THE MEN: While there and on the top, we unfurled the stars
and stripes in all its glory.

FREMONT: Then I decided to cross the mountains. After many weary
months we beheld a great lake.

ONE OF THE MEN: You can imagine what feelings stirred the breasts
of men shut in for months by mountains, at seeing what appeared to
us to be an ocean here in the midst of a continent.

FREMONT: As we strained our eyes along its silent shores, I could
hardly repress the almost desire to continue our explorations.

MAN: After making preparations, we crossed over the mountains till we
reached the Columbia River, and traveled down to Vancouver. Here we
were the guests of the Governor of the British Hudson Bay Company.

FREMONT: On November tenth, we started across the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, and then on, till we came to Sutter's Fort.

MAN: Here we met the remarkable Captain Sutter. Captain Sutter is a
native of Switzerland. He came here with the intention of building a
colony. The Spanish Governor, Alvarado, gladly gave him a great tract
of land. Captain Sutter has great herds of cattle and many acres of
grain.

FREMONT: We then decided to cross the mountains farther to the south,
where the San Joaquin River makes a gap. Here we beheld a great desert.

MAN: An Indian told us that there was neither water nor
grass--nothing. Every animal that goes on this desert dies.

FREMONT: From here we traveled forward, reaching Salt Lake; having
made a circuit of the Great Basin. Here we are, with the story of
our trip.

PRESIDENT: You have had some wonderful experiences. And now, Mr.
Fremont, I would like you to go on a third expedition--to explore
the Pacific Coast.

FREMONT: Very well, Mr. President.

_End of Act II._

ACT III.

INTRODUCTION:

Fremont did not know about the war with Mexico. On his way to the
north, he heard that Mexicans were planning to kill every American
in California. Jose Castro was a Mexican general. The Mexicans had
one hundred and fifty horses. The Americans captured these horses.
That was the first victory in the conquest of California.

The Bear Flag Rebellion.

The Americans were indeed a rough looking lot. Mounted on horseback,
wearing leggings, and carrying pistols and guns. If the Americans had
known that war was going on, they would have raised the Stars and
Stripes. But not knowing it they decided to make a flag of their own.

The next act will be the formin