ZEBULON M. PIKE
I
Side by side in fact--though by no means in popular estimation--with
the heroic explorers, Lewis and Clark, stands Zebulon M. Pike, the
young soldier, who first reached the sources of the Mississippi, later
those of the Arkansas, and who was one of the first genuine Americans
to see the Spanish City of the Holy Faith. Born in New Jersey in 1779,
Pike entered the army in his father’s regiment about the year 1794.
In July, 1805, a lieutenant, he was detailed, by order of General
James Wilkinson, to explore the sources of the Mississippi. From this
expedition he returned in 1806, and shortly afterward set out on an
expedition up the Kansas River to the country of the Osages, and thence
to the Kitkahahk village of the Pawnees, then on the Republican River.
From here he went westward to the sources of the Arkansas River, in
what is now Colorado. On this expedition he approached Santa Fé, was
captured by the Spaniards, and escorted south through Mexico and what
is now Texas to the Spanish-American boundary on the borders of the
present State of Louisiana, where he was set free.
It would be perhaps difficult to point out, since Revolutionary times,
a more heroic figure than that of Pike, or to name a man who did
more for his country. It is chiefly as an explorer that we must now
consider him, and must briefly tell the history of his journeyings
for two years through that country which was then Louisiana; yet his
subsequent and involuntary wanderings through Mexico and Texas cannot
be separated from his earlier travels. Some time after his return from
the Southwest, he wrote a book, which was issued four years before the
journal of Lewis and Clark. In reviewing his life of exploration, we
shall in large measure let him tell his own story.
On the 9th of August, 1805, with one sergeant, two corporals, and
seventeen privates, Pike started from St. Louis up the Mississippi
River in a keel boat seventy feet long and provisioned for four months.
The water was swift, the way hard, and they had much foul weather,
which held them back, and made their days and nights uncomfortable.
Occasionally they saw fishing camps of Indians, and passed the farms of
some Frenchmen, lately transferred without their knowledge or consent
from allegiance to old France to citizenship in the new United States.
[Illustration: LIEUTENANT ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE, MONUMENT AT COLORADO
SPRINGS, COLORADO.]
One of Pike’s especial duties was to conciliate the Indians he
met, and, so far as possible, to arrange for peace between warring
aboriginal tribes. On the 20th he came to a Sac village, where he had a
talk with the Indians, who listened to him respectfully, and appeared
to agree to what he said. Further along he met villages of the
Reynards, or Foxes, showing that at this time the Sacs and Foxes were
living separately, though allies.
The way was long, and progress, though often covering thirty or forty
miles a day, was slow, owing to the windings of the river. Pike was
now approaching that debatable land over which the Sioux and Sauteurs
or Ojibwas were continually fighting backward and forward. He tells of
meeting, September 1, Monsieur Dubuque, who told him that these tribes
were then engaged in active hostilities, and, among other things, that
a war party “composed of Sacs, Reynards, and Puants (Winnebagoes),
of 200 warriors, had embarked on an expedition against the Sauteurs,
but they had heard that the chief, having had an unfavorable dream,
persuaded the party to return, and that I would meet them on my
voyage.” This is interesting, as showing that at this time the Sacs
and Foxes, who are of Algonquin stock, had allied themselves with the
Winnebagoes of Siouan stock against people of the latter race.
Indians were abundant here, and were always on the lookout for
enemies. The firing of guns by Pike’s party, who had landed to shoot
wild pigeons, was the signal for some Indians in the neighborhood to
rush to their canoes and hastily embark. Indeed, Pike was told that
all the Indians had a dread of Americans, whom they believed to be
very quarrelsome, very brave, and very much devoted to going to war;
a reputation which had undoubtedly reached the savages through the
English and French traders.
A little further along, the Ouisconsing River was reached, and they
met the Fols Avoin Indians, the Menominees, a tribe still existing at
Green Bay, Wisconsin. Further on he had a meeting with a number of
Sioux and Pike reports the council:
“On the arrival opposite the lodges, the men were paraded on the bank
with their guns in their hands. They saluted us with ball with what
might be termed three rounds; which I returned with three rounds from
each boat with my blunderbusses. This salute, although nothing to
soldiers accustomed to fire, would not be so agreeable to many people;
as the Indians had all been drinking, and as some of them even tried
their dexterity, to see how near the boat they could strike. They may,
indeed, be said to have struck on every side of us. When landed, I had
my pistols in my belt and sword in hand. I was met on the bank by the
chief, and invited to his lodge. As soon as my guards were formed and
sentinels posted, I accompanied him. Some of my men who were going up
with me I caused to leave their arms behind as a mark of confidence. At
the chief’s lodge I found a clean mat and pillow for me to sit on, and
the before-mentioned pipe on a pair of small crutches before me. The
chief sat on my right hand, my interpreter and Mr. Frazer on my left.
After smoking, the chief spoke to the following purport.
“‘That notwithstanding he had seen me at the Prairie (du Chien), he was
happy to take me by the hand among his own people, and there show his
young men the respect due to their new father (President Jefferson).
That, when at St. Louis in the spring, his father (General Wilkinson)
had told him that if he looked down the river he would see one of his
young warriors (Pike) coming up. He now found it true, and he was happy
to see me, who knew the Great Spirit was the father of all, both the
white and the red people; and if one died the other could not live
long. That he had never been at war with their new father, and hoped
always to preserve the same understanding that now existed. That he now
presented me with a pipe, to show to the upper bands as a token of our
good understanding, and that they might see his work and imitate his
conduct. That he had gone to St. Louis on a shameful visit, to carry a
murderer; but that we had given the man his life, and he thanked us for
it. That he had provided something to eat, but he supposed I could not
eat it, and if not, to give it to my young men.’
“I replied: ‘That although I had told him at the Prairie my business
up the Mississippi, I would again relate it to him.’ I then mentioned
the different objects I had in view with regard to the savages who had
fallen under our protection by our late purchase from the Spaniards;
the different posts to be established; the objects of these posts as
related to them, supplying them with necessaries, having officers and
agents of Government near them to attend to their business; and above
all, to endeavor to make peace between the Sioux and Sauteurs. ‘That if
it was possible on my return I should bring some of the Sauteurs down
with me, and take with me some of the Sioux chiefs to St. Louis, there
to settle the long and bloody war which had existed between the two
nations. That I accepted his pipe with pleasure, as the gift of a great
man, the chief of four bands, and a brother; that it should be used as
he desired.’ I then eat of the dinner he had provided, which was very
grateful. It was wild rye [rice] and venison, of which I sent four
bowls to my men.
“I afterward went to a dance, the performance of which was attended
with many curious maneuvers. Men and women danced indiscriminately.
They were all dressed in the gayest manner; each had in the hand a
small skin of some description, and would frequently run up, point
their skin, and give a puff with their breath, when the person blown
at, whether man or woman, would fall, and appear to be almost lifeless,
or in great agony, but would recover slowly, rise, and join in the
dance. This they called their great medicine, or, as I understood the
word, dance of religion, the Indians believing that they actually
puffed something into each others’ bodies which occasioned the falling,
etc. It is not every person who is admitted; persons wishing to join
them must first make valuable presents to the society to the amount of
forty or fifty dollars, give a feast, and then be admitted with great
ceremony. Mr. Frazer informed me that he was once in the lodge with
some young men who did not belong to the club; when one of the dancers
came in they immediately threw their blankets over him and forced him
out of the lodge; he laughed, but the young Indians called him a fool,
and said ‘he did not know what the dancer might blow into his body.’
“I returned to my boat, sent for the chief, and presented him with two
carrots of tobacco, four knives, half a pound of vermilion, and one
quart of salt. Mr. Frazer asked liberty to present them some rum; we
made up a keg between us of eight gallons--two gallons of whiskey, the
rest water. Mr. Frazer informed the chief that he dare not give them
any without my permission. The chief thanked me for all my presents,
and said ‘they must come free, as he did not ask for them.’ I replied
that ‘to those who did not ask for anything, I gave freely; but to
those who asked for much, I gave only a little or none.’
“We embarked about half-past three o’clock, came three miles, and
camped on the west side. Mr. Frazer we left behind, but he came up with
his two peroques about dusk. It commenced raining very hard. In the
night a peroque arrived from the lodges at his camp. During our stay
at their camp there were soldiers appointed to keep the crowd from
my boats, who executed their duty with vigilance and rigor, driving
men, women, and children back whenever they came near my boats. At
my departure, their soldiers said, ‘As I had shaken hands with their
chief, they must shake hands with my soldiers.’ In which request I
willingly indulged them.”
Pike was now journeying through the country passed over forty years
before by Carver, and he was evidently familiar with his journeyings.
Of La Crosse prairie he says:
“On this prairie Mr. Frazer showed me some holes dug by the Sioux when
in expectation of an attack, into which they first put their women
and children, and then crawl themselves. They were generally round
and about ten feet in diameter, but some were half-moons and quite
a breastwork. This I understood was the chief work, which was the
principal redoubt. Their modes of constructing them are, the moment
they apprehend or discover an enemy on the prairie, they commence
digging with their knives, tomahawks, and a wooden ladle; and in an
incredibly short space of time they have a hole sufficiently deep
to cover themselves and their families from the balls or arrows of
the enemy. They (enemies) have no idea of taking these subterraneous
redoubts by storm, as they would probably lose a great number of men
in the attack; and although they might be successful in the event, it
would be considered a very imprudent action.”
Heretofore but little food had been killed by the expedition, except
pigeons; but they were now getting into a country where there was more
or less game. On September 14, Pike, who had gone ashore with three
others of his party to hunt, saw abundant sign of elk, but failed to
see any of them, though his men saw three from the boat; and from this
time forth more or less mention is made of game by short entries, such
as, “Saw three bear swimming over the river.” “Killed a deer,” “killed
three geese and a raccoon,” and other similar notes.
On the 23d of September Pike held a council with the Sioux, who,
hearing by a rumor of his arrival in the country, returned from a war
party on which they had set out. He talked with these Sioux, on many
matters of which the principal one was the granting by the Indians of a
site near the Falls of St. Anthony for a military post, as well as the
establishment of peace between the Ojibwas and Sioux. Three important
chiefs named Little Crow, Risen Moose, and the Son of Pinchow, replied,
promising him about a hundred thousand acres of land, as well as a safe
conduct for himself and such Ojibwa chiefs as he might bring back with
him. They were doubtful, however, about the prospects of making a peace
with their old-time enemies. The treaty, or grant, was drawn up and
signed, and the Sioux returned to their homes.
The following day the flag from Pike’s boat was missing. This he
naturally regarded as a very serious misfortune. He punished his
sentry, and calling up his friend, Risen Moose, told him of the
trouble, and urged him to try to recover the flag, for he was not by
any means sure that it had not been stolen by an Indian. However, the
next day he was called out of bed by Little Crow, some of whose people
had found the flag floating in the water below their village, and
believing that this must mean that the white men had been attacked,
Little Crow had come up to see what the matter was. The appearance of
the flag at Little Crow’s village had put an end to a quarrel which
was in progress between his people and those of a chief called White
Goose. Pike says: “The parties were charging their guns, and preparing
for action, when lo! the flag appeared like a messenger of peace
sent to prevent their bloody purposes. They were all astonished to
see it. The staff was broken. Then Petit Corbeau arose and spoke to
this effect: ‘That a thing so sacred had not been taken from my boat
without violence; that it would be proper for them to hush all private
animosities until they had revenged the cause of their eldest brother;
that he would immediately go up to St. Peter’s to know what dogs had
done that thing, in order to take steps to get satisfaction of those
who had done the mischief.’ They all listened to this reasoning; he
immediately had the flag put out to dry, and embarked for my camp.
I was much concerned to hear of the blood likely to have been shed,
and gave him five yards of blue stroud, three yards of calico, one
handkerchief, one carrot of tobacco, and one knife, in order to make
peace among his people. He promised to send my flag by land to the
falls, and to make peace with Outard Blanche.” The flag was returned
two days later by two young Indians, who had brought it overland.
It was now October, and clear weather, the thermometer falling
sometimes to zero. Hitherto the principal food killed had been
geese, swans, and prairie chickens; but on October 6 Pike saw his
first elk--two droves of them. As they kept on up the river, geese,
ducks, and grouse, with occasionally a deer, continued to be secured.
Frequently Pike found hanging to the branches of the trees sacrifices
left there by the Indians. These were sometimes bits of cloth, or
articles of clothing, or painted skins. As the weather grew colder, and
ice was often met with, Pike began to think of a place where he should
winter. The boats were becoming very leaky, and the men, terribly
overworked, were losing strength and becoming inefficient. He therefore
determined to make a permanent camp, afterward called Pike’s Fort, and
to leave a part of his men there in blockhouses while he proceeded up
the river; but before the separation took place, there was much to be
done. Happily, the country abounded in game, so that for those who were
to be left behind there would be no danger of starvation. Pike went out
one morning and killed four bears, while his hunters killed three deer.
Log houses were built, and several small canoes were made for travel
on the river. But after his canoes were launched and loaded, one of
them sank and wet his ammunition, and in endeavoring to dry the powder
in pots he blew up the powder and the tent in which he was working.
It being necessary to build another canoe, Pike again went off to
hunt to a stream where much elk and buffalo sign had been seen. The
day following was spent in hunting, but with very little result; and
the account which Pike gives of it shows how little the explorer and
his party knew about the game that they were pursuing, or the proper
methods of securing it. He says: “I was determined, if we came on a
trail of elk, to follow them a day or two in order to kill one. This,
to a person acquainted with the nature of those animals and the extent
of the prairie in this country, would appear--what it really was--a
very foolish resolution. We soon struck where a herd of one hundred
and fifty had passed; pursued, and came in sight about eight o’clock,
when they appeared, at a distance, like an army of Indians moving along
in single file; a large buck, of at least four feet between the horns,
leading the van, and one of equal magnitude, bringing up the rear. We
followed until near night without once being able to get within point
blank shot. I once made Miller fire at them with his musket at about
four hundred yards’ distance; it had no other effect than to make them
leave us about five miles behind on the prairie. Passed several deer in
the course of the day, which I think we could have killed, but did not
fire for fear of alarming the elk. Finding that it was no easy matter
to kill one, I shot a doe through the body, as I perceived by her
blood where she lay down in the snow; yet, not knowing how to track,
we lost her. Shortly after saw three elk by themselves, near a copse
of woods. Approached near them and broke the shoulder of one, but he
ran off with the other two just as I was about to follow. Saw a buck
deer lying on the grass; shot him between the eyes, when he fell over.
I walked up to him, put my foot on his horns, and examined the shot;
immediately after which he snorted, bounced up, and fell five steps
from me. This I considered his last effort; but soon after, to our
utter astonishment, he jumped up and ran off. He stopped frequently;
we pursued him, expecting him to fall every minute; by which we were
led from the pursuit of the wounded elk. After being wearied out in
this unsuccessful chase, we returned in pursuit of the wounded elk,
and when we came up to the party, found him missing from the flock.
Shot another in the body, but my ball being small, he likewise escaped.
Wounded another deer; when, hungry, cold, and fatigued, after having
wounded three deer and two elk, we were obliged to encamp in a point
of hemlock woods on the head of Clear River. The large herd of elk lay
about one mile from us in the prairie. Our want of success I ascribe to
the smallness of our balls, and to our inexperience in following the
track after wounding the game, for it is very seldom a deer drops on
the spot you shoot it.
“Sunday, November 3.--Rose pretty early and went in pursuit of the elk.
Wounded one buck deer on the way. We made an attempt to drive them into
the woods, but their leader broke past us, and it appeared as if the
drove would have followed him, though they had been obliged to run over
us. We fired at them passing, but without effect. Pursued them through
the swamp until about ten o’clock, when I determined to attempt to
make the river, and for that purpose took a due south course. Passed
many droves of elk and buffalo, but being in the middle of an immense
prairie, knew it was folly to attempt to shoot them. Wounded several
deer but got none. In fact, I knew I could shoot as many deer as
anybody, but neither myself nor company could find one in ten, whereas
one experienced hunter would get all. Near night struck a lake about
five miles long and two miles wide. Saw immense droves of elk on both
banks. About sundown saw a herd crossing the prairie toward us. We
sat down. Two bucks, more curious than the others, came pretty close.
I struck one behind the fore shoulder; he did not go more than twenty
yards before he fell and died. This was the cause of much exultation,
because it fulfilled my determination; and, as we had been two days
and nights without victuals, it was very acceptable. Found some scrub
oak. In about one mile made a fire, and with much labor and pains got
our meat to it, the wolves feasting on one half while we were carrying
away the other. We were now provisioned, but were still in want of
water, the snow being all melted. Finding my drought very excessive in
the night, I went in search of water, and was much surprised, after
having gone about a mile, to strike the Mississippi. Filled my hat and
returned to my companions.
“November 4.--Repaired my moccasins, using a piece of elk’s bone as an
awl. We both went to the Mississippi and found we were a great distance
from the camp. I left Miller to guard the meat, and marched for camp.
Having strained my ankles in the swamps, they were extremely sore, and
the strings of my moccasins cut them and made them swell considerably.
Before I had gone far I discovered a herd of ten elk; approached within
fifty yards and shot one through the body. He fell on the spot, but
rose again and ran off. I pursued him at least five miles, expecting
every minute to see him drop. I then gave him up. When I arrived at
Clear River, a deer was standing on the other bank. I killed him on the
spot, and while I was taking out the entrails another came up. I shot
him also. This was my last ball, and then only could I kill! Left part
of my clothes at this place to scare the wolves. Arrived at my camp at
dusk, to the great joy of our men, who had been to our little garrison
to inquire for me, and receiving no intelligence, had concluded we were
killed by the Indians, having heard them fire on the opposite bank. The
same night we saw fires on the opposite shore in the prairie; this was
likewise seen in the fort, when all the men moved into the works.”
It was now the middle of November, and the river was closing up. Pike
was obliged to hunt practically all the time, and was impatient of the
slavish life led by the hunter, and the necessity of working all the
time to support his party. Under such conditions the pursuit of game
becomes work, and not play.
After the winter had finally set in, Indians began to be seen; some of
them Sioux--Yanktons, and Sissetons--and some Menominees.
A considerable part of the month of December was spent at various camps
along the Mississippi River, below the mouth of the Crow Wing River,
and the time was devoted to killing game and making preparations for
the northward journey. About the middle of the month Pike started with
sleds, sometimes hauled by men across the prairies, and sometimes along
the ice on the river, wherever it was heavy enough to bear the load.
The way was hard, and sometimes only short trips could be made with the
sleds. As there was little or no snow, the men were obliged to double
up, hauling a sled for a short distance, and then leaving it to go
back and haul the next one along. One of the sleds broke through the
ice, and everything it contained was wetted, including a considerable
portion of the powder. Pike found his various duties laborious, for he
was at once “hunter, spy, guide, commanding officer, etc.”
In January he met a Mr. Grant, an English trader, by whom he was
hospitably received and well treated. About the middle of the month,
finding that his sleds were too heavy to be hauled through the snow, he
manufactured toboggans, which would be more easily hauled, even though
they carried smaller loads.
On the first of February he reached Lake La Sang Sue, now known
as Leech Lake. This Pike believed to be the main source of the
Mississippi. The lake crossed, he stopped at a trading-post of the
Northwest Fur Company, where his men arrived five days later. Here
he hoisted the American flag in place of the English flag which he
had found still flying; and after a few days went north to Upper Red
Cedar Lake, which we now know as Cass Lake, Minnesota. This was a
country passed over in 1798 by David Thompson, a great explorer, whose
journeyings, together with those of Alexander Henry, the younger, were
edited by Dr. Elliott Coues.
Pike was now in the country of the Chippewas, whom he knew by their
other name, Sauteurs, and on July 16 held a council with them,
notifying them that the country was no longer in the possession of the
British, advising them to make peace with the Sioux, and asking some
of their chiefs to go with him to St. Louis, where they should see
General Wilkinson. His talk with the Indians was pleasantly received,
and they made no difficulty about giving up their flags and medals,
which were to be replaced by flags and medals of the Americans. Two
well-known young men of the Sauteurs, living hereabout, expressed their
willingness to accompany the explorer to St. Louis, and a day or two
later Pike struck out in a southerly and south-easterly direction, to
return to his fort on the Mississippi. He reached that river about
March 1, and found all his people well.
Pike was now prepared to start south as soon as the river broke up, and
to report success in all directions; a success due entirely to his own
astonishing energy and industry, for he alone had made the expedition
what it was. Something of what he felt he expressed when he wrote:
“Ascended the mountain which borders the prairie. On the point of it
I found a stone on which the Indians had sharpened their knives, and
a war-club half finished. From this spot you may extend the eye over
vast prairies with scarcely any interruption but clumps of trees, which
at a distance appear like mountains, from two or three of which the
smoke rising in the air denoted the habitation of the wandering savage,
and too often marked them out as victims to their enemies, from whose
cruelty I have had the pleasure in the course of the winter and through
a wilderness of immense extent to relieve them, as peace has reigned
through my mediation from the prairie Des Chiens to the lower Red
River. If a subaltern with but twenty men at so great a distance from
the seat of his Government could effect so important a change in the
minds of these savages, what might not a great and independent power
effect, if, instead of blowing up the flames of discord, they exerted
their influence in the sacred cause of peace?”
He was frequently seeing Indians, and he was treated with great respect
and hospitality by all of them. He was especially impressed by his
neighbors, the Menominees, in whom he recognized many good qualities.
On the morning of April 7, 1806, the party started on the return
journey, and made good time down the river, reaching the Falls of St.
Anthony, where Minneapolis now stands, on the morning of April 10.
Below here, on the following day, at the mouth of St. Peter’s River,
was found a camp of Sioux, including several bands, and Pike had a
talk with them. The council-house was capable of containing 300 men,
and there were forty chiefs present, and forty pipes set against the
poles. At the council all these Sioux smoked the Chippewa pipes,
excepting three, who were still mourning for their relations killed
during the winter. Within the next two or three days he met important
Sioux chiefs, Little Crow and Red Wing, who were extremely cordial, and
emphatic in expressing their wish to carry out the instructions which
Pike had given them.
From here down the river the journey was interrupted only by occasional
talks with Indians, until Prairie Des Chiens was reached, where there
were many white people, and Pike received the first news of the outside
world he had had for many months. He saw here a great game of lacrosse
on the prairie between Sioux on one side and Winnebagoes and Foxes
on the other. Councils were held here with various bands of Sioux,
and with the Winnebagoes. On April 23 they once more started down the
river, but were delayed by a head wind. Two days later Captain Many, of
the United States Army, was met on his way up the river in search of
some Osage prisoners among the Sacs and Foxes. At some of the Indian
camps passed, all the people were drunk--sure sign of the proximity of
the white men.
This practically completes Pike’s voyage, for he reached St. Louis
April 30, after an absence of eight months and twenty-two days.