Fremont Peak, historically known as Gabilán Peak, is a summit in the

Gabilan Range The Gabilan Range or Gabilán Range ( Spanish for "sparrow hawk") are a mountain range in the inner California Coast Ranges System, located in Monterey County and San Benito County of central California. Pinnacles National Park is located in the ...

, one of the mountain ranges paralleling

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

's central coast. The peak affords clear views of the

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley is one of the major valleys and most productive Agriculture, agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley. The Salinas River (Califo ...

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by a ...

, the southern part of the

Santa Clara Valley The Santa Clara Valley is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends 90 miles (145 km) south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains and on the east ...

, and surrounding mountain ranges. It is located on Rocky Ridge, northeast of

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

. The peak is the site of

Fremont Peak State Park Fremont Peak State Park is a California State Park located in Monterey County and San Benito County, California. The park encompasses the summit of Fremont Peak in the Gabilan Range. The park features expansive views of Monterey Bay and Pacifi ...

which was established with in 1936. Today the park has camping and picnic facilities, and is favored by astronomers for its clear views unsullied by artificial light. The

Fremont Peak Observatory Fremont Peak Observatory (FPOA) is an astronomical observatory operated by Fremont Peak Observatory Association (FPOA) under contract to the State of California. Built in 1986, it is located in Fremont Peak State Park, near San Juan Bautista, Ca ...

Association maintains a diameter f/4.8 Newtonian "Challenger" telescope which was built by telescope maker Kevin Medlock in the early 1980s. The peak is also the site of the transmitters for television stations such as

KSBW KSBW (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Salinas, California, United States, serving the Monterey Bay area as an affiliate of NBC and American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios on John ...

and

KCBA KCBA (channel 35) is a television station in Salinas, California, United States, serving the Monterey Bay area as an affiliate of The CW Plus. It is owned by Seal Rock Broadcasters, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with the New ...

and for radio stations such as

KDON-FM KDON-FM (102.5 MHz "K-Don") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Salinas, California, and serving the Monterey - Salinas - Santa Cruz radio market and the Central California Coast. It broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary format and is ...

History

Previously called Gavilan Peak, it is now named for

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

, an American explorer and a Captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers at the time. In 1846, he and a crew of 60 armed surveyors mounted the peak to assess its military value. The peak commands the inland approach from

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

. As a response to the threat, local Mexican authority General

José Castro José Antonio Castro (1808 – February 1860) was a Californio politician, statesman, and general who served as interim Governor of Alta California and later Governor of Baja California. During the Bear Flag Revolt and the American Conquest of ...

ordered Frémont and his men to leave California. In defiance, Frémont built a crude stockade and raised a modified American flag above the peak (or, according to some sources, on a lower peak nearby). The U.S. Consul in Monterey,

Thomas O. Larkin Thomas Oliver Larkin (September 16, 1802 – October 27, 1858), known in Spanish as Don Tomás Larkin, was an American diplomat and businessman. Larkin served as the only U.S. consul to Alta California during the Mexican era and was covertly in ...

supported Castro's decision to evict Frémont, and his men were duly ordered out of the area. Frémont took providence from a windy night which blew down the makeshift flagpole to hasten himself and his men from the peak. The peak is now registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

#181. Following a ride to the summit on March 4, 1906, Frémont Peak Day was inaugurated by local residents. Nineteen years later, the

Native Sons of the Golden West The Native Sons of the Golden West is a fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation, documentation of historic structures and places in the state, the placement of historic p ...

installed a commemorative plaque on the summit.

Geology

Fremont Peak lies along the Rocky Ridge fault, and is the largest of many small pendants and septa of pre-Cretaceous metasedimentary rocks in the deeply eroded granitic terrain of the northern Gabilan Range.

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url = http://fremontpeak.org , title = Fremont Peak Repeater Association , publisher = FremontPeak.org , accessdate = 2021-06-03 Gabilan Range Mountains of Monterey County, California Mountains of San Benito County, California Mountains of Northern California