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John Charles Fremont

With five major exploring expeditions west of the Mississippi, John C. Frémont redefined the country — with the help of his wife’s promotional skills.

Editor's Note: Steve Inskeep, the host of NPR's Morning Edition, has recently published

A junior Army officer, acting on secret orders from the president, bluffed a far stronger Mexican force into conceding North America's westernmost province to the United States.

Frémont was wi
Overrated

The tragic journey of the Donner Party

To the brothers George and Jacob Donner the way to California seemed clear and simple.

A low comedy for high stakes:

It isn’t every day that one can see a man pushing a peanut with his nose along the main street of an American town.

The shore line of Pyramid Lake, one of the West's great natural wonders, is steadily receding, robbed of the water it needs by a Bureau of Reclamation irrigation project.

On January 10, 1844, Lieutenant John C.

John Charles Frémont never succeeded in living up to his fame, yet he was one of America’s great explorers

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