We took a local historian up for a brief sunset flight, so he could scout out terrain for Fremont’s attack (looking forward to reading the history when it’s published on Edhat next month). The sandstone ridge running diagonally in the foreground is a likely route.
3482 Grooved Ridge
Click to see the large version (or view the larger one on my Photo Page), and imagine soldiers wrestling canon and other battle gear down that grooved ridge (bottom left) in torrential rain. Story is that it had the groove from earlier use as a logging chute, and the rain made it into a water slide that scattered the army until survivors could reassemble under a giant oak at the bottom. Today the dead first growth from the recent fires added to the orange sunset glow, making the flight even more magical and fun. If weather permits, we’ll fly tomorrow and hopefully get some better pix.
John & Anne Wiley 
I hope your friend, the historian, will be mentioning Jessie Benton Fremont. It was her father who was the Expansionist and Fremont became a likely heir to that concept of Manifest Destiny.
Comment by Marie Mancilla — 2010/11/25 @ 03:11