Botanical collections and John C. Frémont's 1845-1846 expedition to Alta California—the parallel paths of genocide and science

Keywords: Western expansion, genocide, botanical expeditions
Abstract Type: Virtual Poster Abstract

Abstract

John C. Frémont's expedition of 1845-1846 in California and Oregon was mainly focused on promoting his role in the incipient war with Mexico. While in northern California, Frémont's party, including Kit Carson, massacred River Nomlaki, Yana, River Patwin, and Klamath families from the Sacramento Valley to Klamath Lake from April-May, 1846. At the same time, Frémont collected plant specimens in the vicinity of these massacres and later sent them to botanist John Torrey in Princeton for classification. Primary and secondary sources are used to map the approximate areas of the plant collections and the massacres, 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 relationship between scientific study and the violent expansion of the United States into indigenous territories, and the geographic paths which bound these intertwined activities. It concludes with a call to begin to change the taxonomic and common names of plants which presently honor Frémont.