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John Charles Fremont and the exploration of the American West - USA Yesterday - Biography
USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Sept, 2003 by Gerald F. Kreyche
When Fremont met the Senator, he was introduced to the politician's 15-year-old daughter, Jessie. The two fell in love and a scant two years later eloped. Fremont was 28, but the 17-year-old was mature beyond her years and, like her father, had an iron will. She became a gifted writer as well. The elopement was carried off with the help of Sen. J.J. Crittenden's wife. Besides making other arrangements in secret, she obtained a Catholic priest to perform the clandestine ceremony.
Jessie, a favorite of her father and a great help to him in his office, infuriated the Senator with her marriage, but, being a realist, he resolved to make the most of the situation and use his son-in-law to further his own dreams of westward expansion. Mrs. Benton was no less miffed by her daughter's elopement, as the Senator's wife had aspirations of her daughter becoming the wife of a president.
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Although Fremont already was well-known in Washington, the alliance with the Senator gave him further prominence, and his career was riding high. Indeed, together with Nicollet, Fremont participated in a consultation with Pres Martin Van Buren.
A second expedition with Nicollet seasoned the young Fremont in map-making and survey work, and in gathering botanical specimens. He was ready to go out on his own and was given the assignment to survey the Platte River that empties into the Missouri River at Omaha, Neb., and travel as far as the Sweetwater River in Wyoming. The Platte often was described as a mile wide, an inch deep, too thin to plow, and too thick to drink The Sweetwater obtained its name because it was fresh and not alkaline.
By 1842, the Oregon Trail had opened up and beckoned would-be settlers to rich farmlands. This emigration had been made possible by the discovery of South Pass in south-central Wyoming, which permitted wagon travel and, hence, families to cross the Continental Divide. Geographical and topological details about this part of the country were urgently needed as westward fever caught the nation.
Fremont gathered his supplies which included all sorts of scientific equipment and a rubber boat made especially for the expedition. The latter proved very useful in conveying men and supplies across the spring-swollen rivers. His luck running high, the young lieutenant also picked up two of the famous guides of the time, Kit Carson and Lucien Maxwell, who were familiar with the montane area and its river tributaries. They and the explorer thus began a lifelong friendship.
Also in the entourage were Jessie's 12-year-old brother Randolf, as well as a 19-year-old cousin. A poverty-stricken German cartographer, Charles Preuss, begged to go along, and Fremont reluctantly agreed. Preuss' excellence in sketching and map-making more than made up for his pessimism and crabbiness on this and a subsequent expedition.
During the trek west, the group engaged in buffalo hunting, collected numerous plant specimens, and met Indians, whom they treated benignly. All in all, good fortune attended this expedition. Dropping off his two young charges at Ft, Laramie, Fremont then asked if anybody wanted to quit at this point. Only one did, which demonstrates the incredible loyalty Fremont earned from his men.
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