FREMONT 



2327 



FREMONT 



While most substances contract when they 

 freeze, it is a curious fact that water expands. 

 This explains why water-pitchers sometimes 

 crack and water-pipes burst on "freezing cold" 

 nights. It accounts also for one form of 

 erosion, for the moisture which has found 

 its way into the crevices of rock freezes during 

 the winter and expands, creating great fissures 

 and breaking off pieces here and there. It is 

 for the same reason that an iceberg floats; 

 that is to say, since the water expands in 

 freezing, ice is less dense than water and, 

 being lighter, is naturally floated by the water 

 around it. 



Another interesting fact is that the freezing 

 point is lowered by pressure. Therefore, when 

 pressure is applied to ice it melts, although 

 it freezes again when the pressure is removed. 

 It is this quality of ice that enables us to 

 enjoy the pleasures of skating. The narrow 

 blade of the skate, bringing the entire weight 

 of the body to bear down upon the ice, for 

 the moment of contact melts a thin strip of 

 ice beneath the blade. The surface water that 

 results from the melting process makes the 

 ice slippery, and the skater glides easily along. 

 The same principle comes into play when a 

 boy makes a snowball; the pressure of his 

 hands melts the crystals, forming a film of 

 water that freezes again as soon as the pressure 

 is released. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Erosion Melting Point 



Ice Thermometer 



FRE'MONT, JOHN CHARLES (1813-1890), an 

 American explorer, soldier and political leader, 

 who displayed remarkable initiative and en- 

 ergy as leader of several expeditions through 

 the Rocky Mountain regions and westward to 

 the coast, and whose investigations gave the 

 United States government valuable informa- 

 tion concerning the great unexplored Western 

 country. He was born in Savannah, Ga., and 

 was educated at Charleston College, South 

 Carolina. In 1842, after several years of ex- 

 perience in the government-survey service, he 

 was placed at the head of an expedition to the 

 far west, and on this journey he ascended the 

 highest mountain of the Wind River Range, 

 now known as Fremont's Peak, in his honor. 



The following year he led out a second 

 expedition for the purpose of completing the 

 survey to the mouth of the Columbia River, 

 and sent to Washington valuable and interest- 

 ing descriptions of Great Salt Lake, the Great 



Basin, the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the 

 river basins of the Mexican province of Cali- 

 fornia. In 1844 he was made captain, and the 

 following year 

 was commis- 

 sioned by the 

 government to 

 lead a third 

 expedition 

 to California, the 

 purpose of which 

 was to help the 

 United States 

 gain possession of 

 that province in 

 the event of war 



with Mexico. rt JOH * C - FREMONT 



One of America s notable 

 Fremont took men in the middle of the nine- 



an active part in teenth cen ^ r y- 

 the conquest of California (see CALIFORNIA, 

 subhead History), and was made military com- 

 mander and civil governor of the territory by 

 Commodore Stockton, the officer in command. 

 In 1846, however, a United States force under 

 General Kearny arrived, whose authority Fre- 

 mont refused to recognize. For this he was 

 court-martialed, and, having been convicted of 

 mutiny and disobedience, was sentenced to 

 dismissal from the service. Though President 

 Polk remitted the sentence, Fremont felt that 

 he had been deeply wronged, and in 1848 he 

 resigned. 



Later he conducted two other exploring par- 

 ties over the Rocky Mountains, but without 

 accomplishing anything of importance. Be- 

 tween 1849 and 1855 he made his home in 

 California, and in 1850 was elected one of the 

 first two Senators from that state. He was 

 also the first Presidential candidate of the 

 Republican party, being the unsuccessful op- 

 ponent of Buchanan in the election of 1856. 

 On the outbreak of the War of Secession he 

 was raised to the rank of major-general and 

 given command of the Western Department, 

 with headquarters at Saint Louis. In this 

 position, and in a second one to which he was 

 transferred a few months later, he showed 

 what his superiors considered lack of judgment 

 and executive ability, and in 1864 he retired 

 from active service. Fremont's most important 

 work in the years that followed was his service 

 as governor of the territory of Arizona, from 

 1878 to 1881. Shortly before his death he 

 was appointed major-general on the retired 

 list, by act of Congress. For an account of his 

 labors, consult his Memoirs of My Life. B.M.W. 



