John Fremont

John Fremont was one of the first explorers to come through this region. Sent by the U.S. government, he made several trips out west. In his second expedition in 1842, his team traveled up this valley and stayed a few days by the rock formation we call Castle Rock (the rock is visible from this point if you look to the north). His men were very hungry, having not eaten in several days. So they nicknamed the formation Poundcake Rock.

Fremont wrote and published his journals of his expeditions. In them he had many wonderful things to say about their guide, a young man named Kit Carson. Fremont's writings made Carson a national hero and the subject of many made-up western novels. This is a pcture of Fremont (sitting) and Carson (swipe right for more pictures).

Carson would later become a close friend of DC Oakes. It was Oakes who brought the severely ill Carson from Denver back home to SW Colorado so that he could see his family before he died. There is a monument to this trip near the maintenance area of the Sanctuary Golf Course in Daniels Park.