1. What choices did the Bent, St. Vrain, & Company make which enabled their business venture to thrive? 2. What factors threatened their success? Objective Identify and analyze the consequences of business decisions in terms of financial and political well-being. Background At about fourteen years of age, Lewis H. Garrard, read John C. Fremont’s Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains , an account published in U.S. newspapers in 1843. Fremont’s descriptive account enticed Lewis to venture West by himself only three years later. Garrard wrote his own book of experiences lastin Duration: 60 Minutes.