and young
Fremont's connection with the army. The young engineer received an
unexpected and unwelcome order, sending him to the wild frontier of
Iowa at once, where the Sacs and Foxes, it was thought by Senator
Benton (who had a hand in his exile), might be made to help postpone
the marriage, at least. But banishment and red-skins were of no
avail in breaking the engagement.

Fremont performed his duty to the letter, returned to Washington,
and married Miss Benton, October 19, 1841--a "runaway match" which
happily brought life-long happiness to both parties--Mrs. Fremont
becoming the connecting link, to use her own words, between her
father's "fixed idea of the importance of the speedy acquisition of
the Pacific coast, and its actualization through the man best fitted
to be the pioneer of the undertaking."

Less than a year after his marriage, in the summer of 1842, Fremont
was sent by the War Department on the _first_ of the _five_
expeditions which gave him the name of Pathfinder.

The Mexican War was ripening fast. England had at that time
financial claims upon Mexico, and Mexico was bankrupt.

How to get California was a serious question, reminding United
States diplomatists of the old Quaker's advice to his son--"Get
money, Joseph, get money. Get it honestly if you can--_but get it_."
Acquisition of California by settlement was vigorously encouraged.
The best routes across the mountains must be discovered and
surveyed. Partial explorations of routes to Oregon and California
had been made. Emigrants had crossed the Rockies and were settled in
the Sacramento Valley. But the geography of the Great Basin was
inaccessible to science; the best and safest routes were only
guessed at. Emigration was checked by rumors of perils, alas! too
true. Fremont's order to go to the frontier beyond the Mississippi,
was changed at his request for something more definite--the
exploration of _the South Pass_ of the Rocky Mountains.

August 8, 1842, he reached the South Pass, and then the unexplored
was before him--untrodden ground. Kit Carson was his guide;
twenty-eight men made up his party--Canadian voyageurs, picked men,
well mounted and armed--only eight of the expedition driving wagons.
Randolph Benton, a lad of twelve, Fremont's brother-in-law, was one
of the number. The great event of this expedition, so full of
thrilling adventure, was the first ascent of that highest peak of
the Wind River Mountains, now called Fremont's