348 



FREMONT, JOHN CHARLES. 



whole band. On the 15th he surprised and capt- 

 ured, with its officers and men, a military post 

 at Sonoma, which contained 9 brass cannons, 

 250 stand of arms, and munitions of war. He 

 proceeded toward Sacramento, but, on reach- 

 ing it learned that Gen. Castro was about to 

 attack the force he had left at Sonoma, and 

 returning by a forced march of 80 miles he 

 reached his garrison before the enemy. Pie sent 

 out a reconnoitring party, which met the advance 

 squadron of dragoons, attacked them, and capt- 

 ured 9 pieces of artillery, all the transport boats, 

 and very nearly took prisoner De la Torre, the 

 commander. 



On July 4, Fremont called a meeting of set- 

 tlers and explained the state of affairs. He 

 proposed that they should declare themselves 

 independent of Mexican rule, and set up a free 

 government. They received the suggestion with 

 enthusiasm, and appointed Fremont their chief 

 magistrate. Gen. Castro had intrenched him- 

 self on the south side of the Bay of San Fran- 

 cisco, where he had 400 men and 2 field pieces. 

 With 160 mounted riflemen Fremont set out to 

 meet him, journeying a hundred miles. When 

 he reached the American settlements on the Rio 

 de los Americanos, he learned that. Castro had 

 abandoned his fortifications, and was marching 

 to Los Angeles. He also learned that war had 

 been declared, and that an American squadron, 

 that of Com. Sloat, had captured Monterey. 

 The flag of Californian independence was hauled 

 down, and the stars and stripes were raised amid 

 great enthusiasm. 



On Aug. 12 Com. Stockton, who had arrived 

 on the " Congress " with orders to conquer Cali- 

 fornia, entered Los Angeles with Col. Fremont, 

 whom he immediately appointed military com- 

 mander and civil governor of California, and 

 requested him to raise a body of mounted men, 

 to be known as the "California battalion," of 

 which he should be major. After a few engage- 

 ments the Mexicans acknowledged defeat, and 

 Fremont concluded articles of capitulation with 

 them, which ended the war and left the territory 

 in the possession of the United States. Mean- 

 time Gen. Stephen W. Kearny had arrived over- 

 land, with a body of troops and instructions to 

 conquer the country and organize a government. 

 As Com. Stockton's instructions were similar, a 

 dispute arose between them, and as his superior 

 officer, Gen. Kearny commanded Fremont to 

 obey orders that conflicted with those of Com. 

 Stockton. In this crisis Fremont sent a letter 

 to Gen. Kearny, Jan. 17, 1847, in which he said : 



T found Com. Stockton in possession of the country, 

 exercising the functions of military commandant and 

 civil governor, as early as July of last year; and 

 shortly thereafter I received from him the commission 

 of military commandant, the duties of which I imme- 

 diately entered upon, and have continued to exercise 

 until the present moment. I learned also in conver- 

 sation with you that on the march from San Diego, 

 recently, to this place, you entered upon and dis- 

 charged duties implying an acknowledgment on your 

 part of ^upremacy to Com. Stockton. I feel, there- 

 lore, with great deference to your professional and 

 personal character, constrained to say that, until you 

 and Com. Stockton adjust between yourselves the ques- 

 tion of rank, where I respectfully think the difficulty 

 belongs, I shall have to report and receive orders, as 

 heretofore, from the commodore. 



After the appointment of Fremont, Com. 

 Stockton returned to the squadron and Fremont 

 continued to exercise his functions in defiance of 

 Gen. Kearny. In the spring dispatches from 

 Washington assigned the command to Gen. 

 Kearny, and he brought charges against Fre- 

 mont of mutiny because of his (Gen. Kearny's) 

 refusal to appoint him governor ; of assumption 

 of the office in default of such appointment ; and 

 of having, among other things, exercised these 

 powers in the attempted purchase of Bird's or 

 Pelican Island for $5,000, for the use of the 

 United States Government, the money to be 

 drawn from its Treasury. In June the two offi- 

 cers set out for Washington. Gen Kearny 

 treated Fremont with studied disrespect, and 

 when they reached Fort Leavenworth caused 

 him to be put under arrest and ordered him 

 report to the adjutant-general. He reach 

 Washington on Sept. 16, and demanded an imrm 

 diate trial. This was granted, and the court-mar- 

 tial pronounced him guilty of " mutiny," 

 bedience of the lawful command of a superioi 

 officer," and ''conduct to the prejudice of 

 order and military discipline," and sentence< 

 him to be dismissed from the service. But 

 majority of the court recommended him to the 

 clemency of President Polk. The President re- 

 fused to sustain the charge of mutiny, but ap- 

 proved the other decisions, including the sen- 

 tence, the penalty of which he remitted. Fre- 

 mont immediately resigned from the service. 



On Oct. 14, 1848, he set out on an independent 

 expedition, during which he hoped to find a prac- 

 tical railroad route to California by way of the 

 upper waters of the Rio Grande. He selected 83 

 of his old company, provided all their equipment, 

 and had 120 mules. His route lay among Indians 

 who were at war with the United States. After 

 overcoming the danger from these, the expedition 

 reached the Sierras and began an ascent that 

 proved fatal to all the animals and to most of the 

 men. The guide had mistaken the pass, and no 

 feature that could add horror to a tale of suffer- 

 ing was wanting in the story of this expedition. 

 Although total failure had resulted, for the few 

 survivors returned without affecting a crossing of 

 the mountains, Fremont immediately procured 

 another company and set out once more. After 

 long journeying^ they found a secure route, and 

 reached the Sacramento in the spring of 1849. 

 He decided to settle in California, and purchased 

 the large Mariposa estate, which held rich gold 

 mines. His title to it was contested, but, after 

 a long law suit, a decision in his favor was reached 

 in 1855 by the Supreme Court of the United 

 States. 



In 1849 he had been commissioned by President 

 Taylor to run the boundary line between the 

 United States and Mexico, but in December of 

 that year he was elected to represent California 

 in the United States Senate, and resigned his 

 commissionership. California was admitted to 

 the Union on Sept. 9, 1850, and he took his seat 

 on the following day. In drawing lots for the 

 terms of the respective Senators, he drew the short 

 term, and the Senate remained in session but three 

 weeks after the admission of California. In that 

 brief period he presented and urged a series of 

 measures comprehending almost every subject 

 of legislation that the circumstances of California 



