war to lead a great army, most believed that one who had proved himself, in danger and difficulty, so capable of controlling his fellows, would be equal to all the trials of his new position.

John Charles Fremont was born in Savannah, Georgia, on the 21st of January, 1813. His father, a Frenchman by birth, had emigrated to Norfolk, Va., where he taught his native language. Here he fell in love with a Mrs. Pryor, the divorced wife of Major Pryor, forty-five years her senior, and whom, through the influence of her friends, she had been persuaded to marry while a girl of seventeen. The marriage was naturally an unhappy one, and recourse was had, by the consent of both parties, to a bill of divorce. The Major subsequently married his housekeeper, and Mrs. Pryor became the wife of Fremont's father. Her maiden name was Anne Beverly Whiting, and she claimed to be connected by marriage with the family of Washington.

Fremont's father having died in 1818, his widow removed to Charleston with her three children. John Charles, her son, was sent, at the age of fifteen, to Charleston College, where he entered the Junior class. He was making good progress in his studies, when he was suddenly distracted from his academic duties by a youthful love passage. This led to irregularities and inattention, which caused his expulsion from college. He now sought and obtained employment as a private teacher of his favorite pursuit, the mathematics. In 1833 he was appointed schoolmaster on

board of the United States sloop-of-war Natchez, and sailed on a cruise to the coast of South America.

On his return to Charleston, after an absence of two years, he was honored by the college from which he had been expelled, with the degrees of bachelor and master of arts. Soon after, having passed a rigorous examination, he was appointed professor of mathematics in the navy, and ordered to the frigate Independence. He, however, now determined to give up the sea, and betaking himself to civil engineering on land, was employed for awhile on the railroads. of South Carolina and Tennessee. In 1837 he 1837 he was, with Captain Williams, engaged in a military reconnoissance of the mountainous regions of Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, made in anticipation of a campaign against the Cherokee Indians. In 1838-9 he accompanied M. Nicollet, appointed by the Government to explore the country between the Missouri and the British line. While thus engaged, he received, from President Van Buren, the commission of second lieutenant in the corps of Topographical Engineers. In 1840, while occupied at the capital in preparing the reports of his expedition, he fell in love with Miss Jessie Benton, the daughter of Colonel Thomas H. Benton, a United States senator from Missouri. His suit was accepted by the maid, but refused by her parents on the score of her extreme youth, she being only fifteen years of age. age. Fremont soon after received, at the instigation probably of Colonel Benton, a peremptory

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On May 2, 1842, Fremont set out from Washington on an exploration of the Rocky Mountains, and particularly the South Pass, which had been suggested to the Government by himself. The report of his first expedition, which was concluded in October, 1842, attracted great attention. In May, 1843, Lieutenant Fremont started on a second expedition, much more comprehensive in its design than the first, extending through the valleys of the Columbia River. While on this expedition he crossed the mountains on the Pacific coast, reaching Sutter's Fort, on the Sacramento, early in March, 1844, after forty days of great trial and suffering. The preparation of the report of this expedition occupied the remainder of that year, and in the spring of 1845, having been brevetted captain, he started on a third expedition, to explore the great basin and maritime region of Oregon and California. This expedition was full of stirring incident. The Mexican war having, in the mean time, broken out, Fremont was diverted from the scientific object of his exploration by a call to arms. He defended himself bravely and skilfully against the Mexican General Castro, who threatened to attack him with an overwhelming force. Subsequently, under Fremont's leadership, the Californians succeeded in ex

Having quarrelled with General Kearney, his superior in command, Fremont was refused permission to join the army in Mexico, and ultimately was courtmartialed and sentenced to be dismissed from the service. President Polk remitted the penalty, but Fremont refused to avail himself of the favor, declaring that he was not conscious of having done anything to merit the finding of the court. In October, 1848, he started on a fourth exploring expedition, along the waters of the Upper Rio Grande and through the country of the Apaches, Camanches, etc., hoping to find a practicable route to California. This expedition also proved one of great trial and suffering. Having purchased a vast tract of land in California, known as the Mariposa estate, Fremont has the prospect of great wealth, though for the present embarrassed by lawsuits and heavy mortgages. In 1849 he was elected one of the United States senators from California, drawing the short term and serving but three weeks. In 1852 he visited Europe, where he was received with every mark of respect by eminent men of letters and of science. In 1853 he made a fifth and highly successful exploring expedition, between the Mis