He died in 1890. He
has well been called "the Pathfinder."
Fremont's conquest of California was, in effect, a part of the Mexican
War, which began in 1846. After nearly two years of fighting a treaty of
peace was signed, by which Mexico ceded to the United States not only
California but also much of the vast region now included in Nevada, Utah,
Arizona, and New Mexico.
This region, which is called the Mexican Cession, contained five hundred
and forty-five thousand seven hundred and eighty-three square miles, while
Texas included five hundred and seventy-six thousand one hundred and
thirty-three square miles. These two areas together were, like Louisiana,
much larger than the whole of the United States at the end of the
Revolution. With the addition of Louisiana in 1803, of Florida in 1819, of
Texas in 1845, and of this region in 1848, the United States had
enormously increased her territory.
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD
On the same day on which the treaty of peace was signed with Mexico
(February 2, 1848), gold was discovered in California.
Captain Sutter, a Swiss pioneer living near the site of the present city
of Sacramento--at Sutter's Fort, where Fremont stopped on his second
expedition--was having a water-power sawmill built up the river at some
distance from his home.
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