Memoirs of My Life

"Memoirs of My Life...by John Charles Fremont...a masterly compendium...authentic accounts of...Fremont's daring Rocky Mountain exploration and thrilling adventures, Kit Carson's many narrow escapes from savage Indians." -Butte Daily Post, Sept. 5, 1888
"Memoirs of My Life by John C. Fremont will be a book of far-reaching interest, including...in the narrative the five journeyings of Western exploration from 1842 to 1854." -Chicago Tribune, May 21, 1886
"Memoirs of My Life by General John C. Fremont...will be of great interest to everybody and particularly to citizens of Fremont." -Fremont Tribune, Sept. 22, 1886

What role did explorer John Fremont play in seizing California from Mexico and how did he pull off this feat with just a handful of men?

In 1887, John Charles Frémont (1813 1890) published a narrative of his five exploring expeditions of the Great American West in his book under the un-assuming and underrated title of "Memoirs of My Life."

In introducing his book, Fremont writes of his explorations:

"Out of these expeditions came the seizure of California in 1846. The third exploring party was merged in a battalion which did its part in wresting that rich territory from Mexico, and the conquest of California will consequently have a prominent place in the narrative of these expeditions."
About the author:

John Charles Frémont was born January 21, 1813, and died July 13, 1890. He was an American military officer, explorer, and politician who became the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, when he led four expeditions into the American West, that era's penny press and admiring historians accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder.

During the Mexican American War, Frémont, a major in the U.S. Army, took control of California from the Bear Flag Republic in 1846. Frémont then proclaimed himself military Governor of California; however, for that he was convicted in court martial for mutiny and insubordination. After President Polk commuted his sentence, Frémont led a fourth expedition, which cost ten lives, seeking a rail route over the mountains around the 38th parallel in the winter of 1849. He retired from military service and settled in California.

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