John Charles Fremont (Richard Chamberlain) finished his expedition by testing a raft on the river. Loading all the gear and valuable data into inflatable boat, the explores raft back toward civilization. Unfortunately, they were not ready for the rapids. Much of the equipment is lost but the records are recovered. Back home, it is now time to write the report, but Fremont finds he has not talent for it. Jessie (Alice Krige) gladly takes over. She has a talent for making the report readable. When the book is published, it proves to be a great success. During a celebratory dinner, Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft suggested that Fremont should travel to California on his next expedition and be ready for war between the United States and Mexico. However, no written orders were provided.
With Kit Carson (Rip Torn) at his side, Fremont set out on his 3rd Expedition. Once in California, his wanderings drew the ire of General Castro. Fremont was ordered out of the state. While in Oregon, a Marine Lieutenant, Archibald Gillespie (Johnathan Frakes), arrived. Fremont needed to get back to California, but there are still no written orders. Soon, Fremont is nudging American settlers to overthrow the California Government, infuriating John Sutter (Jerry Orbach). The Bear Flag Republic is born. Only weeks later, the US Navy raised the US flag over California. Eager to report the success to Washington, Fremont sent Kit east with dispatches. On the way, Kit encountered General Stephen Watts Kearney (G D Spradlin) heading toward California with his column of US Dragoons. Kearney roped Kit into leading the column back to California. When Kearney arrived in California, he immediately clashed with Fremont. Fremont declined to follow Kearney's orders; after all, Commodore Robert Stockton was in charge of California.
In Washington, Jessie sought help for her husband. Bancroft denied any orders for Fremont to topple California. When she met with President Polk (Noble Willingham), he was equally adamant that no such orders were conveyed. Unsurprisingly, Kearney placed Fremont under arrest for mutiny and marched him east for an eventual court martial.
This episode gets several things wrong. Firstly, Lt. Gillespie is killed during an Indian attack. This came as a real shock when I watched it, as I thought it was going to be fun to have Commander William Riker of Star Trek play second fiddle again. Nope, he's barely arrived when he is killed. In truth, Gillespie was second in command of the California Battalion during the conquest. He survived the war. Polk is portrayed more like Andrew Jackson. Polk was quite mild, letting folks convince themselves that he agreed with them by being pleasant. Here, he denounced Jessie for implying that he sent Fremont to conquer California. The initial conquest of California saw almost no fighting whereas this has a montage of battles as Fremont leads his men from town to town, guns blazing and cannon firing. Senator Benton (Fritz Weaver) is still avoiding his daughter more than 5 years after her marriage. In fact, the ostracism was quite brief, but it is ongoing throughout this chapter.
As with the previous episode, there are numerous historical figures beyond those already mentioned who get cameos: Tom Fitzpatrick, General Jose Castro, Ezekial Merritt, and Sagundai. For a TV production, it is quite immersive of the period.
Recommended.
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