Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/206

 FREMONT

FREMONT

eastward on March 24, passed through the Great Salt Lake valley and I'eached Kansas by way of the South pass, July 1, 1844, after an absence of fourteen months. At Washington he made a full rejjort of his expedition, and was promoted 1st lieu- tenant and brevetted captain for his services diu-ing the two expeditions. He started on a third expedition in the spring of 1845 to explore the great basin and mountain regions of Oregon and California. He reached the Great Salt Lake in October, and recrossed the Sierra Nevada with a few men in the dead of winter to obtain sup- plies. He went to Jlonterey, then the Mexican capital of California, to obtain permission to continue his explorations, which General Castro at lirst granted, but almost immediately revoked, and Fremont was ordei'ed to leave the coimtiy. His men were exhausted, as was his supplj' of food, and he determined to resist any effort to drive him from the i^lace. He strongly in- trenched his band of sixty-two Americans on Hawks peak, thirty miles from Monterey, and raised over the fort the American flag. On the fourth day of the siege Fremont withdrew his force and began a march to the .San Joaquin valley, and at the same time General Castro pro- posed a cessation of hostilities. He reached Tlamath lake, May 9, 1846, and there received orders from Washington to defend the interests of the United States in California and to protect the American settlers on the Sacramento who had been threatened by General Castro. He re- turned to California where he found Castro marching on the settlements, but gathering together the pioneers, he defeated the purpose of the Mexican government to transfer the territory to Great Britain and in twenty- days had forced Northern California from Mexican rule. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel of mounted rifles. May 27, 1846, and on July 4, 1846, he was elected governor of California. He then learned of the occupation of Monterey by Commander John D. Sloat of the Pacific squadron, whom he joined with 160 mounted riflemen, July 10, and afterward took possession of San Francisco and other points in California. When Sloat was succeeded by Commander Stockton, who arrived in the frigate Coit'iress to establish and maintain United States authority, Fremont co-operated with him by organizing the California battalion of mounted men, of which he was made major. Stockton also appointed him military commander and civil governor of the territory. On Jan. 13, 1847, Governor FriSmont concluded articles Of capitulation with the Mexicans by the treaty of Calninga, which ended the war in California, and this left the territory in the possession of the United States. When Gen. S. W. Kearny ar- rived with a small force of U S. dragoons with

orders from the war department " to conquer the country and organize the government,"' there was a conflict between Stockton and Kearnj', each having been commissioned with the same orders, and Fremont recognized the authority of Commander Stockton, under whom the work named had already been done. He left the question of relative rank to his superior officers, meanwhile remaining under Stockton's orders, notivithstanding Kearny was his superior officer in the regular army. Thi.s condition of affairs continued imtil the receipt of orders from Washington, in the sjiring of 1847, assigning the command of the troops to Kearny, and shortly afterward Kearny and Fremont set out to make the journey overland to the United States, Kearny having refused permission for Frfimont to join his regiment in Mexico, where he had been ordered by the President. On reach- ing Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Fremont was put under arrest and ordered to report to the adju- tant-general at Washington. He arrived there September 10 and demanded a speedy trial. A. court-martial was convened, Nov. 3, 1847, and on Jan. 31, 1848, Frfimont was found guilty of " mu- tiny," "disobedience of orders," and "conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline, " and he %vas sentenced to be dismissed from the service, a majority of the court recommending him to the clemency of the President. President Polk disapproved the charge of " mutiny," sus- tained the rest of the verdict and the sentence, and remitted the penalty. Frfimont then re- signed his commission, "as he had asked for justice, not mercy,'' and in October, 1848, organized an expedition at his own expense and with thirty-three men started to mark out a route to California by way of the upper Rio Grande. He lost all his animals and one-third of his men, but reached San Francisco in the spring of 1849. He was commissioned by President Taylor,, as a mark of his military feeling against the court- martial, to run a boundary line between the United States and Mexico, but resigned upon his election in December, 1849, as U.S.- senator from California, under the new state constitution. He returned to Washington by way of the isth- mus and took his seat in the senate, Sept. 10, 1850, the day after California Was admitted as a state. In drawing with Senator William M. Gwin, the short term, expiring March 11, IS.Il. fell to him. He was a candidate for re-election in IS.ll, but was defeated, after 143 ballots, by the pro-slavery party. He then spent two years in Europe with his family. He received a gold medal from the king of Prussia for his discov- eries; the "founder's medal" from the Royal geographical society of London ; and was elected a member of the Royal geographical society of