[Fremont, John C.]: [Election of 1856]:

$2,250 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

COL. FREMONT'S LAST GRAND EXPLORING EXPEDITION IN 1856 [caption title]. A cutting satirical cartoon, aimed at the great western explorer, John C. Fremont, and his main supporters in his 1856 bid for the White House. Fremont was the Republican nominee for the presidency, and ran on an anti-slavery platform. He was backed by New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley and radical abolitionist minister, Henry Ward Beecher. In the image, Fremont rides a horse - called the "abolition nag" - that has the face of Greeley. Fremont says, "This is pretty hard riding - but if he only carries me to the White house in safety I will forgive my friends for putting me astride of such a crazy Old Hack." The horse is led toward the Salt River [a metaphor for political disaster] by leading Republican, William Seward, who proclaims that "Which ever road I travel always brings me to this confounded river, I thought we had a sure thing this time on the Bleeding Kansas dodge." Mountains in the background are identified as Kansas and Nebraska. The Greeley-headed horse addresses Seward: "Seward it seems to me we are going the same Road we did in 'fifty two' but as long as you lead I'll follow if I 'go it blind.'" Henry Ward Beecher, who was known to have furnished antislavery emigrants with firearms to participate in the Kansas struggles, follows behind Fremont's horse, his arms laden with rifles. A mountain man - evoking Fremont's exploring past - cautions the Pathfinder: "Ah! Colonel - you've got into a

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