Frémont and '49 : the story of a remarkable career and its relation to the exploration and development of our western territory, especially of California . off where the height above the level of the sea is abso-lutely known—a railway track, for example. Of course, atthe time of these expeditions of Fremont a satisfactorybarometer base was an impossible thing to secure anywherewest of St. Louis; there were no railways; no place had beenestablished exactly as to altitude. St. Louis was a long wayoff, too long to give the best results. Notwithstanding thedifficulties and the often disadvantageou
Frémont and '49 : the story of a remarkable career and its relation to the exploration and development of our western territory, especially of California . off where the height above the level of the sea is abso-lutely known—a railway track, for example. Of course, atthe time of these expeditions of Fremont a satisfactorybarometer base was an impossible thing to secure anywherewest of St. Louis; there were no railways; no place had beenestablished exactly as to altitude. St. Louis was a long wayoff, too long to give the best results. Notwithstanding thedifficulties and the often disadvantageous conditions, Fre- In the course of the last exploration it became evident that the longitudesestablished during the campaign of 1842 were collectively thrown too far towestward by the occultation of a^ Arietis, to which they had been referredby the chronometer. This occultation took place at the bright limb of themoon, which experience has recently shown to be deserving of little compara-tive confidence.—Report, p. 321. St. Vrains fort on the first expedition ismade 105° 12 12, on the second 105° 12 23. The actual longitude is about104° 51-. John Charles Fremont1813-1890 From an old print. Probably about as he looked at the time of his firstexpeditions to the Far West Charles Preuss 53 monts observations were admirable in their conscientiousnessand they were sufficient to form the basis of some (for thecircumstances) very good maps. His astronomical errorsseem to have been constant, and, when this is the case, reduc-tion to correctness, when the error is once calciilated, is asimple matter. On this 1842, or First, expedition, he had twenty-onemen, chiefly Creoles and Canadian voyageurs who had beenin the employ of the fur companies and were consequentlyfamiliar with the life. Lucien Maxwell was hunter; Carson,as noted, was guide, and a German of most admirablequalities, Charles Preuss, afterwards very well known inthe geographical field, was topographer. Fremont had fi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade19, booksubjectdiscoveriesingeography
