Mother Lode Narratives: The Mariposa Grant Stories.

Mariposa Heritage Press, 1996. Paperback Second Edition. Edited and Annotated by Shirely Sargent. First Published in 1970 in a Limited Edition of 650 copies by Lewis Osborne. Paperback: Pictorial Wraps. Collection of stories by American writer and political activitist Jessie Ann Benton Frémont (1824 - 1902), wife of John Charles Frémont (1813 - 1890). Collection of short stories dealing with her years living in California on the Las Mariposas Grant. Mother Lode Narratives was published 1970 in a limited editon by Lewis Osborne. Since that publication, permission to read/reproduce Jessie Benton Fremont's "correspondence with Elizabeth Blair Lee, and her father Francis Preston Blair" held at Princeton Univ was granted to historian Shirley Sargent by Mrs. Lee's grandson Preston Blair Lee. This 2nd Edition, in the form of annotations, is enriched with the letters' descriptions of "day to day reality" which form a marked contrast with the "more dramatic" versions written later when the family was under extreme financial distress and dependent on Jessie Fremont's publication earnings. As a consequence of her studies of the family correspondence, Shirley Sargent makes a severe indictment: "In the twenty-six years since the book's [the 1970 Edition], my regard and respect for Jessie Fremont has increased. The same cannot be said for my opinions of her husband." The narratives are: Chapter I, My. Grizzly Bear; II, Beseiged; III, The House that Jessie Built (Ms. Fremont's title was "The House that Jack Built"); IV, Sierra Neighbors; V, The Ball; VI, Lost Boy; VII, Camping Near the Giant Trees; and, VIII, The Camp on Mt. Bullion; followed by Afterword and Colophon. Illustrations include contemporary prints from the Bancroft Library at Berkeley, California.