“ With the mountain-traversed region he had been exploring acquired by the United States, Frémont was eager for a railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in October 1848 he set out at his own and Senator Benton’s expense to find passes for such a railway along a line westward from the headwaters of the Rio Grande. ”

“ In the spring of 1845 Frémont was despatched on a third expedition for the professed purposes of further exploring the Great Basin and the Pacific Coast, and of discovering the easiest lines of communication between them, as well as for the secret purpose of assisting the United States, in case of war with Mexico, to gain possession of California. He and his party of sixty-two arrived there in January 1846. Owing to the number of American immigrants who had settled in California, the Mexican authorities there became suspicious and hostile, and ordered Frémont out of the province. ”

“ When the claim of the United States to the Oregon territory was being strengthened by occupation, Frémont was sent, at his urgent request, to explore the frontier beyond the Missouri river, and especially the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the South Pass, through which the American immigrants travelled. ”