John Fremont High School - Fremontian Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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ix u n These Izrafve deeds forever recorded in stone

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,J ,, W, ,!. 1 X f , y ,ff fr rl -1, , rf ' QU fx i -. .W .5 X I, - 1 JOHN CHARLES FREMONT OHN CHARLES FREMONT is one of the great characters in tl'lC!flIlI'l3lS IA T our country, and possibly the most outstanding one in California history. He was the man of the hour. There have been many people who have criticised him, saying that his fame was due mainly to his own successful advertising and that any one might have done what he did. This might have been, but who, or where, was the . man, and would he have done what Fremont accomplished? As for his being a successful advertiser, it proved him all the greater. V, His first fame was the result of his several expeditions to the west. He captured the imagination of the world when he led his buckskin shirted scouts across the Sierras and wrested the Land of Gold from the Dons. Books were written in many lan- guages. He was immortalized by poets, he was honored by the Presidentig he was ,ltoasted by all the courts of Europe. if ll l In his journal of the trip of 1842 he tells how he, before plunging into an un- explored country where the Indians were hostile, confronted his men with the alter- , native of returning home or pressing on to a possible death. Thus faced, only one ., man held hackg all the others remained staunch to their leader. The one man was il-llent home as he desired. It was for this independent and decisive manner that his men loved him as a friend and as their fellowg yet they were always conscious that he was their leader. X They knew that he would foster no shirking in the face of actualities and that he would press on alone if faced by the alternative, which he never wasp for his men , vould follow him as one to the end, eventhough they were western men with the fire of independence in their veins. Fremont was one of the first tourists in California. He was enthralled by this wonderful land of gold, and as soon as he was able he settled down on his ranch in X Central California and set himself to the task of helping the people of his adopted home into statehood. He had defied his superiors to protect the Californians' rights in the Treaty K- of Cahuenga. He was automatically court-martialed, but was reprieved by the Pres- ident, who could see no wrong in generosity and justice. However, his feeling that he could not accept a commission caused him to retire into private life. Representative of the Spirit of Progress, Fremont knew that California would some day be part of the United States, and he was on hand to guide the way. To him we best owe honor, as a Pathfinder, as a Soldier, as a Leader, as a Citizen, and as a Klan. by Howard Childers, S'27. .L , , M sg e -17511 ye, -'Hifi fa -. ii? et ' f' r - rr. ,o L Five 7 X

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Chrysopylae-The Golden Gate-bids fwelrome into the Golden California Seven