John Charles Fremont
1813-1890
American Explorer and Mapmaker
John Charles Fremont was an American explorer of the eighteenth century who parlayed skills as a mapmaker and explorer to earn a huge fortune and to achieve both high military rank and political office.
Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1813, Fremont's family moved to Charleston, South Carolina, after the death of his father. He enrolled at Charleston College in 1829 but was expelled in 1831 for poor attendance. Despite this Fremont was still recognized for his skill in mathematics. By 1833 he was a mathematics instructor on the United States Navy war sloop Natchez. He prospered in this position and was named a professor of mathematics by the Navy in 1835.
At this time his interests turned to civil engineering. In 1836 he surveyed a potential railroad line in the western Carolinas and eastern Tennessee. This seemed to whet his appetite for further exploration, and by 1838 he assisted the noted French scientist Joseph Nicollet (1786-1843) in surveying the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
In 1841 Fremont headed his own expedition to survey the Des Moines River for Nicollet, andlater in that year married 17-year-old Jessie Benton, the daughter of influential Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Senator Benton, a prime proponent of the "Manifest Destiny" movement, at first refused to sanction his daughter's marriage to Fremont, so the young couple eloped. Later on the Senator would change his opinion about Fremont and become one of his most ardent backers and supporters. Using the backing provided by his father-in-law, Fremont was to lead three major expeditions in the western United States during the 1840s, eventually mapping much of the territory between the Mississippi valley and the Pacific Ocean.
John Fremont. (The Library of Congress. Reproduced by permission.)An 1845 trip to California, whether purposely or accidentally, led Fremont into the military and political machinations taking place before and during the United States's war with Mexico. He threw his support behind the dissident founders of the "Bear Flag Republic" who were revolting against Mexico. After being named a Major in the United States Army by General Robert F. Stockton (1795-1866), Fremont went on to assist in the conquest of California, actually receiving Mexico's formal capitulation of the territory in 1846.
At this time United States Army General Stephen Watts Kearney entered California with orders to set up a new government. Instead, professing his loyalty to General Stockton, Fremontrefused to obey direct orders from Kearney. This resulted in his court martial in 1847-1848. President James K. Polk set his penalty aside but Fremont resigned his commission nonetheless.
By the end of 1848 Fremont had amassed a huge fortune in the California gold rush and had remained influential in California politics. In 1850 he was elected one of the state's first two senators.
Fremont was a fierce abolitionist and his strong anti-slavery stance led to his being the fledgling Republican party's first presidential candidate in 1856. He lost a narrow decision to Democrat James Buchanan but did much to solidify the northern and western states against the south, paving the way for the election of Abraham Lincoln four years later.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861 Lincoln appointed Fremont "Commander of the West." His brief tenure in this post was extremely controversial. He enacted an unpopular martial law in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, where he was headquartered and then arbitrarily issued an order freeing all slaves in the state. This proved to be a political embarrassment for Lincoln at the time, and he removed Fremont from his post in 1862.
Fremont later ended up losing most of his previous fortune, and the early 1870s was a difficult time for him and his family. At this time his wife's writings and sketches, many about her husband's previous adventures, supported the family. Arizona Territory named him their Governor in 1878, a position he held until 1883.
In 1890 he was named an Honorary Major General in the United States Army by a vote of Congress. He died later that same year in New York City.
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