 1820s . Frémont would continue this tradition of western exploration building up and preserving knowledge of the American West . After attending the College of Charleston from 1829 to 1831 , Frémont was appointed a teacher of mathematics aboard the sloop USS " Natchez " . In July 1838 he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers and assisted and led multiple surveying expeditions through the western territory of the United States and beyond . In 1838 and 1839 he assisted Joseph Nicollet in exploring the lands between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers . In 1841 with training from Nicollet , Frémont mapped portions of the Des Moines River . Frémont first met frontiersman Kit Carson on a Missouri River steamboat in St . Louis during the summer of 1842 . Frémont was preparing to lead his first expedition and was looking for a guide to take him to South Pass . Carson offered his services , as he had spent much time in the area . The five - month journey , made with 25 men , was a success . From 1842 to 1846 Frémont and his guide Carson led expedition parties on the Oregon Trail and into the Sierra Nevada . In 1844 , Frémont transposed a map left by Smith from the 1830s that described western lands and where Indian tribes were located . During his expeditions in the Sierra Nevada , Frémont became the first American to see Lake Tahoe . He is also credited with determining the Great Basin as endorheic , that is , having no outlet to the sea or a river . One of Frémont ' s reports from an expedition inspired the Mormons to consider Utah for settlement . He also mapped volcanoes such as Mount St . Helens . Congress published Frémont ' s " Report and Map " ; it guided thousands of overland immigrants to Oregon and California from 1845 to 1849 . In 1849 Joseph Ware published his " Emigrants ' Guide to California " ( OCLC 2356459 ) , which was largely drawn from Frémont ' s report , and was to guide the forty - niners through the California Gold Rush . Frémont ' s report was more than a travelers ' guide – it was a government publication that achieved the expansionist objectives of a nation and provided scientific and economic information concerning the potential of the trans - Mississippi West for pioneer settlement . Third expedition . On June 1 , 1845 , John Frémont and 55 men left St . Louis , with Carson as guide , on the third expedition . The stated goal was to locate the source of the Arkansas River , on the east side of the Rocky Mountains . Upon reaching the Arkansas , however , Frémont suddenly made a hasty trail straight to California , without explanation . Arriving in the Sacramento Valley in early 1846 , he promptly sought to stir up patriotic enthusiasm among the American settlers there . He promised that if war with Mexico started , his military force would protect the settlers . Frémont nearly provoked a battle with Gen . José Castro near Monterey , camped at the summit of what is now named Fremont Peak . A conflict would likely have resulted in the annihilation of Frémont ' s group , as Gen . Castro had the ability to organize thousands of troops . Frémont then fled Mexican - controlled California , and went north to Oregon , making camp at Klamath Lake . After a May 9 , 1846 Indian attack on his expedition party , Frémont retaliated by attacking a Klamath Indian fishing village named " Dokdokwas " the following day , although the people living there might not have been involved in the first action . The village was at the junction of the Williamson River and Klamath Lake . On May 10 , 1846 , the Frémont group completely destroyed it . Afterward , Carson was nearly killed by a Klamath warrior . As Carson ' s gun misfired , the warrior drew to shoot a poison arrow ; however , Frémont , seeing that Carson was in danger , trampled the warrior with his horse . Carson felt that he owed Frémont his life . Mexican - American War . After meeting with President James K . Polk , he left Washington , D . C . on May 15 , 1845 . He raised a group of 62 volunteers in Saint Louis . He arrived at Sutter ' s Fort in California on December 10 , 1845 . He went to Monterey , California , to talk with the American consul , Thomas Larkin , and Mexican major - domo Jose Castro . In 1846 , with the arrival of " USS Congress " , Frémont was appointed brevet lieutenant colonel of the California Battalion , also called " U . S . Mounted Rifles " , which he had helped form with his survey crew and volunteers from the Bear Flag Republic , now totaling 428 men . In June 1846 , at San Rafael mission , John Frémont sent three men , one of whom was Kit Carson , to confront three unarmed men debarking from a boat at Point San Pedro . Kit Carson asked John Frémont whether they should be taken prisoner . Frémont replied , " I have got no room for prisoners . " They then advanced on the three and deliberately shot and killed them . One of them was an old and respected Californian , Don Jose R . Berreyesa , whose son was the Alcalde of Sonoma who had been recently imprisoned by Frémont . The two others were twin brothers and sons of Don Francisco de Haro of Yerba Buena , who had served two terms as the first and third Alcalde of Yerba Buena ( later named San Francisco ) . These murders were observed by Jasper O ’ Farrell , a famous architect and designer of San Francisco , who wrote a letter detailing it to the " Los Angeles Star " published on September 27 , 1856 . This eyewitness account , together with others , were widely published during the presidential election of 1856 , which featured John Frémont as the first anti - slavery Republican nominee versus Democrat James Buchanan . It is widely speculated that this incident , together with other military blunders , sank Frémont ’ s political aspirations . In late 1846 Frémont , acting under orders from Commodore Robert F . Stockton , led a military expedition of 300 men to capture Santa Barbara , California , during the Mexican - American War . Frémont led his unit over the Santa Ynez Mountains at San Marcos Pass in a rainstorm on the night of December 24 , 1846 . In spite of losing many of his horses , mules and cannons , which slid down the muddy slopes during the rainy night , his men regrouped in the foothills the next morning , and captured the presidio and the town without bloodshed . A few days later Frémont led his men southeast toward Los Angeles , accepting the surrender of the leader Andres Pico and signing the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13 , 1847 , which terminated the war in upper California . On January 16 , 1847 , Commodore Stockton appointed Frémont military governor of California following the Treaty of Cahuenga . However , U . S . Army Brig . Gen . Stephen Watts Kearny , who allegedly outranked both Stockton and Frémont , had orders from President Polk and secretary of war William L . Marcy to serve as military governor . ( In reality , Stockton ' s rank was equivalent to a rear admiral ( lower half ) today . Therefore , Stockton and Kearny had the same equivalent rank ( one star ) and unfortunately the War Department had not worked out a protocol for who would be in charge . ) He asked Frémont to give up the governorship , which the latter stubbornly refused to do before finally relenting . Ordered to march with Kearny ' s army back east , Frémont was arrested on August 22 , 1847 when they arrived at Fort Leavenworth . He was charged with mutiny , disobedience of orders , assumption of powers , along with several other military offenses . Ordered by Kearny to report to the adjutant general in Washington to stand for court - martial , Frémont was convicted of mutiny , disobedience of a superior officer and military misconduct . While approving the court ' s decision , Pres . James K . Polk quickly commuted his sentence of dishonorable discharge due to his services . Frémont resigned his commission and settled in California . In 1847 he purchased the Rancho Las Mariposas land grant in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Yosemite . Fourth expedition . In 1848 Frémont and his father - in - law Sen . Benton developed a plan to advance their vision of Manifest Destiny , as well as restore Frémont ' s honor after his court martial . With a keen interest in the potential of railroads , Sen . Benton had sought support from the Senate for a railroad connecting St . Louis to San Francisco along the 38th parallel , the latitude which both cities approximately share . After Benton failed to secure federal funding , Frémont secured private funding . In October 1848 he embarked with 35 men up the Missouri , Kansas and Arkansas rivers to explore the terrain . On his party ' s reaching Bent ' s Fort , he was strongly advised by most of the trappers against continuing the journey . Already a foot of snow was on the ground at Bent ' s Fort , and the winter in the mountains promised to be especially snowy . Part of Frémont ' s purpose was to demonstrate that a 38th parallel railroad would be practical year - round . At Bent ' s Fort he engaged " Uncle Dick " Wootton as guide , and at what is now Pueblo , Colorado , he hired the eccentric " Old Bill " Williams and moved on . Had Frémont continued up the Arkansas , he might have succeeded . On November 25 at what is now Florence , Colorado , he turned sharply south . By the time his party crossed the Sangre de Cristo Range via Mosca Pass , they had already experienced days of bitter cold , blinding snow and difficult travel . Some of the party , including the guide Wootton , had already turned back , concluding that further travel would be impossible . Although the passes through the Sangre de Cristo had proven too steep for a railroad , Frémont pressed on . From this point the party might still have succeeded had they gone up the Rio Grande to its source , or gone by a more northerly route , but the route they took brought them to the very top of Mesa Mountain . By December 12 , on Boot Mountain , it took ninety minutes to progress three hundred yards . Mules began dying and by December 20 , only 59 animals remained alive . It was not until December 22 that Frémont acknowledged that the party needed to regroup and be resupplied . They began to make their way to Taos , New Mexico . By the time the last surviving member of the expedition made it to Taos on February 12 , 1849 , 10 of the party had died . Except for the efforts of member Alexis Godey , another 15 would have been lost . After recuperating in Taos , Frémont and only a few of the men left for California via an established southern trade route . Mariposa gold estate . When Frémont entered California in 1849 he was informed by Sonora Mexicans that gold had been discovered . An American consul to California , Thomas Larkin , had purchased Frémont seventy square miles of land in the Sierra foothills by Mariposa . Frémont hired Mexicans to work the gold fields on his property for a percentage share . Within weeks diggings produced enormous sums of gold and Frémont became very wealthy . His wife , Jessie Frémont , told of enormous bags of gold weighing one hundred pounds were produced . Having accumulated wealth through gold , Frémont acquired large landholdings in San Francisco . Frémont lived a wealthy lifestyle in Monterey while developing his Mariposa gold estate . U . S . Senator . Frémont was one of the first two senators from California , serving only 175 days in 1850 - 51 . He was a Free Soil Democrat and was defeated for reelection largely because of his strong opposition to slavery . He had previously served as Military Governor of California in 1847 . Republican presidential candidate . Frémont was the first presidential candidate of the new Republican Party in 1856 . Initially Frémont was asked to be the Democratic candidate by former Virginia Governor John B . Floyd and the powerful Preston family . Frémont announced that he was for Free Soil Kansas and was against the enforcement of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law . Republican leaders Nathaniel P . Banks , Henry Wilson , and John Bigelow were able to get Frémont to join their political party . The Republican campaign used the slogan " Free Soil , Free Men , and Frémont " to crusade for free farms ( homesteads ) and against the Slave Power . As was typical in presidential campaigns , the candidates stayed at home and said little . The campaign was particularly abusive , as the Democrats attacked Frémont ' s illegitimate birth and alleged Frémont was Catholic . In a counter - crusade against the Republicans , the Democrats criticized Frémont ' s military record and warned that a victory by Frémont would bring civil war . Frémont ' s powerful father - in - law , Senator Benton , praised Frémont but announced his support for the Democratic candidate James Buchanan . At the time of his campaign he lived on Ninth Street in Staten Island , New York . The campaign was headquartered near his home in St . George . Frémont was defeated , having placed second to James Buchanan in a three - way election ; he did not carry the state of California . Frémont received 114 electorial votes to 174 votes received by Buchanan . The popular vote went to Buchanan who received 1 , 838 , 169 votes to 1 , 341 , 264 votes received by Frémont . The Democrats were better organized while the Republicans had to operate on limited funding . After the campaign , Frémont returned to California and devoted himself to his mining business on the Mariposa gold estate , estimated by some to be valued ten million dollars . Frémont ' s title to Mariposa land had been confirmed by the U . S . Supreme Court in 1855 . Civil War . During the Civil War , Frémont was promoted Major General and Commander of the Department of the West on July 1 , 1861 by President Abraham Lincoln . Frémont brought with him his skills and great reputation as the Pathfinder and he was focused on driving the Confederate forces from Missouri . His term as Commander of the Department of the West was controversial , at times successful , and lasted until November 2 , 1861 when he was abruptly dismissed by President Lincoln for insubordination and corruption charges in his supply line . Frémont replaced William S . Harney , who had negotiated the Harney - Price Truce , which permitted Missouri to remain neutral in the conflict as long as it did not send men or supplies to either side . His main goal as Commander of the Western Armies was to protect Cairo at all costs in order for the Union Army to move southward on the Mississippi River . Both Frémont and his subordinate , General John Pope , believed that Ulysses S . Grant was the fighting general needed to secure Missouri from the Confederates . Frémont had to contend with a hard driving Union General Nathaniel Lyon , whose irregular war policy disturbed the complex loyalties of Missouri . Department of the West ( 1861 ) . Command and duties . On July 25 , 1861 , Frémont formerly took command of the Department of the West that was in crisis . Earlier in May , a tough , impetuous Regular Army captain , Nathaniel Lyon exercising irregular authority , led troops who captured a legal contingent of Missouri state militia camped in a Saint Louis suburb , during which civilians were killed . Missouri had not officially seceded from the Union when Lyon was promoted Brigadier General by President Abraham Lincoln and appointed temporary commander of the Department of the West . Lyon , who believed a show of force would keep Missouri in the Union , effectively declared war on the secession - minded Missouri governor Claiborne Jackson , who was driven by Lyon to the Ozarks . Lyon occupied Jefferson City , the state capital . Lyon then installed a pro - Union state government . However , Lyon became trapped at Springfield with only 6 , 000 men ( including Union Colonel Franz Sigel and his German corps ) . Cairo was a Union - occupied city on the Mississippi River , vital to the security of the Union Army ' s western war effort . It contained too few troops to defend against a Confederate attack . Compared to the Confederates , Frémont ' s forces were dispersed and disorganized . This was the situation when Frémont took command of the Department of the West . Frémont ' s duties upon taking Command of the Western Department were broad , his resources were limited , and the secession crisis in Missouri appeared to be uncontrollable . Frémont was responsible for safeguarding Missouri and all of the Northwest . Frémont ' s mission was to organize , equip , and lead the Union Army down the Mississippi River , reopen commerce , and break off the Western part of the Confederacy . Frémont was only given 23 , 000 men whose volunteer 3 - month enlistments were about to expire . Western Governors sent more troops to Frémont but he did not have any weapons with which to arm them . There were no uniforms or military equipment either , and the soldiers were subject to food rationing , poor transportation , and lack of pay . Fremont ' s intelligence was also faulty , leading him to believe the Missouri state militia and the Confederate forces were twice as numerous as they actually were . Frémont , going back to his French heritage , ran his headquarters in St . Louis like a European autocrat . Perhaps this was due to a sojourn through France prior to his appointment by President Lincoln . A rumor spread in in Washington that Frémont was planning to start his own republic or empire in the West . Like a feudal lord , Frémont set up a headquarters bodyguard of 300 Kentucky men , chosen for their uniform physical attributes . Frémoupply line , headed by Major Justice McKinstrey . , also came under scrutiny for graft and profiteering , Frémont surrounded himself with his friends and businessmen from California who helped ensure he got the supplies he needed one way or another . The imbriglio became a national scandal and Frémont was unable to keep a handle on supply affairs . A Congressional investigation followed . As a result , Frémont lost much needed support from the powerful Blair family and friends in Washington D . C . Response to Confederate threat . Responding the best he could to the Confederate and state militia threat , Frémont raised volunteer troops , purchased open market weapons and equipment , and an sent his wife Jessie to Washington D . C . where she lobbied President Lincoln for more reinforcements . Lyon was ordered to retreat , while Frémont personally sent reinforcement troops to Cairo rather than to Lyon , who had requested more troops . Frémont believed with some accuracy that the Confederates were planning to attack Cairo . Tragedy , however , struck the Union forces as Lyon hastily chose to attack Confederate General Sterling Price at the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek , rather than retreat . During the battle Lyon was shot through the heart and died instantly . As the Union line broke , similar to the first Battle of Bull Run in the east , the Confederates won the battle . Western Missouri was now open for Confederate advancement . Frémont was severely criticized for the defeat and for Lyon ' s death , having sent troops to reinforce Cairo , rather than to help Lyon ' s depleted forces 10 miles south of Springfield . While commanding the Department of the West , Frémont was looking for a Brigadier General to command a post at Cairo . At first Frémont was going to appoint John Pope , however , upon the recommendation of Major McKinstry , he interviewed an unobtrusive Bridgadier General Ulysses S . Grant . Grant had a reputation for being a " drifter and a drunkard " in the Old Army , however , Frémont was an outside commander , and he viewed Grant independently with his own judgement . Frémont concluded that Grant was an " unassuming character not given to self elation , of dogged persistence , of iron will . " Frémont chose Grant and appointed him commander of the Cairo post in October , 1861 . Grant was sent to Ironton , with 3 , 000 untrained troops , to stop a potential Confederate attack led by Confederate General William J . Hardee . Frémont sent Grant directly to Jefferson City , to keep safe from a potential attack by Confederate General Price a week after the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek . Grant got the situation in control at Jefferson City , drilling and disciplining troops , increased supply lines , and deploying troops on the outskirts of the city . The city was kept safe as Price and his troops badly battered from the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek had retreated . With Price retreating , Frémont become more aggressive and went on the offensive . Frémont knew the key to victory in the West was capturing control of the Mississippi River for the Union forces . Frémont decided to meet Confederate General Leonidas Polk head on to control the trunk of the Mississippi . In a turning point of the Civil War , on August 27 , 1861 Frémont gave Ulysses S . Grant field command in charge of a combined Union offensive whose goal was to capture Memphis , Vicksburg , and New Orleans keeping Missouri and Illinois safe from Confederate attack . On August 30 , Grant assumed charge of the Union Army on the Mississippi . Having Frémont ' s approval Grant proceeded to capture Paducah , without firing a shot , after Polk violated Kentucky neutrality and had captured Columbus . The result was that the Kentucky legislature voted to remain in the Union . Desiring to regain the upper hand and make up for Union loss at the Battle of Wilson ' s Creek , Frémont and 40 , 000 troops set out to regain Springfield . On October 25 , 1861 , Frémont ' s forces won the First Battle of Springfield . This was the first Union victory in the West . On November 1 , Frémont ordered Grant to make a demonstration against Belmont , a steamboat landing across the river from Columbus , in an effort to drive out Confederate General Price from Missouri . Grant had early requested to attack Columbus , but Frémont overuled Grant ' s initiative . Emancipation edict controversy . On August 30 , 1861 Frémont , without notifying President Lincoln , issued a controversial proclamation putting Missouri under martial law . Frémont made the proclamation in response to the savage tactic of guerrilla warfare and to reduce Confederate sympathies in the stronger slave holding counties . The edict stipulated that civilians in arms would be subject to court marital and execution . The property of those who aided secessionists would be confiscated , and the slaves of rebels were emancipated . President Abraham Lincoln , fearing that Frémont ' s emancipation order would tip Missouri ( and other slave states in Union control ) to the southern cause , asked Frémont to revise the order . Frémont refused to do so , and sent his wife to plead the case . President Lincoln reprimanded her husband and told Jessie that Frémont " should never have dragged the Negro into the war . " Lincoln responded by publicly revoking the proclamation and relieving Frémont of command on November 2 , 1861 , simultaneous to a War Department report detailing Frémont ' s iniquities as a major general . Mountain Departments ( 1862 ) . In March 1862 he was placed in command of the Mountain Departments of Virginia , Tennessee and Kentucky . Early in June 1862 Frémont pursued the Confederate Gen . Stonewall Jackson for eight days , finally engaging part of Jackson ' s force , led by Richard S . Ewell , at Battle of Cross Keys on June 8 . The two - sided battle ended in general Confederate advantage , and Frémont slipped away , saving his army . When the Army of Virginia was created June 26 , to include Gen . Frémont ' s corps , with John Pope in command , Frémont declined to serve on the grounds that he was senior to Pope and for personal reasons . He then went to New York where he remained throughout the war , expecting a command , but none was given to him . Radical Republican presidential candidacy . In 1860 the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln for president , who won the presidency and then ran for re - election in 1864 . The Radical Republicans , a group of hard - line abolitionists , were upset with Lincoln ' s positions on the issues of slavery and post - war reconciliation with the southern states . On May 31 , 1864 , they nominated Frémont for president . This fissure in the Republican Party divided the party into two factions : the anti - Lincoln Radical Republicans , who nominated Frémont , and the pro - Lincoln Republicans . Frémont abandoned his political campaign in September 1864 , after he brokered a political deal in which Lincoln removed Postmaster General Montgomery Blair from office . Later life . The Fremonts purchased an estate in the Hudson Valley , near Tarrytown , from the newspaper publisher James Watson Webb in 1864 . They named it Pocaho , an Indian name . For Jessie it was a chance to recapture some of the charm and isolation of living in the countryside , now that John had retired from politics . The state of Missouri took possession of the Pacific Railroad in February 1866 , when the company defaulted in its interest payment . In June 1866 the state , at private sale , sold the road to Frémont . Frémont reorganized the assets of the Pacific Railroad as the Southwest Pacific Railroad in August 1866 . In less than a year ( June 1867 ) , the railroad was repossessed by the state of Missouri after Frémont was unable to pay the second installment on his purchase . Unfortunately , their financial straits required them also to sell Pocaho in 1875 , and to move back to New York . Frémont was appointed and served as the Governor of the Arizona Territory by President Rutherford B . Hayes and served from 1878 to 1881 . Frémont , however , spent little time in the territory ; he was asked to resume his duties or resign , and chose resignation . Destitute , the family depended on the publication earnings of his wife Jessie . Frémont lived on Staten Island in retirement . Death . On Sunday , July 13 , 1890 , Frémont died of peritonitis at his residence on 49th West Twenty - fifth Street in New York . His death was unexpected and his brief illness was not generally known . On Tuesday , July 8 , Frémont had been affected by the heat on a particularly hot summer day . On Wednesday he came down with a chill and was confined to his bedroom . His symptoms progressed to peritonitis which caused his death . At the time he died , Frémont was popularly known as the " Pathfinder of the Rocky Mountains " . He was buried in Rockland Cemetery in Sparkill , New York . Legacy . Plants . Frémont collected a number of plants on his expeditions , including the first recorded discovery of the Single - leaf Pinyon by a European American . The genus of the California Flannelbush " ( Fremontodendron californicum ) " is named for him , as are the species names of many other plants , including the chaff bush eytelia " ( Amphipappus fremontii ) , " Western rosinweed " ( Calycadenia fremontii ) , " pincushion flower " ( Chaenactis fremontii ) , " goosefoot " ( Chenopodium fremontii ) , " silk tassel " ( Garrya fremontii ) , " moss gentian " ( Gentiana fremontii ) , " vernal pool goldfields " ( Lasthenia fremontii ) , " tidytips " ( Layia fremontii ) , " desert pepperweed " ( Lepidium fremontii ) , " desert boxthorn " ( Lycium fremontii ) , " barberry " ( Mahonia fremontii ) , " bush mallow " ( Malacothamnus fremontii ) , " monkeyflower " ( Mimulus fremontii ) , " phacelia " ( Phacelia fremontii ) , " desert combleaf " ( Polyctenium fremontii ) , " cottonwood tree " ( Populus fremontii ) , " desert apricot " ( Prunus fremontii ) , " indigo bush " ( Psorothamnus fremontii ) , " mountain ragwort " ( Senecio fremontii ) , " yellowray gold " ( Syntrichopappus fremontii ) , " and chaparral death camas " ( Toxicoscordion fremontii ) . " Places . The city of Elizabeth , South Australia ( now a part of the city of Playford ) named a local park and high school Fremont in recognition of the sister city relationship it had with Fremont , California . The high school has since merged with Elizabeth High School , so the Pathfinder ' s legacy is carried by Fremont - Elizabeth City High School . The United States honored Fremont in 1898 with a commemorative stamp as part of the Trans - Mississippi Issue . The " largest and most expensive ' trophy ' " in college football is a replica of a cannon " that accompanied Captain John C . Frémont on his expedition through Oregon , Nevada and California in 1843 – 44 " . The annual game between the University of Nevada , Reno and the University of Nevada , Las Vegas is for possession of the Fremont Cannon . A barbershop chorus in Fremont , Nebraska , is named " The Fremont Pathfinders " . The Fremont Pathfinders Artillery Battery is an American Civil War reenactment group from the same community . Fremont Street in Las Vegas , Nevada , is named in his honor , as are streets in Reno , Nevada , Casper , Wyoming , Minneapolis , Minnesota ; River Falls , Wisconsin ; Kiel , Wisconsin ; Bridgeport , Connecticut ; Manhattan , Kansas ; Grant City , Staten Island , New York ; Tempe , Arizona ; Tucson , Arizona ; Springfield , Missouri ; Klamath Falls , Oregon ; Portland , Oregon , and Crawford , Nebraska as well as several cities in California : Fremont , Monterey , Seaside , Stockton , San Mateo , San Francisco , and Santa Clara . Portland , Oregon has several other locations named after Frémont , such as the Fremont Bridge . In addition , the Freemont Highway # 019 carries Oregon Route 31 for 120 miles ( 193 km ) through the Oregon outback . The Fremont Highway begins at the south end of La Pine near the upper end of the Deschutes River in central Oregon . The highway runs from there in a southeasterly direction and ends at Valley Falls north of Lakeview in the south central part of the state . Captain Frémont named " Summer Lake " and " Winter Ridge ” in December 1843 during an expedition through the area . The community of Summer Lake is situated along the Fremont Highway and takes its name from the nearby lake named by Frémont . South and west of Summer Lake is the Fremont - Winema National Forest . Other places named for him include John C . Fremont Senior High School in Los Angeles , Fremont High School in Plain City , Utah , and Fremont Senior High School in Oakland , and the John C . Fremont Branch Library located on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles . Weyauwega , Elementary schools in Glendale , California ; Modesto , California ; Long Beach , California ; and Carson City , Nevada bear his name , as do junior high or middle schools in Mesa , Arizona ; Pomona , California ; Las Vegas , Nevada ; Roseburg , Oregon ; and Oxnard , California . Fremont High School in Sunnyvale , California , is named for the explorer and its annual yearbook is called " The Pathfinder " . In addition , the Fremont Hospital in Yuba City , California , and the John C . Fremont Hospital , in Mariposa , California , ( where Frémont and his wife lived and prospered during the Gold Rush ) are named for him . There is also a John C . Fremont Library in Florence , Colorado . Genealogy . Frémont ' s great - grandfather , Henry Whiting , was a half - brother of Catherine Whiting . She married John Washington , uncle of George Washington .