Military expeditions and botanical collections in the West--John C. Frémont and the Sacramento River Massacre of 1846

Keywords: United States' Western expansion, genocide, John C. Frémont, John Torrey, nineteenth century botanical collections
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 62

Abstract

John C. Frémont's expedition of 1845-1846 in California was mainly focused on promoting his role in the incipient war with Mexico. While in northern California, Frémont's party, including Kit Carson, massacred Native Americans on the upper Sacramento River on April 5, 1846. At the same time, Frémont collected plant specimens in the vicinity of this massacre, and later sent them to botanist John Torrey in New York for classification. The approximate areas of the plant collections and the massacre are mapped, as well as the transport path of the plant collections to the herbarium of John Torrey at his home in Princeton, New Jersey.

The poster will illustrate the connections between scientific study and the expansion of the United States into indigenous territories, and the geographic paths which bound these intertwined activities.