Fremont and his colleagues covered some 10,000 miles between the frontiers of the Missouri and the shores of the Pacific. The report made substantial contributions in the fields of surveying, topography, and natural history. Fremont's report was the most widely read account of the West before the gold rush, and its contents and maps had a profound effect on the development of emigration routes. The expedition party included such notable explorers as the German topographical surveyor Charles Preuss, the American guides L. Maxwell and Christopher Kit Carson and the celebrated botanist John Torrey. The lithograph plates in this report include illustrations of both the countryside and flora, as well as plates of fossils, ferns and shells.

This is the House of Representatives issue, which preceded the Senate version. Octavo, hardbound in gray cloth covers, 583 pp., 23 plates, and 3 maps, including the smaller facsimile version of Map of Oregon and Upper California lithographed by E. Weber & Co. The body of the book contains Fremont's two reports, titled "A Report on an Exploration of the Country lying between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains," and "A Report of the Exploring Expedition to Oregon and North California, in the Years 1843-'44."

References: Wagner-Camp 115:2.

Condition: B

There is scattered foxing throughout the pages and plates, with a few pages marked with a highlighter (yellow), but the contents are tight. The large map at back has a few splits at fold intersections and a few minor tears that have been repaired with archival tape on verso, as does one of the smaller maps found within the text. The covers and spine show some light wear and the edges are bumped.