Nevada State Museum symposium offers rare glimpse into story of Fremont, Western expansion
Submitted by editor on Sat, 06/28/2014 - 3:14pm
To celebrate Nevada’s 150th anniversary of statehood, the Nevada State Museum in Carson City is exhibiting “Finding Fremont: Pathfinder of the West,” and hosting the John C. Fremont Symposium. The two-day series of lectures and presentations July 25-26 will examine how the famed explorer changed the face of America, the tools he used and the topographical and political lessons learned along the way.
When much of the West was still part of Mexico, Fremont made his way across unmapped territory leaving a lasting mark wherever he went. Naming the Great Basin and Pyramid Lake, Humboldt, Carson and Walker rivers, and peaks and valleys in between, the explorer from South Carolina set out to give the land a new identity. Exploring the territory that included Nevada, California, Oregon and more, he mapped the West for the rest of the world.
Leading Fremont scholars, historians from around the country and the public will gather to discuss the man, his life, times and contributions, and the mystery of his lost cannon. Presenters include Andrew Menard, New York author of “Sight Unseen: How Fremont’s First Expedition Changed the American Landscape.” Richard Francaviglia, professor emeritus at the University of Texas, Arlington, and author of “Go East Young Man: Imagining the American West as the Orient,” will join Paul Rosewitz, a leading expert on mountain howitzers.
The symposium includes dinner in the Nevada Room of the Governor’s Mansion and an authentic Dutch oven lunch. Registration is open through June 30 by going here. For information, contact DStevenson@nevadaculture.org or (775) 687-4810 ext. 237. The Nevada State Museum is at 600 N. Carson Street.
The symposium will include explorations of geography, mapping, surveying, military ordnance, archaeology and photography. Among the sessions slated are “Fremont and Preuss: Navigating into the Unknown” by Paul Pace, professional land surveyor and member of the Fremont Howitzer Recovery Team; “Legend, Lore, and Lionization: The Mischaracterization of Joseph R. Walker and Other Explorers of the Intermontane West” by Scott Stine, paleoclimatologist and geomorphologist at California State University, Hayward.
“Is this Fremont’s cannon?” is scheduled by Gene Hattori, the museum’s curator of anthropology with Rosewitz and John Wilusz, civil engineer with the California Department of Water Resources and member of the Fremont Howitzer Recovery Team.
Actor Alastair Jaques and Virginia City cowboy poet Richard Elloyan will perform during the symposium.
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