John Charles Frémont was born on January 21, 1813, the son of Charles Frémon, a French-Canadian immigrant school-teacher, and Anne Beverley Whiting, the youngest daughter of socially prominent Virginia planter

The opening of the American West began in 1804, when the Lewis and Clark Expedition (led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark) started exploration of the new Louisiana Purchase territory to find a northwest passage up the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean

Having reentered Mexican California headed south, Frémont and his army expedition stopped off at Peter Lassen's Ranch on May 24, 1846.

Intent on restoring his honor and explorer reputation after his court martial, in 1848, Frémont and his father-in-law Sen. Benton developed a plan to advance their vision of Manifest Destiny. With a

Frémont's exploration work with Nicollet brought him in contact with Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, powerful chairman of the Senate

Taking 16 men, Frémont split his party again, arriving at Sutter's Fort in the Sacramento Valley on December 9. Frémont promptly sought to stir up patriotic enthusiasm among the American settlers there. He promised that if war with Mexico started, his

On February 10, 1847, Frémont purchased seventy square miles of land in the Sierra foothills, called Las Mariposas, through land speculator Thomas Larkin, for $3,000. Las Mariposas had