Geographical Memoir upon Upper California, an Illustration of His Map of Oregon and California

by John C. Frémont

Excerpt from Geographical Memoir Upon Upper In Illustration of His Map of Oregon and CaliforniaIn extent, it embraces the whole western side of this continent, between the eastern base of the Rocky mountains and the Pacific ocean, and between the straits of Fuca and the Gulf ofAbout the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

77 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

American explorer, soldier, and politician John Charles Frémont explored and mapped much of the American West and Northwest, served a United States senator from California from 1850 to 1851, and ran for president in 1856.

This military officer lost the election to James Buchanan, a Democrat, and ran against Abraham Lincoln before the elections in 1864. Frémont brokered a political deal, in which Lincoln removed Montgomery Blair, postmaster general, from office and afterward abandoned his political campaign in September 1864.

He purchased the Pacific railroad, losing the major part of his fortune on this proven unsuccessful investment.
Rutherford Birchard Hayes, president, appointed him governor of Arizona from 1878 to 1881.

Reviews

[Rose Gowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I read is not precisely this title-- it's Fremont's memoir of California, plus extracts of various reports and letters describing the land and the flora and fauna, and early accounts of the gold rush.

There's some beautiful stuff here. I love this, from (I believe) Venega's History of California, first published in 1758:

"Father Torquemada observes, that about Monte Rey are very large bears, an animal something like a buffalo, and a creature very different from the tiger, as will appear from the following description he has given of it: it is about the bigness of a steer, but shaped like a stag; its hair resembles that of a pelican, and it is a quarter of a yard in length; its neck long, and on its head are horns, like those of a stag; the tail is a yard in length, and half a yard in breadth, and the feet cloven like those of an ox."