In 1846, while California was still a part of Mexico, US Army Captain John C. Fremont of the Topographic Engineers led an expeditionary force of 60 men into the Salinas Valley and to the top of Gavilan Peak. Ostensibly, Fremont and his group were to explore and survey the area. Ostensibly, Fremont and his group were there to explore and survey the area. However, the group's makeup was clearly and armed force. The peak was a strategic location - from his encampment, Fremont could see anyone approaching for miles. Long suspicious of Fremont's motives, Mexican Commandante General Jose Castro ordered him to leave California immediately. In defiance, Fremont quickly built a log stockade at the peak and raised a U.S. military flag.
For three days Fremont looked down on San Juan Bautista and Castro's growing force. For that same length of time the Mexican leaders looked up at an American flag that Fremont's men had raised atop Gavilan Peak. On the evening of March 9 the flag pole fell down. Fremont decided to treat this as an omen and that night left the mountain top and eventually worked his way slowly north through the Sacramento Valley to Oregon. Castro declared to the Mexican Minister of War that he had won the day, but made no effort to follow the Americans.
This text was taken partially from the Park Brochure of Fremont Peak State Park and partially from Inn-California's article The Gavilan Peak Incident.
The coordinates refer to the location of the flagpole on top of Gavilan Peak, which is now called Fremont Peak.
The historic flagpole at Fremont Peak