Four months after starting he had explored this pass and, with
four of his men, had gone up to the top of Fremont's Peak, where he
unfurled to the breeze the beautiful stars and stripes.
The excellent report he made of the expedition was examined with much
interest by men of science in our own country and in foreign lands.
In this and also in his second expedition Fremont received much help from
a follower, Kit Carson. Kit Carson was one of the famous scouts and
hunters of the West, who felt smothered by the civilization of a town or
city, and loved the free, roaming life of the woodsman.
[Illustration: Fremont's Expedition Crossing the Rocky Mountains.]
Before joining Fremont, Kit Carson had travelled over nearly all of the
Rocky Mountain country. Up to 1834 he was a trapper, and had wandered back
and forth among the mountains until they had become very familiar to him.
During the next eight years, in which he served as hunter for Bent's Fort,
on the Arkansas River, he learned to know the great plains. He was,
therefore, very useful to Fremont as a guide.
He was also well acquainted with many Indian tribes. He knew their
customs, he understood their methods of warfare, and was well liked by the
Indians themselves.
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