Imperfect Union by Steve Inskeep
The rest of the title for the book is "How Jessie and John Fremont mapped the west, invented celebrity, and helped cause the Civil War"
My subtitle would just be "People are Dumb"
Fremont swung into my orbit because Mariposa County used to be John Fremont's estate. He owned 44000 acres there, purchased on one of his 5 exploratory visits to California. When I saw that, I realized that, despite hearing his name my entire life, I knew nothing about Fremont or his journey's. I certainly didn't know he ran for president as the first candidate from the newly formed Republican party.
I did learn a lot. The thing I learned the most is don't go exploring with Fremont. He's one of the few that came back alive. He tended to start late and end up crossing the Sierra Mountains in winter. There was a lot of horse and mule eating. I don't come away from the book with a very high sense of Mr. Fremont.
There is a lot about Jessie Fremont in the book as well. Jessie and John were a team and she was the publicity wing of the enterprise. She helped write a lot of his reports. She was the buffer between him and the public in many cases. And she was the one constantly abandoned when John got itchy feet and had to go exploring.
I'm not going to take just Mr. Inskeep's word about the life of Fremont. I have another biography on him waiting to go.
The rest of the title for the book is "How Jessie and John Fremont mapped the west, invented celebrity, and helped cause the Civil War"
My subtitle would just be "People are Dumb"
Fremont swung into my orbit because Mariposa County used to be John Fremont's estate. He owned 44000 acres there, purchased on one of his 5 exploratory visits to California. When I saw that, I realized that, despite hearing his name my entire life, I knew nothing about Fremont or his journey's. I certainly didn't know he ran for president as the first candidate from the newly formed Republican party.
I did learn a lot. The thing I learned the most is don't go exploring with Fremont. He's one of the few that came back alive. He tended to start late and end up crossing the Sierra Mountains in winter. There was a lot of horse and mule eating. I don't come away from the book with a very high sense of Mr. Fremont.
There is a lot about Jessie Fremont in the book as well. Jessie and John were a team and she was the publicity wing of the enterprise. She helped write a lot of his reports. She was the buffer between him and the public in many cases. And she was the one constantly abandoned when John got itchy feet and had to go exploring.
I'm not going to take just Mr. Inskeep's word about the life of Fremont. I have another biography on him waiting to go.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm