Gianella, Vincent P.,
Where Frémont Crossed the Sierra in 1844,
Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol.44, No.7, October , 1959.
Dr. Gianella attempted to reconcile the positions recorded: "The latitude of the 'long camp' is given as 38° 41" 57" and for the Summit (apparently estimated) 38° 44'. However, Frémont (pp. 483, 485), determined the latitude of the "long camp" as 38° 41' 03" and, on the nineteenth, 38° 41' 51". An average for the two determinations gives 38° 41' 27". It would appear that there are two misprints here; the 57" given in the body of the report, should read 51", and 38° 44' for the summit, should be 38° 42'. Present-day maps (5) indicate a latitude of 38° 41' for the "long camp," and 38° 42' for the summit where the party crossed. This figure is in agreement with that which Frémont determined under such trying circumstances." But he was in error in thinking that the determinations
of the 14th and 19th were made from the same location; he
took a mean of the two. This confusion apparently came from
the fact that both positions given in the Astronomical
tables are labeled "The Long Camp." Had Gianella followed this course, he would have gone to the Frémont's position of latitude determined on the 14th and taken the photograph below which agrees perfectly with Frémont's determination and correlates perfectly with the 1844 Preuss drawing (top of Page).  Further, Frémont's determination of latitude made on the 19th runs right down present highway 88 at the top of Carson Pass, leaving no doubt as to the route taken, the peak from which Lake Tahoe was first sighted, and the exact point where the pass was finally crossed. These positions, "...which Frémont determined under such trying circumstances,"--Gianella), are, in spite of those "trying circumstances," right on the money--Frémont made no error at all. For details of the route and other route segments and camp locations see Articles above. And:
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Prior
to 1996, the closest anyone had come to finding the actual
location of Frémont's Long Camp was Dr. Vincent P.
Gianella of the University of Nevada. I have determined that
Gianella's 1959 photograph (which he correlated with the
Preuss drawing (top of page) was taken from N38° 40'
23" by W 119° 54' 56" elevation 7901'--the rising
ground between Charity and Faith Valleys. This was the
actual place from which Melo, the Washoe guide, pointed out
the pass. This was not , however, any camp of
Frémont's, as he states that after reaching this
point, "I returned a short distance back, to the break in
the hollow, where I met Mr. Fitzpatrick."
