Wandering Lizard

Biographical Notes

John Charles Fremont

Immediately after appointing Fremont to the position of Governor over Kearny's objection, Stockton was replaced by Commodore W. Branford Shubrik. Shubrik aligned himself with Kearny and Washington backed the general as well. In early March Kearny announced that he was California's Governor. kearny ordered the California Battalion disbanded and ordered Fremont to accompany him to Fort Leavenworth where Kearny had him arrested. He was ordered to report to Washington DC for trial. (Following Kearny's departure, Colonel Richard Mason was given all military and civil authority in California.) On January 31, 1848 Fremont was found guilty of mutiny, failure to obey orders, and conduct prejudicial to military discipline. He was dismissed from the army. A month later President Polk offered to reinstate Fremont in the army. The President's offer was refused because it did not include a reversal of the findings of the court martial. Later that same year Fremont published a report on his Third Expedition - Geographical Memoir Upon Upper California.

Prior to leaving California in 1847 Fremont had entrusted Larkin with $3,000 with which he was to purchase ranch land near the California coast. Larkin purchased a property from former Governor Juan Alvarado in the Sierra foothills - Las Mariposas (The Butterflies). In early 1848 Fremont reiterated his desire for coastal property and Larkin agreed to refund his money and assist him in finding the property that he sought on the coast. In October of that year Fremont led a privately financed expedition across the Rocky Mountains in connection with planning for a proposed transcontinental railroad. It was an arduous journey that nearly cost Fremont his life. He emerged from the mountains in Taos where he recuperated for a time at Kit Carson's home before pressing on for California in pursuit of his ranching plans. Along the way, early in 1849, he learned of James Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's saw mill on the American River not far from the property that Larkin had mistakenly purchased for him. Fremont quickly decided to keep the property and to engage in gold mining rather than farming.

Fremont's wife Jessie joined him on the West Coast and they settled for a time in Monterey (where they rented a wing of General Jose Castro's home). in the spring of 1849 Las Mariposas was producing about one hundred pounds of gold per month and Fremont became a wealthy man. Much of his new wealth was put into a variety of other investments in San Jose and San Francisco. In the fall of that year a huge vein of gold ore was found at Las Mariposas that required large amounts of capital to fully exploit. While he searched for partners willing and able to invest, the control of his property was increasingly contested by squatter miners. In September 1849 he was one of the delegates to the State Constitutional Convention held in Monterey. In December he was elected one of California's first two senators to the United States Senate.

In 1850 Fremont and his family returned to Washington DC in preparation for his taking up his senatorial duties following California's formal admission to the Union. National politics at the time was dominated by the issue of slavery and statehood for the former Mexican territories was at the very heart of the fight. Fremont had been selected senator because he was a staunch anti-slavery proponent. The other senator was William Gwin, a pro-slavery proponent from Mississippi. Their selection was a conscious compromise by the new California Legislature. In 1851, however, the California legislature was unable to agree on who should occupy Fremont's senate seat. As a result California only had one senator that year - Gwin. Fremont decided to leave political office to others and to concentrate on his business affairs. The family moved back to California establishing their residence in San Francisco.

In October 1851 Fremont went on a tour of Europe in part to seek capital for Las Mariposas. During the trip many European leaders recognized his achievements in helping to open the West, but in April he was arrested in London in connection with unpaid debts he had incurred while Governor of California. Fremont was bailed out by a friend and Washington eventually paid the outstanding claims. Fremont left England and, after a short stay in Paris, returned to Washington DC where he became involved in another effort to construct a transcontinental railroad. In the fall of 1853 he was once again on a survey expedition associated with the railroad venture. He crossed the Rockies and the Sierras the winter of 1853-1854. He returned to Washington DC in May 1854.

In part because Fremont had not devoted sufficient attention to them, his business interests and investments were not doing well. In October 1854 the Sheriff seized part of Las Mariposas with orders to sell it off to pay outstanding debts. Meanwhile in Washington the Whig party was collapsing and the Republican Party was being born. In 1856 Fremont was the Republican candidate for President. Following his defeat he returned to California to straighten out his business affairs. The family moved into a home in Bear Valley, a small town that he had developed near his Mariposa holdings. A group of squatter miners formed the Hornitas League and challenged Fremont's control of the Las Mariposas mining operation. The situation developed rapidly into an armed standoff that was only ended when Governor John B. Weller ordered 500 militia troops to disperse the Hornitas League miners.

In 1860 Fremont purchased a handsome home and thirteen acres atop Black Point in San Francisco. Following President Abraham Lincoln's election later that year Fremont was considered for several government posts. He refused these offers saying, however, that if war broke out between the states he would welcome a commission to command an army in the field. In July 1861 he was given command of the newly created Department of the West with Headquarters in St. Louis. He did not do well and was dismissed from his command in November 1861. In 1862 a Congressional inquiry exonerated Fremont of most of the specific charges that had been leveled against him and he was given command of the newly created Mountain Department with headquarters in Wheeling, Virginia. Shortly after Fremont took command, the Mountian Department was absorbed into the Army of Virginia under General John Pope. Fremont was asked to take command of one of the divisions but resigned instead.

Following his resignation, Fremont devoted most of his time and energy to his business activities, particularly railroad speculation. In 1864 his name was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate to run against Lincoln. In 1865 he purchased an estate on the Hudson River in New York. He lost control of Las Mariposas and in 1869 was deeply involved in a fraudulent railroad stock deal. Once again there was a Congressional investigation and Fremont's reputation was severely damaged. The scandal included sales of stock in France and there he was tried in absentia, convicted, and sentenced to five years in prison. His business affairs suffered and he had to begin selling his assets. His Hudson River Estate was sold in 1879. (His Black Point property in San Francisco had been seized earlier by the federal government so that a fort could be built. The new facility was named in honor of Colonel Mason - Kearny's replacement for Fremont in California.)

In 1878 President Rutherford B. Hayes (a Republican admirer of the "Pathfinder") appointed Fremont to be Governor of Arizona. In Arizona he pursued numerous business ventures but also succeeded in angering many of the local citizens. In October 1881, fearing that President Chester Arthur might dismiss him, he resigned from office. In 1887 Fremont published Memoirs of My Life a 655 page book recounting his life up to the conquest of California. He planned a second volume but the book was not well received by the public and the second volume was never written. In December 1887 the family moved to Los Angeles. Fremont traveled back and forth between the East Coast and Los Angeles attending to various business matters, but they did not prosper and his health began to fail him. He died in July 1889 in New York.

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