California '46 to '88

These are excerpts from the book by Jacob Wright Harlan of his memories as a California pioneer. 

CHAPTER 18: WITH FREMONT

My first impression of Fremont was not quite favorable. I had been always under older men, and he seemed to me to be too young to command in such a piece of work as that which he had undertaken. Afterward I learned that he was more of a man than I at first supposed. His age was twenty-six or twenty-seven years. He was rather spare-built, weighing, perhaps, one hundred and fifty pounds, and his height might be about five feet nine inches. His complexion was fair, with keen blue eyes, and Romanish nose, and brown hair parted in the middle like a woman's.
His carriage was erect, and not without dignity. On the whole, I learned to like the colonel as a commander, and from what little I knew of him, also as a man. 

The officer that I thought to be more of a man than any in the whole force was Major Reading. If I had had my choice I would rather have gone with him into positions of danger and difficulty than with Fremont or any of them. His age at that that time must have been about twenty-nine
years. He was a strong, lithe man, weighing, perhaps, one hundred and seventy-five or one hundred and eighty pounds, and over six feet high. He was of dark complexion, with black hair and eyes, and a sharp, keen look, which seemed to go through one. He was a good frontiersman, and physically and otherwise he looked as if he could stand any strain that might be put upon him. 

We remained at Monterey two days, and then marched for Los Angeles. Provisions were rather scarce, and before we reached the San Miguel mission we were living solely on beef. Each day twelve beeves were killed, and every man roasted his ration at the camp-fire.

WORKING FOR LEIDESDORFF