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The Expeditions of John Charles Fremont: Volume 2. The Bear Flag Revolt and the Court-Martial

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This is an essential book for the student of Western exploration. The editors put together three hefty volumes about the expeditions of John Charles Fremont of which this is the second.

Volume one includes Fremont's official reports of his first two expeditions to Wyoming's South Pass in 1842 and to California and Oregon in 1843-1844; Volume two details his participation in the war with Mexico, including his court martial; and in volume three he writes of his later and less successful expeditions. In their day these accounts were best sellers and they made Fremont a national hero which led to him being the candidate for President of the new Republican party in 1856. Today, Fremont seems forgotten except by specialists -- and mostly scorned by them (Bernard de Voto called him "Childe Harold") -- and the fame of his mountain man guide, Kit Carson, as an American hero has eclipsed that of Fremont

The heart of this book is Fremont's accounts of his expeditions. He recorded the progress of his expeditions daily in the form of a diary and he was no novice at colorful writing. Possibly his wife Jessie Benton Fremont improved upon his prose before the accounts were published. Nor was he modest, but he gave credit where credit was due to his men, mostly French voyageurs, and especially Carson whose rise to prominence was due to Fremont. Fremont's writing is very readable to this day. Along with his dairy he also collected scientific and meteorological information which may be of interest to specialists. Fremont blotted his copybook with a number of egotistical fiascos but on his first two expeditions he was an appealing young man.

Supplementing Fremont's diary are a large number of letters, vouchers, and other documents related to Fremont's career and the expeditions. You can learn for example that Fremont paid his French voyageurs as little as 62 1/2 cents per day wages, but Kit Carson earned $100 per month, a hefty salary in those days for an illiterate mountain man -- and Carson was worth it. The editors provide copious notes to amplify and clarify the text. They produced a top notch multi-volume book of scholarship that's also fun to read.

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