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
