Frémont Turns Back:
May 8, 1846
In the spring of 1845, a party of about 60 men led by Captain John Charles Frémont of the United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers arrived at John Sutter's fort on the
Sacramento River. Frémont's party included 12 Delaware Indians; the explorer and trapper, Kit Carson; and Jedediah Smith's old companion, William Fitzgerald.
It was Frémont's second journey into California. He had first come to California in 1843 through Nevada, westward over the Sierra Nevada, and through central and southern California. From California, he made his way home via Santa Fé in New Mexico. Frémont wrote a detailed report of his expedition that not only gave details of topography, flora, and fauna, but revealed the feeble hold Mexico had on California. The report won fame for Frémont as the "Pathfinder."
Frémont's father-in-law was the pro-expansionist senator from Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton; the former ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett, was Frémont's patron. After Frémont returned from his first expedition in 1844, Poinsett introduced him to both General Winfield Scott, who promoted Frémont to captain, and to President Polk. It was with the backing of such powerful men that Frémont undertook his second expedition into California. Ostensibly it was just another topographical expedition, like the first
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A Favorite
Californio Dance
Among the Hispanics of California, the Fandango was a favorite dance. We offer here Fandango music composed by the Spanish Baroque composer, Santiago de Murcia (1673-1739). It is a traditional piece in the Jarocho style, which comes from the region of Vera Cruz in Mexico. Santiago de Murcia probably never visited the New World, though manuscripts of his music dating from the 18th century have been discovered in Mexico.
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