- Object Name
- Maker
- Title
The Fremont Flag
- Date
1841
- Materials
red and white strips of cotton fabric, hand-sewn, black and red paint
- Dimensions
flag: 47 in x 83 5/16 in (119.4 cm x 211.6 cm) framed: 56 3/4 in x 93 in x 3 3/4 in (144.1 cm x 236.2 cm x 9.5 cm)
- Credit Line
Gift of Elizabeth Benton Fremont
- Object ID
81.G.5A
-
- Institution
Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, Autry Museum of the American West
-
- Category
Art and Artifacts
- Remarks
The Fremont Flag, designed and made by Jessie Benton Fremont, 1841. General John Charles Fremont, also referred to as the "Pathfinder", first unfurled the Fremont flag on the crest of the Rocky Mountains on his First Expedition westward into United States territory on August 15, 1842. Knowing he would enter territories beyond national boundaries, Fremont realized he could not carry the Stars and Stripes. His bride, Jessie Benton Fremont, solved the problem by designing and making a flag that incorporated elements of the national flag, with a distinctive motif (the eagle's talon holds a peace pipe or "calumet" instead of the traditional olive branch) intended as a message of peace to the Native people. In his memories, Fremont wrote he flew the flag on "Snow Peak", now known as Fremont Peak in present day Wyoming, and "unfurled the national flag to wave in the breeze where never a flag had waved before." On returning from his expedition, Fremont gave the flag to his wife, who backed it with a piece of her lilac silk wedding dress and embroidered upon it, in gold, the words "Rocky Mountains, 1841"--the year the expedition set forth. The flag was later said to be carried and used on Fremont's Third Expedition in 1845-1846, an expedition that historians remark as a turning point in California history. The flag was donated to the Southwest Museum by Fremont's daughter, Elizabeth, on May 3, 1905 and which she later rose on the day of the Museum's groundbreaking in 1912. It is unknown if this is the flag Fremont flew in California.
- Subject
- Pictured
- Used
- Publication
Culture y cultura consequences of the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1848 / Iris H.W. Engstrand, Richard Griswold del Castillo, Elena Poniatowska. page 70 and back cover
The masterkey anthropology of the Americas, Volume 26, no.4 / Southwest Museum
1995 commemorative stamp collection. page 56
Star-spangled banner our nation and its flag / by Margaret Sedeen. page 135
Convergence Autry National Center Magazine, 2007 Winter, Spring / Autry National Center. pages 26-27
American heritage (SERIAL) page 36
Empire and liberty the Civil War and the West / edited by Virginia Scharff, exhibition curated by Carolyn Brucken. page 32; plate 2 (photo insert)
Stars and stripes patriotic motifs in American folk art / Deborah Harding. page 14