NorCal Nationalism Collective

—Overall, 389,000 cubic yards of concrete were used for construction of the bridge, as well as 83,000 tons of structural steel. At the time of its conception, it was deemed the ‘impossible bridge.’ To this day, it is still widely considered an engineering and constructional feat, as well as an American icon of strength, determination, and will.

— Frémont’s “massacres” were actually the successful execution of retaliatory or preemptive attacks. The largest engagement is now known as the “Sacramento River Massacre.” After being informed by local American settlers of an impending attack on White settlements at the hands of roughly 1000 Indians, Frémont took his men and went looking for them. Finding them, the estimated number of the tribe was actually 5000. Frémont ordered a charge, each of his men carried a rifle, two pistols, and a knife. They rushed in on three sides, and the order was given to “ask no quarter, and to give none.” Famed frontiersman Kit Carson called it “a perfect butchery.” Estimated casualties of the Indians vary, casualties of Frémont’s party were none.

Later in 1846, Frémont was informed war with Mexico was inevitable and left Oregon to join the fighting in California. By January of 1847, California as a whole was under majority control of the American military, and Frémont was later named military governor of California. In 1850, he was named California’s first U.S. senator.

Frémont is commemorated by city, county, school and organization names throughout the country, most of them being in California. He leaves a legacy of arguably unmatched success in regard to western American expansion and the overall growth and prosperity of the American nation.