JAMES K. POLK and JOHN C. FREMONT

U. S. President James K. Polk and Col. John C. Fremont were principal figures in California's history, and the Mexican War.

EDWARD F. BEALE

Midshipman Edward F. Beale of the Navy commanded a fleet of boats in which Fremont and 160 men embarked, reaching San Francisco on 12 October 1846. They immediately boarded the waiting ship, Sterling, which sailed with Commodore Stockton toward Santa Barbara the same day. Fremont was to supply his force with horses for his march to Los Angeles while Commodore Stockton proceeded in the Congress for San Pedro. A fair wind drove the vessels down the coast in company and, on 15 October, they fell in with an American merchant vessel, the Barnstable, carrying dispatches from Lieutenant William A. T. Maddox, U. S. Marine Corps, the Commandant at Monterey. The dispatches reported that an attack was threatened and Maddox needed reinforcements, so Stockton ordered the Sterling to go on to Santa Barbara and the Congress headed for Monterey, where he arrived the following day. After parting company with the Congress, the Sterling met the Vandalia bringing Stockton news that Los Angeles had fallen. Fremont concluded he would not be able to get horses and supplies at Santa Barbara, and that Monterey would be the best place for him to prepare for his advance on Los Angeles. Consequently, he directed the Sterling to turn back. On the way back, she was becalmed for several days and did not reach Monterey until 28 October, nine days after Stockton had left.