| Share on Facebook |
John C. Fremont Biography
Explorer / U.S. Senator
John C. Fremont was one of most famous explorers of the American West and a towering figure in the history of California's 19th century gold rush. Among the second rank of explorers to follow Lewis & Clark into the American frontier, in the late 1830s and early 1840s he explored and surveyed much of the American west, in particular the Oregon Trail. He eventually settled in California and grew wealthy during the gold rush of 1848. Nationally famous as an explorer, soldier and politician, in 1850 Fremont became one of the state's first two senators. He was the Republican party's first ever candidate for president in 1856 and ran again in 1860, withdrawing that year in favor of Abraham Lincoln.
Extra credit: Fremont was the son-in-law of famous Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton, having married Benton's daughter Jessie.
Other famous explorers include Jacques Cousteau, Christopher Columbus and Roald Amundsen.
Four Good Links
John Charles Fremont
Nifty historical fan page for Fremont; a great starting point
The Volcanoes of John C. Fremont
Description of volcanoes he mapped
The Pathfinder's Lost Instruments
Interesting sidelight on his scientific instruments
Putting Las Vegas on the Map
1999 article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal has lots of details on Fremont
Vital Stats
Birth
Birthplace
Death
13 July 1890
(peritonitis, age 77)
Best Known As
The man who mapped the West