9. John C. Fremont, 1813-1890

Report of an Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842 and to Oregon & North California in the Years 1843-44, by Brevet Capt. J. C. Fremont of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, Under the Orders of Col. J. J. Abert, Chief of the Topographical Bureau. Washington D.C.: Gales and Seaton, 1845

Original consideration of the West as a future location for the Saints came early in the history of the Mormons. Several contemporaries of Joseph Smith claim he made statements as early as 1834 that the Saints "would go to the Rocky Mountains." By 1844, Joseph and other church leaders were openly discussing the prospects of moving the church to the Oregon country or somewhere in the West. On May 13, 1844 two letters discussing Oregon as a possible location for settlement arrived in Nauvoo from Orson Hyde who was writing from Washington, D.C. While in Washington Hyde met with President John Tyler in the White House to discuss the Mormon difficulties encountered in Missouri and Illinois. He also had lengthy discussions with several Congressmen regarding the opening of the Oregon Territory for emigration and presented a bill drafted to the "Committee on the Judiciary from the Senate" asking for an appropriation of funds for relief of the Mormon people. Hyde's second letter notes he had received:

"a map of Oregon, and also a report on an exploration of the country lying between the Missouri river and the Rocky Mountains on the line of the Kansas and great Platte rivers, by Lieut. J. C. Fremont, of the corps of Topographical Engineers,"

which he had sent on to Nauvoo. This report of John C. Fremont's first expedition was greeted by Americans with great interest. The report provided information on the West that had not been available before, a readable narrative combined with adequate maps produced from personal observation. It was initially published in 1843 as Senate Document 243, 27th Congress, 3rd Session and this is undoubtedly the edition that Hyde forwarded to Nauvoo in 1844. A year later the reports of Fremont's first and second expeditions (displayed here) were combined and published by trade publishers Gales and Seaton, printers of The Daily National Intelligencer a Washington newspaper which also printed serial extracts of the reports. In September the Nauvoo Neighbor also began printing excerpts of the report and on December 20, 1845 Heber C. Kimball records that "Council members listened to Franklin D. Richards read in the temple from Fremont's journal concerning Fremont's trip to California." Kimball's journal also records on December 29 that extracts of Fremont's narrative were again read and after the general reading to the council Brigham Young spent nearly an hour reading Fremont's narrative on his own. A December 31st account has BrighamYoung and Heber C. Kimball examining "maps with reference to selecting a location for the Saints west of the Rocky Mountains and reading the various works which have been written by travelers..."

It is clear that by the end of the year 1845 church leaders had examined a wealth of information on the western country of America and prominent among the maps, guides and reports which assisted them in selecting a location for settlement was Fremont's Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains....