"To this Gate I gave the name of Chrysopylae, or Golden Gate; for the same reasons that the harbor of Byzantium was called Chrysoceras, or Golden Horn." 1848 Thirty-one year old Second Lieutenant John Charles Frémont's second Topographical Expedition left Missouri in June of 1843, and, mapping the Oregon Trail, had traveled to Fort Vancouver. Intending to return to Missouri through the Southwest, he then turned south through Oregon and Western Nevada. By January 1844, the expedition was comprised of twenty-seven men, including Christopher "Kit" Carson and Thomas "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick, sixty-seven horses and mules, and a bronze mountain howitzer. Update on Frémont's lost cannon parts found Being low on provisions, Frémont made the decision to cross the Sierra Nevada to Sutter's Fort in California. It was midwinter; the mountains were covered in deep snow. And he had no expectation of the elevations to be encountered: We are now 1,000 feet above the level of the South Pass in the Rocky Mountains; and still we are not done ascending. The Washoe Indians he met told him that it would be impossible to cross: Rock upon rock; snow, upon snow. Welcome to longcamp.com On this site you will find over 170 pages of new and original information that cannot be found elsewhere. Start here to see Frémont's newly discovered historic 1844 Long Camp in the snow-covered Sierra. Or go to the buttons at the top. This is a book-length ongoing (16 years!) project that is frequently being added to and updated--most recently August 27, 2010--so check the recents and search buttons above. Or, POTLUCK:--3 featured items Facts more terrible than thunder! Lightning, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions! Frémont's descent from Donner (yes) Pass in December 1845 During seven scientific expeditions, covering over 30,000 miles of western exploration and mapping surveys, Frémont was nicknamed The Pathfinder by the popular press, after the character Natty Bumppo in James Fenimore Cooper's adventure series Leather Stocking Tales. But as Frémont's biographer Tom Chaffin has written, by compelling the U.S. citizens to reimagine the geographic breadth and diversity of their nation, John Frémont more than earned the title. Still in print today, Frémont's Reports, always in the public domain, have gone through more than 50 government and commercial editions. On the pages that follow (more than 200), he will point the direction to related links. "Frémont's observations were so honest and good that they have withstood successfully the test of hostile examination." General A. W. Greely, arctic explorer, Chief Signal Officer U.S. Army This site is a companion to The Crossing by Bob Graham. The contents of this website--What makes it unique? Looking for information for school reports? eMail comments, suggestions, questions. Please report any technical problems. Bibliography for this site. Some books now available online! Our web awards. The ultimate curse of being a national hero is that once the fires of acclaim go out, only the ashes of criticism remain. This was the fate of John Charles Frémont, for he climbed the peaks of glory to endure the deserts of despair. Ferol Egan, Frémont: Explorer for a Restless Nation Who's the kid? In contrast to the more often seen images of presidential candidate Frémont, or Civil War Major General Frémont, most of the images on these pages are taken from portraits made at the time of his most important survey work--age 29 to 33. Here, a Frémont image that isn't. ©1999, 2010 Bob Graham Drake Annex My Nova Albion Landing Site Articles. The most-visited single pages on this website! OS X, UNIX BASED The nervous, rocky West is intruding a new and continental element into the National Mind, and we shall yet have an American. Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Young American, 1844