Fremont, California…But For How Much Longer?

I’ve been reading the magisterial, compulsively readable history of the taking of the American West, Hampton Sides’s Blood and Thunder, a book I highly, heartily, and happily recommend.

Sides tells the story of how Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and California all became US possessions.

The key players are Kit Carson, trapper and mountain man extraordinaire; John C. Fremont, explorer and self-proclaimed military leader; and Narbona, the Navajo leader (they didn’t call them chiefs) forced to deal with the coming of the white man.

Fremont didn’t mess around. When two of his men were murdered by Klamath Falls, Oregon, Fremont and his men butchered several dozen Native Americans, whether their tribes had been involved in the killings or not.

He also gave the nod for the murder of several Spanish men in San Francisco, when it turned out that there was Mexican opposition to California being taken.

Of course there was Mexican opposition; the land belonged to Mexico.

We live in an era, for better or worse, of reassessing American history.

For better, because we are righting some historical wrongs, and for worse, because we are distorting or even outright destroying some of the core facts of American history.

Since we’re toppling statues and renaming military bases, can the renaming of some American cities, or perhaps even states, be far behind?

If the people who have been pulling down statues get a hold of Blood and Thunder, I wonder whether we will be in for a reevaluation of the legacy of John C. Fremont.

My guess is yes.

It doesn’t matter what your position regarding today’s reexamination of American history might be when it comes to Fremont’s actions.

They are either impossible, or all but impossible to justify.

You could say it was a time of war, but the only reason it was a time of war was because Fremont and his men were making war.

In other words, it’s not much of a justification to say, “We killed these people because it was wartime,” when, if it weren’t for you, there wouldn’t have been a wartime.

So I don’t think it’s long before the renaming of cities, or even entire states, comes up for debate.

And once that happens, the name of the city Fremont, California, will be first up on the chopping block.

Save this column.

When the renaming begins, I want you to remember that you saw it here first.

After reading this book, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s agitation to rename Carson City, Nevada, but I think Fremont will be first on the docket.

Narbona, the Navajo, comes off the best of all the key personages in Blood and Thunder.

Sides portrays him as wise, experienced, diplomatic, and well-respected by Native Americans and whites as well.

I’m not aware that he has a city named after him at this time.

Narbona, California, anyone?