In this vivid biography, Jessie Benton Fremont's life reads like an epic romantic adventure set against the backdrop of America's move westward in the years before and after the Civil War. Jessie was an educated and independent-minded woman whose passion and pluck saw her through great public triumphs and terrible personal tragedies.
The daughter of longtime Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton and wife of explorer, military man and presidential aspirant John C. Fremont, Jessie played an active role in western expansion, abolition, California statehood, the Civil War, and much more. She bore five children, two of them dying in infancy, and she weathered almost 50 years of marriage to a moody, often distant but dashing husband whom she adored. When Fremont went bankrupt after the war, Jessie sustained her family by publishing accounts of the many historical events she had witnessed firsthand.
In telling Jessie's incredible story, Pamela Herr offers fascinating glimpses into mid-nineteenth century Washington politics, the fire that destroyed much of San Francisco in 1851, the presidential campaign of 1856, Civil War campaigns in Missouri, the hazards of overland and sea routes to California, pioneer life in the California mountains and Arizona desert, and artistic and publishing circles in the years following the Civil War. Of course, it also addresses the roles of women and their contributions to the history of the time.
The book was a pleasure to read, moving with a brisk forward momentum through its 500 pages. I was very happy to learn about this intrepid woman and I highly recommend the book.
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