39A. FRÉMONT, J[ohn] C[harles] [& Jessie Benton Frémont]. Narrative of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North California, in the Years 1843-’44. London: Wiley & Putnam, 1846. 324 pp., 4 lithographic plates by Day & Haghe, large folding lithographic map: Map of the Western & Middle Portions of North America, to Illustrate “The History of California, Oregon & the Other Countries. On the North West Coast of America” by Robert Greenhow [below rule]: London, Wiley & Putnam (58 x 64 cm; 23-7/8 x 25-1/4 inches). 8vo, original navy blue blindstamped cloth, spine gilt-lettered. Minor shelf wear (extremities chipped), spine slightly faded, some spotting and staining to covers, hinges cracked, occasional light foxing, old tape repair (approximately 5 cm) to map at juncture with book block, generally a very good copy, the text for the most part clean and bright, the map excellent except for the tape repair on verso which does not show on the face of the map. Armorial bookplate of Chase.
          First English edition, an unrecorded issue, similar to Plains & Rockies IV:115:6, but with two additional plates (for a total of four) and without the ads. We have owned a copy of this variant before. Howes F370 (calling for 2 plates). Norris 1179. Wheat, Mapping the Transmississippi West 481n & vol. II, p. 184 (stating that the map appeared in Greenhow’s History of Oregon published at Boston in 1844); Maps of the California Gold Region 22n (noting that the map appeared in the English and American editions of Greenhow): “This is a beautifully executed map, but added little to cartographical knowledge.” For more on Greenhow, see Howes (G389) and Tweney, The Washington 89 #22. The British edition of Frémont, which adds an introduction discussing the Oregon dispute, is printed on much better paper than U.S. editions. The plates were created by one of the largest and most prominent lithographic firms in nineteenth-century England, William Day & Louis Haghe, Lithographers to the Queen (see Tooley, 1999 edition, p. 343). The art of lithography in colors was raised to new heights by some of the magnificent and classic plate books that Day & Haghe published, such as Roberts’s monumental Egypt and Nubia (London, 1846-1849) and Bedford’s Holy Land (London, 1863). However, the firm’s lithographs are occasionally found in Plains & Rockies titles and Texana, such as the map in Maillard’s The History of the Republic of Texas (London, 1842) and Houstoun’s Texas and the Gulf of Mexico (London, 1844), renowned for its imaginary “Alpine” views of Houston.      ($250-500)

John C. Frémont’s Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains...and to Oregon and California can only be described as one of the monumental works of Western exploration. Although preceded by mountain men and immigrants, Frémont opened the West to an entire nation. By accurately describing this vast territory from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, his government report became the vade mecum of Manifest Destiny. Its words, maps, and pictures paved the way for future waves of overlanders culminating in the flood tide of the Gold Rush. Historians from Hubert Howe Bancroft (q.v.) to William H. Goetzmann bestowed upon the “Pathfinder” the highest praise for his accomplishments as a scientific explorer. The celebrated savant, Alexander von Humboldt, congratulated Frémont as a geographer and explorer and Brigham Young, the great Mormon prophet, read with keen interest his description of the Salt Lake Valley and its potential as a new Zion. Frémont, as he readily acknowledged, benefited from a superb supporting cast beginning with his wife and amanuensis, Jesse Benton Frémont; his powerful father-in-law, Senator Thomas Hart Benton; and his courageous and knowledgeable scouts and scientists including Kit Carson, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Alexis Godey, and Charles Preuss. His reports and those of his later expeditions made him a national hero and a charismatic symbol of American expansionism.
          The first Frémont-led expedition of 1842, as documented in this pregnant report, did not have as its mission a trek to the Pacific Coast or California but rather concentrated on investigating the Oregon Trail as far as South Pass. Upon returning and flushed with success, this high-energy officer in the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers immediately made plans for an even more ambitious second expedition. Its purpose was to map the Oregon Trail as far as its Pacific terminus and to connect the coastal surveys made during Commander Charles Wilkes’s Great Exploring Expedition of 1841. By the fall of 1843, Frémont’s mission had achieved its Oregon objective. Greater glory, however, awaited by turning south and heading to California in search of the elusive, mythical Buenaventura River that would hopefully provide a liquid highway similar to the Columbia. Twenty-five men led by Frémont left the Columbia River area on November 25, and by December reached the Great Basin. At that point, Frémont made the crucial decision to cross the Sierra in winter thus beginning one of the most harrowing journeys in the annals of Western exploration. In January and February of 1844, with the occasional assistance of Native American guides, Frémont’s cavalcade trudged through the Sierra snow following the Truckee River, passing by Lake Tahoe, traveling near Carson Pass, and finally descending the western slope following the American River. All along, Frémont made scientific observations amid the most trying conditions. He consistently praised the courage of his half-frozen men, and from the Native Americans encountered he and his men learned to become diggers themselves by eating pine nuts, acorns, grasses, and wild onions. Finally on March 6, they made it to Sutter’s Fort and survival. Not one man died but the explorer reported: “Out of 67 horses and mules which we commenced crossing the Sierra, only 33 reached the valley of the Sacramento.” Frémont also left behind a brass canon.
          After a two week respite at Nueva Helvetia and enjoying Captain John Sutter’s generous hospitality, the expedition set out to explore the Great Central Valley of California. Frémont in his report gave a careful description of the fort, the various agricultural and manufacturing enterprises Sutter had underway, and the assortment of Americans, Europeans, and Native Americans working for him. Frémont’s narrative of the trip down the valley is a naturalist’s dream. He beautifully described the bountiful flora and fauna found along the way, recording the Latin names for each. Flocks of birds, herds of elk, fields of golden poppies, and groves of majestic oak delighted their eyes. At one point they came upon “a most beautiful spot of flower fields” and rode “along through the perfumed air.” Such poetic imagery pointed out the extraordinary potential of this verdant land. On April 15, the travel-weary Pathfinder recorded the following colorful portrayal of what his multicultural, tatterdemalion expedition looked like: “Our cavalcade made a strange and grotesque appearance...guided by a civilized Indian, attended by two wild ones from the Sierra; a Chinook from the Columbia; and our own mixture of American, French, German—all armed; four or five languages heard at once; above a hundred horses and mules, half wild; American, Spanish and Indian dresses and equipment intermingled—such was our composition.” Thereafter, the quarter-mile-long “procession,” as he called it, headed over Tehachapi Pass, through the Mojave Desert, picked up the Old Spanish Trail, and made it home, concluding an eight-month journey of over 3,500 miles. They had achieved an amazing geographic triumph and proved once and for all the nonexistence of the Buenaventura River as an east-west aqueous thoroughfare.
          The report of Frémont’s grand odyssey, with the judicious help and writing of Jesse, was transformed into a heroic epic of adventure. Published in an edition of 10,000 copies for use by the U.S. Senate, the narrative was supported by plates, scientific tables, and maps, including a magnificent rendering of the entire trip by Charles Preuss. Without question, it added immensely to the nation’s understanding of the continent and captured the public’s imagination. A New Canaan awaited settlement on the shores of the Pacific. In the near future, it would be avidly read by gold seekers. William Goetzmann, in sizing up the importance of this journey, wrote: “All in all, Frémont’s trek of 1843-44 had been a great and epic journey, one that would have secured his place in history forever had he done nothing else.” Frémont, as is well known, had many critics who resented his fame and scoffed at the title of “Pathfinder.” Bancroft, however, vigorously defended him stating that the explorer always credited those who had gone before and did not exaggerate his personal successes. The historian superbly put into context the importance of his accomplishments: “He [Frémont] mentioned over and over again the fact that the trappers or immigrants had everywhere preceded him. His task was altogether different from theirs; it was to explore scientifically a country with which they had been long familiar, but respecting which their knowledge was not available for geographical purposes. He performed his task in a manner creditable to his intelligence and energy; shirked no hardships involved in the performance; and described his achievements with all due modesty. His work was the first and a very important step in the great transcontinental surveys...and for his service as topographical engineer Frémont deserves praise.”
          The text of Frémont’s expeditions was reprinted in his Memoirs of My Life (Chicago and New York: Belford, Clarke & Company, 1887). Frémont biographer Allan Nevins edited a reprint of the expeditionary text as Narratives of Exploration and Adventure by John Charles Frémont (New York: Longmans, Green & Company, 1956). The reports of the first two Frémont expeditions were published in The Expeditions of John Charles Fremont: Travels from 1838 to 1844 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970), edited by Donald Jackson and Mary Lee Spence.

——Gary F. Kurutz

Additional sources consulted: Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of California (San Francisco: The History Company, 1886), vol. 4, pp. 435-44; William Goetzmann, Exploration and Empire, pp. 240-50; Allan Nevins, Frémont: Pathmarker of the West (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1955), pp. 89-205.