Fremont Expedition Flag-1841
The Lewis and Clark Expedition and Pike Expedition explored and mapped the northern and southern parts of the Louisiana Purchase. However, the Rocky Mountains remained unmapped and unknown to most Americans. Expeditions lead by John C. Fremont in the 1840’s set out to map the Rocky Mountains and establish trails to Oregon and California.
On his expeditions, Fremont carried a Flag made by his wife Jessie. Legend has it, she created a Flag with an eagle in the upper corner or canton, as he would be crossing into territory held by Mexico and did not want to carry the Stars and Stripes. Although he did make covert expeditions into Mexican territory, his first expedition, for which the Flag was made, headed north into Wyoming. It is possible the Fremont Flag was designed to resemble the Flags given to Native American leaders by Lewis and Clark 40 years earlier.
On the 15th of August 1842, Fremont unfurled an American Flag on top of a Wyoming peak which would later bear his name. His journal gives no description of the Flag, but it is believed to be the one made by Jessie.
In 1956, several California towns incorporated into the city of Fremont. In the 1970’s the city adopted a variation of the Fremont Flag having a blue canton bearing a white eagle. The original, housed at the Autry Museum of the American West, has a white canton with a blue eagle. The blue canton version is most often sold by retailers.
To read more about John C. Fremont and his Flag, please consult the following sources:
Fremont, Jessie “Fremont Flag” (1841) Cotton. Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Object 81.G.5A https://collections.theautry.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=M231780;type=101
Fremont, John “Narrative of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year of 1842” Journal entry August 15. (1845) Fonthill Media LLC
Furlong, William and McCandless, Byron “So Proudly We Hail, The History of the United States Flag” pp. 196-197, (1981) Smithsonian Institution Press
Nevins, Allen “Directory of American Biography-Fremont, John Charles” (1931) Vol 7 pp. 19-23 https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer07ilamer/page/19/mode/1up?view=theater
Preble, George. “Our Flag, Origin and Progress of the Flag of the United States of America” pp. 270-271, (1872) Kessinger’s Legacy Reprint
Purcell, John. “Fremont, California” Raven, vol. 9-10 (2002-2003): pp. 120-121. American City Flags