VOCABULARY OF MISSISSIPPIAN PLACE-NAMES, 355, 356
PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION.
To the Public:
Books of travels, journals, and voyages have become so numerous, and
are so frequently impositions on the public, that the writer of the
following sheets feels under an obligation to explain, in some
measure, the original circumstances that led to the production of this
volume. Soon after the purchase of Louisiana by an enlightened
administration, measures were taken to explore the then unknown wilds
of our western country--measures founded on principles of scientific
pursuits, combined with a view of entering into a chain of
philanthropic arrangements for ameliorating the condition of the
Indians who inhabit those vast plains and deserts. His Excellency,
Meriwether Lewis, then a captain of the first regiment of infantry,
was selected by the President of the United States, in conjunction
with Captain C. Clarke [Wm. Clark], to explore the then unknown
sources of the Missouri, and I was chosen to trace the Mississippi to
its source, with the objects in view contemplated by my instructions;
to which I conceived my duty as a soldier should induce me to add an
investigation into the views of the British traders in that quarter as
to trade, and an inquiry into the limits of the territories of the
United States and Great Britain. As a man of humanity and feeling, I
made use of the name of my government to stop the savage warfare which
had for ages been carried on by two of the most powerful nations of
aborigines in North America. Why I did not execute the power vested in
me by the laws of the country, to ruin the British traders and enrich
myself, by seizing on the immense property of the North West Company,
which I found in the acknowledged boundary of the United States, will
be explained by my letter to Hugh M'Gillis, Esq., to whom I own
eternal gratitude for his polite and hospitable treatment of myself
and party.
In the execution of this voyage I had no gentleman to aid me, and I
literally performed the duties (as far as my limited abilities
permitted) of astronomer, surveyor, commanding officer, clerk, spy,
guide, and hunter; frequently preceding the party for miles in order
to reconnoiter, and returning in the evening, hungry and fatigued, to
sit down in the open air, by firelight, to copy the notes and plot the
courses of the day.
On my return from the Mississippi voyage, preparations were making for
a second, which was to be conducted by another gentleman of the army;
but General Wilkinson solicited as a favor that which he had a right
to command, viz., that I would agree to take charge of the expedition.
The late dangers and hardships I had undergone, together with the idea
of again leaving my family in a strange country, distant from their
connections, made me hesitate; but the ambition of a soldier, and the
spirit of enterprise which was inherent in my breast, induced me to
agree to his proposition. The great objects in view by this
expedition, as I conceived in addition to my instructions, were to
attach the Indians to our government, and to acquire such geographical
knowledge of the southwestern boundary of Louisiana as to enable our
government to enter into a definitive arrangement for a line of
demarkation between that territory and North Mexico.
In this expedition I had the assistance of Lieutenant James [D.]
Wilkinson, and also of Dr. John H. Robinson, a young gentleman of
science and enterprise, who volunteered his services. I also was
fitted out with a complete set of astronomical and mathematical
instruments, which enabled me to ascertain the geographical situation
of various places to a degree of exactitude that would have been
extremely gratifying to all lovers of science, had I not been so
unfortunate as to lose the greater part of my papers by the seizure
of the Spanish government.
With respect to the great acquisitions which might have been made to
the sciences of botany and zoölogy, I can only observe that neither my
education nor taste led me to the pursuit; and if they had, my mind
was too much engrossed in making arrangements for our subsistence and
safety to give time to scrutinize the productions of the countries
over which we traveled, with the eye of a Linnæus or Buffon; yet Dr.
Robinson did make some observations on those subjects, which he has
not yet communicated. With respect to the Spanish part, it has been
suggested to me by some respected friends that the picture I drew of
the manners, morals, etc., of individuals generally of New Spain, if a
good likeness, was certainly not making a proper return for the
hospitality and kindness with which those people honored me. Those
reasons have induced me to omit many transactions, and draw a veil
over various habits and customs which might appear in an unfavorable
point of view, at the same time that I have dwelt with delight on
their virtues.
There have not been wanting persons of various ranks who have
endeavored to infuse the idea into the minds of the public that the
last voyage was undertaken through some sinister designs of General
Wilkinson; and although this report has been amply refuted by two
letters from the Secretary of War, published with this work, yet I
cannot forbear, in this public manner, declaring the insinuation to be
a groundless calumny, arising from the envenomed breasts of persons
who, through enmity to the general, would, in attempting his ruin,
hurl destruction on all those who, either through their official
stations or habits of friendship, ever had any connection with that
gentleman.
As a military man--as a soldier from the time I was able to bear
arms--it cannot be expected that a production of my pen can stand the
test of criticism; and I hope, by this candid appeal to the justice
and indulgence of the learned, to induce them to spare their censure
if they cannot award their praise.
The gentleman who prints this work knows under what a variety of
disadvantages it has gone to the press.[OP-1] At a distance during its
publication, and engaged in my professional duties, it was impossible
to give to it that attention which, in order to reach its proper
degree of correctness, such a work necessarily would require.
Z. M. PIKE.
FOOTNOTE:
[OP-1] The publisher owes it to truth, and to Colonel Pike, to state that
he very much doubts whether any book ever went to press under so many
disadvantages as the one now presented to the public. Some of those
disadvantages must be obvious to every man who reads the work; but
there are many others of a nature not sufficiently interesting for
publication, yet of sufficient magnitude to retard the work, embarrass
the publisher, and impose more anxiety than has fallen to his lot in
the various books which he has published. It is, however, confidently
believed that, notwithstanding all those circumstances, the Journal
and its Appendixes will be found particularly interesting and pregnant
with important information.
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION.
Pike's expeditions were the first military and the second governmental
explorations which were pushed to any considerable extent in our then
newly acquired territory of Louisiana. The name and fame of the
brilliant young soldier who impersonated the authority of the United
States over all the ground between British and Spanish possessions are
thus inseparably linked with those of Lewis and Clark in the beginning
of our history of the Great West--a West so great that it reached from
the Mississippi to the Pacific. The two movements were similar in
scope and plan; both were in the nature of claiming possession of
property; they were alike fruitful of permanent good results; but they
differed entirely in the circumstances under which each was devised,
and to a marked degree in their respective purposes. Lewis and Clark's
enterprise originated with the President of the United States; and
though both of the men to whom that most memorable exploration was
confided were officers of the regular army, their military
organization was entirely subservient to affairs of state, being
simply designed to secure the most efficient discipline in the
discharge of certain civilian duties. Jefferson had invested heavily
in real estate; the Louisiana purchase had been made with the people's
money; he naturally wished to know what sort of a bargain he had made
with Napoleon; so he sent Lewis and Clark to explore the vast extent
of country he had bought. While their faces were still fixed on the
setting sun, which for them still dipped behind the shining snow-caps,
Pike set forth on his first journey northward; while they were
homeward bound from the South Sea by way of the mighty Missouri and
the rugged Roche Jaune, he was pressing on his second way toward the
Mexican mountains. Both his expeditions originated with the
commander-in-chief of the army; both were as strictly military in
method as in purpose. Pike was the simon-pure and simple soldier, who
had been ordered by his general to carry our flag among British
traders and Sioux, Ojibways, and other Indians of the Northwest, in
the first instance; in the second place, to display that emblem of
authority among the Osages, Pawnees, and Comanches, and plant that
standard of the republic on the still disputed boundary of New Spain
in the Southwest. All else that he accomplished was incidental to
Wilkinson's main aim. How daring were Pike's exploits, these volumes
testify. Their moral effect was enormous; their results proved
far-reaching; and some of these are still in evidence of intrepid
adventure pushed to successful issue.
If the record of Pike's expeditions be overshadowed by the history of
still greater and partly prior achievement, we may remember that its
luster is dimmed only in comparison with the incomparable story of
Lewis and Clark. If this witness of arduous duty ardently done in the
service of his country stand dumb before that startling tragedy which
set the seal of sacrifice upon a devoted life, we may reflect that
such a consummation of noble aspirations but capped the climax of
unswerving patriotism and unwavering fidelity to lofty ideals when it
transfigured the already celebrated explorer into a national hero and
a popular idol. Pike's personality is not less picturesque than is his
career unique; our interest in his character becomes vivid as we study
its manifestations, and perhaps even outgrows that regard we may
bestow upon those of his achievements which have passed into permanent
history. The present volumes tell his own story, in his own way; they
are autobiographical in all that relates to the principal incidents
and most stirring scenes of his life, before that final catastrophe
which turned the tide of international warfare. If the narrative
never halted at the point of an unaccustomed pen it would not be
Pike's, and it would lack a certain quality which not even a Biddle
could impart to the more polished and finished history of Lewis and
Clark. It now seems probable that both books will endure, side by
side, so long as any interest in the beginnings of our Great West
finds a place in the hearts of the people.
Pike anticipated Lewis and Clark by about four years in bringing the
results of his partly simultaneous explorations before the public.
Since the first appearance of his work, there has never been a time
when it has not been cited by scholars as an original authority in the
many matters of historical, geographical, ethnological, and related
interests of which it treats. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that Pike
has never been so widely or so well known as he deserves to be in his
double character of traveler and author. The soldier could hardly
desire greater fame than fell to the happy lot of the hero of York,
victorious in death; but what of his life? Who was this General Pike
before that? Who was Lieutenant or Captain Pike--where did he go
exploring--what did he discover--how should we know? In searching
contemporaneous records of the War of 1812 for biographical data in
the preparation of the Memoir which introduces these volumes, it was
always the great soldier--General Pike--whom I found, with scant
recognition, if anything more than mere mention, of the still greater
explorer--the youthful, the dashing and winning, the ardent and
enthusiastic lieutenant, who dreamed of glory till his dream came
true. The fact would seem to be that Pike's death on the field of
battle, under exceptionally thrilling circumstances, obscured rather
than accentuated those earlier exploits which set his title to fame in
the clearest and truest light. Probably no good general would have
failed in what Pike accomplished on the day of his death; but how many
subalterns in their twenties have won imperishable renown by
achievements in the field of exploration? One purpose I had in view in
preparing a new edition of this work will have been subserved if I
have succeeded in eliminating a certain popular aberration, in
calculating aright the parallax of Pike as viewed from different
standpoints, and in thus placing his name in proper historical
perspective.
Nearly or quite all that an editor might be expected to say in his
preface concerning the subject-matter of his author will be found to
have been said already in one place or another in the course of the
extensive and minute commentary which appears upon almost every page
of the present edition. Nevertheless, so few are the persons who have
any clear or coherent ideas on the subject of Pike's performances,
that it will be to consult the convenience of most readers who may
take up this book to give here a brief statement of his journeyings.
Pike conducted two entirely separate and distinct expeditions. One of
them, in 1805-6, was from St. Louis by way of the Mississippi to the
headwaters of this river, and return--for the most part by the same
way he went. This round trip, which I have called the "Mississippi
Voyage," forms Pt. 1 of his book. The other expedition was taken
westward from St. Louis into the interior parts of the then Louisiana,
to the sources of the Arkansaw river, and among the Rocky mountains of
present Colorado. In so far as Pike protracted this exploration of his
own volition, it forms Pt. 2 of his book, which I have designated the
"Arkansaw Journey." But at one point in the course of this journey
Pike was captured by the Spaniards, and conducted against his will by
a roundabout way through Mexico to the then Spanish-American boundary
between Texas and Louisiana. This episode, unflattering to Pike's
sensibilities, if not wholly unforeseen by him, he saw fit to make the
subject of Pt. 3 of his book; I have entitled it the "Mexican Tour."
I. In July, 1805, Pike was ordered by General Wilkinson to explore and
report upon the Mississippi river from St. Louis to its source, select
sites for military posts, treat with the Indians, make peace if
possible between the Sioux and Ojibways, and find out what he could
about the British traders who still occupied posts in our newly
acquired territory. Excepting these establishments of the Northwest
Company, there were then no white settlements on or near the river
beyond the village of Prairie du Chien, and our flag had never flown
in that quarter. Pike navigated his boats to the vicinity of present
Little Falls, but could get them no further. He there built a
stockade, in which some of his men were left for the winter, and with
the rest pushed on by land along the river to Lower Red Cedar
Lake--Sandy lake--Grand rapids and Pokegama falls--mouth of Leech Lake
river--up the latter to Leech lake--and thence to Upper Red Cedar (now
Cass) lake, at the mouth of Turtle river. This was the furthest point
he reached. He considered the Leech Lake drainage-area--which I have
called the Pikean source--to be the true origin of the Mississippi,
and remained in ignorance of the fact that this river flowed into Cass
lake from such lakes as Bemidji and Itasca, though these and others
were already known to some of the whites. Returning from Cass to Leech
lake, and thence, by a more direct overland route than he had before
taken, to the Mississippi in the vicinity of Lower Red Cedar lake, he
descended the river to his stockade, picked up the men who had
wintered there, and as soon as the ice broke up started in boats for
St. Louis, which he reached in safety with all his party in April,
1806.
II. In July, 1806, Pike left St. Louis on his second expedition. He
ascended the Missouri to the Osage, and the latter to the villages of
the Indians of that name. Thence he continued westward overland,
entered Kansas, and proceeded to the Pawnee village on the Republican
river, near the present Kansas-Nebraska line. Turning southward, he
reached the Arkansaw river at the present site of Great Bend. There he
dispatched his junior officer, Lieutenant Wilkinson, with a few men,
to descend the Arkansaw, while with the rest of his company he
ascended the same river into Colorado, as far as Pueblo. From this
point he made an unsuccessful side-trip which had for its object the
ascent of the since famous peak which bears his name, and returned to
his camp at Pueblo. Thence pushing up the Arkansaw, he was halted by
the Grand cañon, at the site of present Cañon City. He then made a
detour to the right, which took him up Oil creek into South Park. He
traversed this park, along the South Platte and some of its
tributaries, left it by way of Trout Creek pass, and was thus again
brought to the Arkansaw. He pushed up this river till he viewed its
sources, in the vicinity of present Leadville, turned about, and with
great difficulty descended it to the very camp he had left at Cañon
City. This part of his journey was not accomplished without much
hardship, and ended in chagrin; for he had fancied himself on the
headwaters of that Red river whose sources he had been pointedly
instructed to discover. Nothing was known at that time, to Americans,
of the origin of that great branch of the Mississippi which was called
Red river lower down; nor was it known till years afterward that what
the Spaniards had called high up by a name equivalent to Red river was
really that main fork of the Arkansaw which is now designated the
Canadian river, whose sources are in the mountains not far from Santa
Fé. _This_ was the river which Pike might have found, had his search
been more fortunately directed, though neither he nor any other
American was aware of that fact at the time. Nevertheless, he
determined to carry out his orders to the letter, and with more
courage than discretion pushed southward from his camp at Cañon City
to discover an elusive Red river. He passed up that tributary of the
Arkansaw which is now called Grape creek, and thus into the Wet
Mountain valley. There the party suffered almost incredibly from cold
and hunger; some of the men were frozen and crippled for life. But
Pike managed to extricate himself and most of his companions from
their perilous situation by crossing the Sangre de Cristo range
through the Sand Hill pass into the San Luis valley, where he found
himself on the Rio Grande del Norte. He descended this river to the
Rio Conejos, and there established himself in a stockade--in part at
least for the purpose of tarrying while he sent a small party back for
those of the men who had been left behind, both at Cañon City and in
Wet Mountain valley.
The secret which underlay Pike's ostensible instructions from General
Wilkinson, and the mystery which is supposed to have enshrouded his
movements on this portion of his second expedition, are fully
discussed in my notes, at various points in Pike's narrative or in my
Memoir, where the subject obtrudes. Without going into any particulars
here, it is to be said simply that Pike may have been ordered to
proceed to Santa Fé--or as near that capital of Spanish New Mexico as
he could go with the force at his command--without being informed of
whatever ulterior designs the general of the army may have
entertained.
III. Pike was captured in his stockade, with the few men he had left
about him, by Spanish dragoons, under the orders of General
Allencaster, then governor of New Mexico. The message he received from
his captors was disguised under the form of a polite invitation to
visit the governor at Santa Fé. On the 27th of February, 1807, he left
his post as a prisoner in the hands of a half-hostile foreign power,
accompanied by the remnant of his men. They were treated with great
forbearance--nay, with distinguished consideration; nevertheless, Pike
was brought to book before the authorities, and required to explain
how he had happened to invade Spanish territory with an armed force.
Governor Allencaster then ordered him to report to General Salcedo at
Chihuahua; he was accordingly escorted by the military down the Rio
Grande from Santa Fé to El Paso, and thence by the usual route
southward, in what was then New Biscay, to the first named city. From
this capital he was conducted, still under guard, through a portion of
what is now the State of Durango, around by the Bolson de Mapimi,
thence northward throughout Coahuila, and so on to San Antonio.
Continuing through Texas, he was finally delivered out of the hands
of his Spanish hosts and captors, on crossing the river which in part
bounds our present State of Louisiana; and ended his long
peregrination at Natchitoches, among his own countrymen.
At this point the author's narrative ends abruptly, so far as any
itinerary of his movements is concerned. We are not even told what
became of the men who did not accompany him to Natchitoches--those who
were left behind when he started from the Rio Conejos, either at that
point, or in the Wet Mountain valley, or on the Arkansaw. It had been
understood, and was fully expected, that they were all to follow him
through Mexico under Spanish escort. It is probable that they did so,
and that all were finally restored to the United States. But at the
last word we have on the subject from Pike himself, eight persons were
still detained in Mexico. (See p. 855.)
* * * * *
If the reader will now turn to p. xxxvi, he will find there and on
some following pages an analysis of the original edition of Pike's
work, together with an exposition of the wholly exceptional editorial
difficulty of reproducing such a complicated affair in anything like
good book form. The author, like many another gallant soldier, versed
in the arts of war, was quite innocent of literary strategy, though
capable of heading an impetuous assault upon the parts of speech. He
may have acquired an impression, by no means confined to his own
profession, that a book is made by putting manuscript in a
printing-press and stirring it about with a composing-stick, which,
like a magic wand that some kind fairy waves in an enchanted castle,
will transfigure the homeliness of the pen into a thing of beauty and
a joy forever. Pike seems to have labored under some such delusion in
preparing his copious materials for the press, and no one appears
either to have advised him in these premises or to have revised the
proofs. The result was innumerable errors, both of the writing and of
the printing, most of which might have been eliminated with due care.
In the original edition, which has never before been reprinted in
full, or in anything like its own make-up, the three separate
itineraries above noted followed one another consecutively, with only
the interruption of certain meteorological tables. These itineraries
made about one-half of the volume in bulk, but perhaps only about
one-third of the total _ems_. They were called "Parts," respectively
enumerated I., II., III., and were the only portions of the whole
which were printed in large type, as the main "body" of the work. The
greater remainder of the author's materials were then thrown into the
form of three Appendixes, one for each of the three foregoing Parts,
each one being necessarily displaced from its proper connection, and
all being set in small type. The contents of these Appendixes were
miscellaneous and multifarious, but reducible in the main to two
sorts: (1) Formal retraversing of the ground gone over in the
itineraries, with reference to geography, ethnology, commerce,
military and political topics, and related matters which came under
Pike's observation; (2) Letters and other documents upon a variety of
subjects, representing what may be regarded as the officialities of
Pike's Expeditions.
The determination to edit Pike with the omission of nothing whatever
which the work originally contained, and to preserve as far as seemed
reasonably possible the shape in which it came from his own hand,
involved a problem whose solution was one of no ordinary difficulty.
The division of the book into three Parts was perfectly sound, and by
all means to be preserved. The main departure from Pike's plan that
seemed to be required was simply to bring each Appendix into direct
connection with its own Part, and set it in uniform typography, as
being of equal value and interest with the itinerary. Having made
these transpositions, I found it an easy matter to introduce
chapter-heads which should co-ordinate the whole of the contents. Each
of the three itineraries could be conveniently divided into three
chapters, covering as many stages of the several journeys; and in like
manner it was found that the contents of each of the three Appendixes
could be naturally grouped under a few heads, thus carrying out the
plan of chaptering the whole book. To effect this result required no
change whatever in the course of the itineraries, and in the
appendicial matters involved only some few unimportant transpositions,
mainly for the purpose of rearranging the official correspondence in
the chronological sequence of the letters and other documents of which
it consisted. But even in this small matter I have been at the pains
of pointing out the position which each separate piece occupied in the
original edition--perhaps with needless scrupulosity. A glance at the
tables of contents of this edition will show how well or ill the
remodeling has been done.
The transpositions thus effected, together with the repeatedly broken
and sometimes blank pagination of the original, made it obviously
impossible to indicate in this edition the former numeration of the
pages. Otherwise, in editing Pike's text, I have been guided by the
same principles which I applied to my recent redaction of Lewis and
Clark. I do not think that any editor may feel free to rewrite his
author. It would be an unwarrantable liberty to sacrifice an author's
individuality upon the altar of literary style. And especially in the
case of an old book--one whose intrinsic merits survive what are "the
defects of its qualities," and thus cause it to reappear in a new
guise--is it desirable that the reader should feel sure he is offered
a genuine text. At the same time, the essentials of genuineness are
different from its factitious ear-marks, and may be preserved with
fidelity by an editor who, nevertheless, feels free to disregard
non-essentials. Pike's is both a rare and a curious book; yet we need
not venerate its abounding misprints, or burn the incense of
admiration in the face of its frequently solecistic grammar, or even
kowtow to its peculiar punctuation. Such things as these are assuredly
among the non-essentials of a pure text, always amenable to editorial
revision, and always open to the welcome attentions of a friendly
printer. But for the rest, as I lately said on a similar occasion, "I
have punctiliously preserved the orthography of proper names in all
their variance and eccentricity; and wherever I have amplified any
statement in the text, or diverted the sense of a passage by a hair's
breadth, square brackets indicate the fact."
A few words may be expected in this connection upon the new matter, by
the introduction of which the single volume of Pike has been extended
to three volumes, thus more than doubling the original text. I have
seldom, if ever, studied a work whose author seemed to me in so great
need of an interpreter. Pike was not always precise in his statements
of fact, and sometimes failed to convey his own meaning with entire
lucidity. Much was thus left to be supplied by the imagination of the
reader, or to be clarified by the exercise of his critical faculties,
whether or no he were sufficiently informed in the premises to follow
his author intelligently. In subjecting the text to a scrutiny,
perhaps exceptionally close and rigid, I have desired in the first
place to inform myself of the exact significance which the author
intended his words to have, thus putting myself as nearly as possible
in his place, and always, as I trust, in full sympathy with him,
however diverse from his views any of my own opinions may have been.
Coming to such understanding of the work in hand--one whose
accomplishment is now nearly a century old--my duty seemed to be to
criticise the subject-matter from the standpoint of to-day, however
copious might prove to be the additional information required, or to
whatever extent the resulting commentary might be protracted. This
part of my work is represented by the notes with which the present
edition has been freighted, and which are typographically
distinguished from the main text. These notes bespeak their own
variety and perhaps comprehensiveness; but of their value or interest
it is not for me to express any opinion.
Aside from this main exercise of an editorial function to the best of
my ability, I have been induced to add another to the several good
memoirs of Pike which we already possessed--notably Whiting's and
Greely's. In the preparation of this I have been able to avail myself
of much hitherto unpublished documentary material and other sources of
information which have not before been utilized for this purpose.
Under the circumstances of its present connection this biography could
be prepared with little regard to Pike as an explorer, for these
volumes cover all such ground; and thus I could dwell for the most
part upon other aspects of his life and character, such as those which
led up to his conspicuous adventures, and especially those of the War
of 1812 which closed with his death a career of military honor and
renown.
At the time when Pike first appeared in print, it was the fashion to
regard an index to a book rather as an elegant superfluity, or a
luxury of leisurely authorship, than as the imperative obligation and
absolute necessity which we now find it to be, whenever anything else
than fiction or poetry becomes a candidate for public favor. Pike has
never been indexed before; and many who now see how lengthy is the
list of proper names of persons, places, and other things, may for the
first time become aware of the extent and variety of information of
which this author's work has proved to be either the prolific source
or the pregnant occasion.
All of the plates which illustrated the original edition of Pike have
been reproduced in facsimile. They consist of a portrait of the author
and six maps. To these are now added a facsimile of an autograph
letter, and a new map, both prepared expressly for the present
edition. The letter requires no further remark than that it is
believed to be the first one ever published, and that it is also
printed in its proper connection in the text of my Memoir, with many
other hitherto unpublished documents. The new map, which I have
legended as a Historico-geographical Chart of the Upper Mississippi
River, has been compiled and drawn under my direction by Mr. Daniel W.
Cronin, a skillful draughtsman of the U. S. Geological Survey, and is
copyrighted by my publisher. It is based primarily upon the Map of
the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to the Falls of St. Anthony,
compiled from surveys and reconnoissances made under the direction of
Major F. U. Farquhar and Captain Charles J. Allen, U. S. A., and from
the U. S. Land Surveys, published in fifteen sheets, on the scale of
inch to mile, by the Engineer Department of the Army, in 1881. The
hydrographic data from this source are supplemented from the latest
map of Minnesota published by the U. S. General Land Office, from the
sectional maps of Minnesota and of the Upper Mississippi lately issued
by Jewett and Son of St. Paul, and from various other sources, in
protracting the branches of the main stream and locating the lakes,
etc., beyond the area shown on the Engineer charts. The Jewett maps
are the best ones I have seen among those published by private
enterprise; the map of Minnesota for which a certain Chicago firm is
responsible is the worst of all those which have appeared of late
years. My corner-map of the Infant Mississippi or "Cradled Hercules,"
on a much larger scale than the rest, is reduced from Brower's map of
the Itasca State Park, with the author's kind permission; the names
given to the numerous features of the Itascan source of the
Mississippi are those now officially recognized, with the addition of
a few which I have myself bestowed in the course of my notes on Pike,
among other results of my recent tour of observation. In lettering the
main part of this chart, my idea was, first, to illustrate Pike, by
marking his camps with their dates, along the river, and also his
trail, where he went overland; it is believed that this has been done
with all the accuracy that a map of this scale permits, except for the
route from Leech lake back to the Mississippi, which has never
been--and probably never will be--ascertained with all desirable
exactitude. Secondly, I intended to give the actual present names of
all the natural and artificial features which are delineated; and
thirdly, to add to these designations all the synonymy and other
historical data which the map could conveniently carry. Though there
is theoretically no end to the information of this kind which might
be put upon a map, the practical limitations in any given case are
obvious; and overcrowded lettering would be rather confusing than
helpful to the reader. In general, the historical data which have been
selected to be legended are in direct connection with and support of
Pike's text and of my commentary thereupon. Only those who have long
experienced the practical difficulty of making a good printer or
draughtsman misspell words in order to reproduce historical forms
literally can appreciate the obstacles to complete success in such an
undertaking; but I indulge the hope that this chart, whatever its
imperfections may be, will be found useful enough to warrant the great
pains which have been taken to approximate accuracy.
As in editing Lewis and Clark, so in working upon Pike, I have been
encouraged and assisted by many friends, not all of whom have I the
pleasure of knowing personally. I am under special obligations to Mr.
Alfred J. Hill of St. Paul, Minn., whose knowledge of the history and
geography of the Upper Mississippi region is not less accurate than
extensive. Mr. Hill has been good enough to accompany me throughout
Pt. 1 of the work, and give me the benefit of his close scrutiny of
the press-proofs, in the form of constant suggestion and criticism,
besides frequent references to other available sources of information
which I might have overlooked. His valued co-operation to this extent
increases very appreciably the confidence which the reader may feel in
all that relates to the Mississippi Voyage.[NP-1] Mr. R. I. Holcombe,
county historian of Missouri, now of the U. S. Marshal's office in St.
Paul, has criticised those pages of Pt. 2 which relate to the Osage
river. The same friendly attentions have been bestowed upon the whole
of Pike's route in Colorado by Mr. Wm. M. Maguire of Denver; and upon
various points concerning the pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona, by
Mr. F. W. Hodge of the U. S. Bureau of Ethnology. Hon. J. V. Brower
of St. Paul, Commissioner of the Itasca State Park, has made me free to
use his map of the park in connection with the new historico-geographical
chart of the Upper Mississippi. The Hon. the Secretaries of War and of
State have granted permission to examine official archives of their
respective Departments; this research, in the War Department, has been
facilitated by Mr. John Tweedale, Chief Clerk, and Mr. David Fitz
Gerald, Librarian; in the State Department, by Mr. W. W. Rockhill,
Chief Clerk; Mr. Andrew H. Allen, Chief of the Bureau of Rolls and
Library, and Mr. Walter Manton of the same Bureau. Gen. A. W. Greely,
Chief Signal Officer, U. S. Army; Gen. T. L. Casey, late Chief of
Engineers, U. S. Army, and Mr. W. W. Winship, Chief Draughtsman of the
same; Major J. W. Powell, late Director of the U. S. Geological
Survey, and Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian
Institution; Mr. Henry Gannett and Mr. A. H. Thompson of the same
Survey; Prof. G. Brown Goode, Director of the U. S. National Museum,
and Prof. Otis T. Mason of that Museum; Prof. Harry King, of the U. S.
General Land Office; Hon. D. M. Browning, Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, and Mr. R. F. Thompson of the same Bureau; Mr. L. O. Howard,
Chief of the Division of Entomology of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture; Mr. A. R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress; Prof. N. H.
Winchell, Director of the Geological Survey of Minnesota; Hon. Charles
Aldrich, Curator of the Iowa State Historical Department; Mr. R. G.
Thwaites, Secretary of the Historical Society of Wisconsin; Mr. D. L.
Kingsbury, Acting Secretary of the Historical Society of Minnesota;
Hon. C. C. James, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Ontario, and Hon.
A. Blue of the Bureau of Mines of Ontario, have each rendered valued
official or personal favors, or both. I am also indebted in various
ways, most of which are indicated in their respective connections in
the course of my notes, to ex-President Benjamin Harrison; Mr. W. H.
Harrison of North Bend, O.; Mrs. B. H. Eaton of El Paso, Tex.;
Governor A. W. McIntire of Colorado; R. T. Durrett, LL. D., of
Louisville, Ky.; Prof. E. D. Cope of Philadelphia; Mr. James Bain,
Jr., of the Public Library of Toronto; Mr. L. P. Sylvain, Assistant
Librarian of Parliament, Ottawa; Lieutenant J. R. Williams of the
Third Artillery, U. S. A.; Lieutenant H. M. Chittenden of the Corps of
Engineers, U. S. A.; Rev. O. S. Bunting of Trenton, N. J.; Prof. J. D.
Butler of Madison, Wis.; Mr. W. P. Garrison of the New York Nation;
Judge Thos. H. Bacon of Hannibal, Mo.; Judge Nathan Richardson of
Little Falls, Minn.; Mr. Charles Hallock of Hallock, Minn.; Mr. H. D.
Harrower of New York, N. Y.; Mr. T. H. Lewis of St. Paul, Minn.; Mr.
C. H. Small of Pueblo, Col.; Mr. Geo. R. Buckman of Colorado Springs,
Col.; Mr. D. Bosse of Great Bend, Kas., and Mr. Luther R. Smith of
Washington, D. C. Mrs. Mary B. Anderson of Washington, D. C., has
taken great pains in preparing under my direction an index, of
somewhat unusual extent and special difficulty, which I am led to
believe will be found exceptionally accurate. Mr. Robert M. Trulan and
Mr. H. E. Gore-Kelly of the Mershon Printing Company, Rahway, N. J.,
have read the proofs with untiring zeal as well as professional skill.
Mr. Francis P. Harper has set no limit to the extent to which my
editorial work might be protracted, leaving the substance of these
volumes entirely to my discretion; and I have returned the compliment
by deferring to his judgment in all that relates to the manufacture of
a book which may be found worthy to stand by the side of Lewis and
Clark.
ELLIOTT COUES.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
WASHINGTON, D. C.,
_June 30th, 1895_.
FOOTNOTE:
[NP-1] Since these words were penned Mr. Hill has made the long portage,
alas! His death occurred at St. Paul, on the 15th inst.
MEMOIR OF
ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE.
BY ELLIOTT COUES.
The best Life of Pike we have had is that which was prepared by Henry
Whiting and published in 1845 in Jared Sparks' Library of American
Biography, vol. xv. (or new series vol. v.), pp. 217-314. This
excellent memoir might be now reproduced, were it not mainly occupied
with the account of those expeditions to which these volumes are
devoted, and thus for the most part superfluous in the present
connection. It still continues to be a main source of our information
concerning the events of Pike's life before and after those exploits
of 1805-7 which immortalized his name, and is particularly valuable in
all that relates to his closing career, as the biographer was himself
a distinguished soldier and competent military critic.[M-1]
But I have much new matter to offer, derived from a thorough
examination of the archives of the War Department, which include many
original and hitherto unpublished documents in Pike's case,[M-2] from
diligent search among contemporaneous records of the war of 1812-15,
and from various other sources.
* * * * *
The Pike family resided in New Jersey for several generations. One
Captain John Pike acquired his military title in Indian warfare.
Zebulon Pike, the father of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, had been a
captain in the Revolutionary army, and had served in the levies of
1791, when he was made a captain of infantry Mar. 5th, 1792; he was
assigned to the Third sub-Legion Sept. 4th, 1792, and to the 3d
Infantry Nov. 1st, 1796; he became major Mar. 21st, 1800, and was
transferred to the 1st Infantry Apr. 1st, 1802; he was brevetted
lieutenant-colonel July 10th, 1812, and honorably discharged June
15th, 1815. He died July 27th, 1834. His son, Zebulon Montgomery, was
born at Lamberton, afterward a south part of Trenton, N. J., Jan. 5th,
1779.[M-3]
During Zebulon Montgomery's childhood his parents removed to a place
in Bucks Co., Pa., near the Delaware river, and thence to Easton, Pa.
Whiting says that he was remembered by some of his schoolmates who
were living in 1845, "as a boy of slender form, very fair complexion,
gentle and retiring disposition, but of resolute spirit. Instances are
mentioned in which his combative energies were put to a test, which
would reflect no discredit upon his subsequent career." He had only a
common school education, which appears to have been as slight in
quality as it was short in duration, though he was at one time under
the tuition of a Mr. Wall, a person of local repute in mathematics. He
entered the army as a raw, shy country youth, of the most slender
acquirements in any direction, whose main making of a man was
ambition.
The records of young Pike's earliest military service are variant in
some particulars not of much consequence. In one of his letters,
printed beyond, p. lxv, he says that he entered the army when he was
15 years old. This would be in or about 1794, and doubtless refers to
his cadetship. According to his biographer, he entered his father's
company as a cadet, date not given; was commissioned as an ensign of
the 2d Infantry Mar. 3d, 1799; promoted to be a first lieutenant in
the same regiment Apr. 24th, 1800, and arranged to the 1st Infantry in
1802. In Heitman's Historical Register[M-4] it appears that Zebulon
Montgomery Pike, of New Jersey, was first appointed from New Jersey to
be a second lieutenant of the 2d Infantry, Mar. 3d, 1799; was next
promoted to be first lieutenant of the same regiment, Nov. 1st, 1799;
and then transferred to the 1st Infantry, Apr. 1st, 1802. Whatever may
have been the facts in the discrepant cases of the earlier dates,
there is no uncertainty from April 1st, 1802, when the name and rank
became First Lieutenant Z. M. Pike, 1st Regiment of U. S. Infantry. It
was as such that this young officer was first detailed for detached
service in the exploration of the Mississippi, by order of General
James Wilkinson, dated from the Commanding General's headquarters at
St. Louis, Mo., July 30th, 1805.
Pike had not before been distinguished from any other meritorious and
zealous subaltern, though his qualities had already attracted
favorable attention. His selection by General Wilkinson for this duty
was the beginning of all his greatness. The letter in which the detail
was made will be found elsewhere (vol. ii, pp. 842-844). The principal
other dates of Pike's brief but brilliant military career may be
conveniently given here, though in so doing I anticipate events which
will come up again in their regular order: His promotion to a
captaincy in his regiment occurred by routine Aug. 12th, 1806, when he
was voyaging up the Osage, early in his second expedition. He became
major of the 6th Infantry May 3d, 1808, in less than a year after his
return from his tour in Mexico--a journey which was directly
continuous with his second, or Arkansaw expedition, but one which,
having been involuntarily performed, he chose to separate formally
from the other, and to make known as his "third" expedition. He became
the lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Infantry Dec. 31st, 1809. From Apr.
3d, 1812, to July 3d of that year, he was on duty as deputy
quartermaster-general. He became the colonel of the 15th Infantry July
6th, 1812, and was appointed to be brigadier-general Mar. 12th, 1813.
But before this appointment was confirmed General Pike had been killed
at the head of the troops he led to the assault on York, Upper Canada,
April 27th, 1813, aged 34 years, 3 months, 22 days.
I am favored by Lieutenant J. R. Williams, of the army, with the
following copy of the rough draught of a hitherto unpublished letter
from General John R. Williams of Detroit to Major Amos Holton, giving
an interesting picture of Pike, framed in his early environment:
DETROIT, May 20, 1845.
MAJOR AMOS HOLTON,
DEAR SIR,
I have recd your esteemed favor of the 14th April last, on
the interesting subject of your contemplated publication of
a Biographical memoir, illustrative of the Character and
services of the late Brigadier Genl. Zebulon Montgomery
Pike of the U. S. Army. The half Sheet of the Albany Argus
which you designed to accompany your letter, and which
gives an account of a night battle on the Champlain
frontier, I regret to say, has not been received.
The period of my acquaintance with the subject of your
contemplated memoir, is indeed distant and remote; and
altho' those days are still cherished in my recollection as
the halcyon and pristine days of my youth and vigor, Yet, I
cannot but be truly sensible that many interesting
incidents have escaped my recollection in the lapse of
forty-five years.
Soon after my arrival at Camp Allegheny in the month of May
1800 I became acquainted with Lieut. Zebulon Montgomery
Pike of the 2d Regt. U. S. Infy, he was shortly afterwards
appointed Adjutant of the Regiment, in which Capacity he
served during the Years 1800 & 1801. No officer could be
more attentive prompt and efficient in the execution of the
several duties of his office--nor was there any more
emulous to acquire a perfect knowledge of the Military
profession, nor more zealous, ardent and persevering in the
pursuit of scientific improvement.
It was these qualities and disposition of mind that laid
the foundation of the subsequent Character and fame of
Zebulon M. Pike and would probably have introduced him had
he lived, to the highest honors, at least, in the military
profession under the Republic.
I then understood that his only means of Education had been
such as could be obtained in Garrison under the eye of his
father then Major Pike at the several posts he commanded,
notwithstanding these disadvantages he was a tolerable good
english scholar and wrote a good hand when I knew him and
had also acquired by his own persevering industry a
tolerably good knowledge of the french language--this I
know from the fact of having frequently corrected, at his
own request, several of his translations from Fenelon's
Telemachus.
Pike was very gentlemanly in his deportment--manners
agreeable & polished, rather reserved in general and
somewhat taciturn except when incited to conversation on
some topic in which he felt interest and considered worthy
of his attention he had less levity in his character than
even many of his brother officers Senior to him in Years
and Rank. His appearance was military yet somewhat peculiar
he generally leaned or inclined his head on one side so
that the tip of his Chapeau touched his right shoulder when
on parade--His Stature was about five feet eight inches
tolerably square and robust for his Age which I think must
have been Twenty Years in 1800. His Complexion was then
Ruddy, eyes blue, light hair and good features his habits
were in keeping with his character, uniformly abstemious
and temperate his attention to duty unremitted. At that
period the most vexatious evil and obstacle that attended
the maintenance of discipline in the Army was the general
and extensive use of Ardent Spirits, Whiskey among the Men
which was constantly being introduced in Camp by the Men &
Women attached to the service and other hangers on around
the Camp--On one occasion returning to Camp from Pittsburgh
about ten o'clock in the evening Pike and myself being
desirous of detecting the Soldiers in their Clandestine
manœufvres in the introduction of whiskey approaching the
Camp silently through the bushes and occasionally halting
to listen succeeded in capturing several fellows with jugs
& bottles of their favorite beverage, not however without a
race after them. On another occasion while going down the
Ohio river in flats--The flats always halted for the night
at some convenient place furnishing good ground &
conveniences for Bivouacking for the Night a guard being
mounted and Sentinels placed at suitable points around the
Camp. The Soldiers were then permitted to Land build fires
and bivouac on shore if they thought proper to do so in
preference to remaining in the flats crowded as they
were--there was about 70 men detailed for the purpose of
managing Ten flats containing the Provisions under my
Charge. The Signal for embarking in the Morning was the
Reveille at day break and the General immediately after. It
being then about the 20 December the weather was Cold and a
good deal of ice drifting in the River. The men generally
preferred the Company boats where they had to labor less
than in those of the Commissariat where they had to labor
constantly to keep up in the line agreeably to the order
regulating the movement of the troops. One morning they
appeared to be desirous of escaping from the Commissariat
boats to their respective Company boats in hopes of getting
rid of the duty to which they were detailed and left the
boats as fast as they were ordered to embark until Pike
observing their disobedience seized and threw several fire
brans at those in the Act of leaving the boats to which
they had been detailed and called to me to assist him by
which means the men were taught a lesson which was not
required to be repeated the residue of the journey down the
River.
This prompt and decided course on the part of Pike was not
only well timed but very important as it prevented much
disorder and Confusion which would inevitably have ensued
had he taken the ordinary and regular but slow steps to
punish the Mutineers, to bring them to a sense of duty. the
moment of departure had arrived, the boats were unmoored,
and those which had precedence were already under way
floating down the rapid current of the Ohio; The Colonels
boat particularly, to whom he would have had to Report was
already at some distance--The alternative then, which he
adopted as quick as lightning was not only judicious but
necessary and indispensible under the Circumstances of the
Case. It operated a Salutary and instantaneous effect upon
the insubordinate Soldiery which at once brought them to a
sense of duty and order. This circumstance in my opinion
speaks volumes in favor of Pike. The quickness and decision
which characterized the transaction furnishes an index to
his character neither to be mistaken nor misunderstood.
After our arrival at a point equidistant between Fort
Massac & the Confluence of the Ohio & Mississippi Rivers,
about eighteen miles below Fort Massac the Army landed on
the 5th January 1801 at a high Bluff on the right Bank of
the River where they encamped cleared the ground which was
covered with heavy timber laid out an encampment after the
plan of Greenville built with log huts which was named
Wilkinsonville.
Some time in the summer of 1801 he obtained a furlow to
visit Cincinnati as it was believed, on a matrimonial
expedition at which time he was married to his present
relict Mrs. Pike.
During the period alluded to, the duties of the Adjutant
were arduous and unremitting--especially during the
encampment on the Allegheny in addition to guard and police
duty--We had Battalion drill twice or thrice a week and
Company drill every day; and Officer drill once or twice a
week, thus you can perceive that our time was industriously
appropriated to the acquisition of military knowledge--We
had also the advantage of being drilled by officers that
served under the gallant Genl. Wayne and who composed part
of his Army at the memorable and decisive Battle of the
20th of August 1794 at the Miami Rapids--
Colonel John Francis Hamtramck[M-5] of the 1st Regt U. S.
Infy acted as Brigadier Genl. under Genl. Wilkinson being
the senior Colonel of the U. S. Army--his remains now lie
within a stone's throw of my Office, near the Roman
Catholic Church of St Anne--As a Memorial of affection the
principal Town above this City and within the County of
Wayne bears his name Hamtramck as he was much beloved by
the inhabitants of this Country.
Allow me here to make mention of the principal Officers
composing the Command at Camp Allegheny. Colo. David
Strong, Commandg 2d Regt Infy, Major Moses Porter with his
Co. of Artillery--Major Turner Brigade Inspector Captains
Graeton, Sedgwick, Shoemaker, (Visscher, stationed at fort
Fayette) Grey, Lukens, Claiborne--Lieuts. Rand, Whipple,
Schiras, Hook, Meriwether Lewis, Wilson--John Wilson--Z. M.
Pike, Dill--& to which was added at Wilkinsonville Lieuts.
Williams, Brevoort, Hughes, Hilton Many Blue & Others
together with a Battalion of the 4th Regt. under Major
Butler--making in the aggregate a force of about 1000
effective men.[M-6]
During the summer and autumn we were visited by Genl.
Wilkinson & his staff Composed of Lieuts Walbach & Macomb &
Lieut. Colo. Williams of the Engineer Corps.[M-7] about this
period sickness among the troops and many deaths occurred
in consequence of which the Troops were removed by order
of Genl. Wilkinson to Cumberland Heights[*] a season of
inactivity and a prospect unfavorable to Military life
prevailing--many Officers resigned and sought to obtain a
livelihood by other means than the profession of arms.
These and other subsequent events are matters of history
and I shall therefore close these short notes by pointing
to the subsequent life and services of the lamented Zebulon
M. Pike.
My opportunities of acquaintance with him arose from the
Circumstance of having messed with Captain Peter Shoemaker
and himself about Eight Months without intermission we
three being the only members of the Mess.
In conclusion, it may not be inappropriate to remark that
the period alluded to was during a state of peace. Yet,
whilst the prospect lasted that the Troops might soon
expect active service against the frontiers of the then
possessions of Spain--The Zeal, Ardor, Enterprize and
ambition of our Army could not have been surpassed; and
would have sustained a comparison with the best and most
glorious days of the Revolution, or of the late War with
Britain, or the later achievements of our Braves against
the forces of Mexico.
You are at liberty to use these notes in such manner as
will meet the object you have in view.
With respectful Consideration
I am Dear Sir Your Obedt Servt
JNO. R. WILLIAMS.
MAJOR AMOS HOLTON
Washington City, D. C.
transmitted the foregoing by
Mail Augt 26th 1846.[M-8]
[*] Mr. Jefferson having been elected President of the U. S. The
policy of the Government changed instead of wresting the posts on the
west bank of the Mississippi from Spain by force of Arms as was
previously contemplated--They were eventually obtained by peaceable &
Successful negociation. (Orig. note.)
The "matrimonial expedition" to which the foregoing letter quaintly
alludes was successful, like Pike's other expeditions of later date
and greater celebrity. The young lieutenant was married in 1801 (day
of the month not ascertained) to Clarissa Brown, daughter of General
John Brown of Kentucky. Whiting says that the issue of this connection
was "three daughters and one son. Only one of these children reached
the maturity of life, a daughter, who married Symmes Harrison, the son
of General [William Henry] Harrison, and became a widow, many years
since, with several children." Whiting continues with the following
statements, embodying perhaps as much as has hitherto been published
of Pike's domestic relations:
Mrs. Pike withdrew to the seclusion of a family residence
[at North Bend] on the Ohio River just below Cincinnati,
soon after the fall of her gallant husband, where she has
since lived. It is well recollected by most of the officers
who served on Lake Ontario in the early part of the
campaign of 1813, that he regarded her with enthusiastic
sentiments, believing her to share in all his ardent
longings after distinction, and willing to make any
sacrifice for their fulfilment. No doubt it was with a
heart strengthened by such feelings, that she parted with
him on the eve of the expedition in which he fell; though
she may have felt, during her long widowhood, that the
sacrifice, with all its honorable alleviations, has been at
times as much as that heart could bear.
There was found an interesting memorandum on one of the
blank pages of a copy of "Dodsley's Economy of Human
Life,"[M-9] which General Pike habitually carried about
with him. After affectionately alluding to his wife, and
his son then living, he lays down two maxims, which he
wishes may ever be present to the mind of his child, "as he
rises from youth to manhood." "First: Preserve your honor
free from blemish. Second: Be always ready to die for your
country." This son was cut off too soon to exemplify the
former in his life, or the latter in his death; but the
father, in his life and in his death, exemplified them
both.
On seeking for information in regard to General Pike's daughter and
her children, I first wrote to ex-President Benjamin Harrison, by whom
I was favored with prompt reply, in part as follows:
674 NORTH DELAWARE STREET,
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., May 24, 1894.
MY DEAR SIR:
I have your letter of May 21st. My uncle, Symmes Harrison,
married the daughter of General Pike and left several
children; but I do not think I know of but one who
survives--William Henry Harrison, who lives in the
neighborhood of the old Pike homestead on the Ohio River,
about two and a half miles below my grandfather's old home
at North Bend.... I cannot give you the names of General
Pike's children; I was too young to have any knowledge of
them. Possibly my eldest sister, Mrs. Bettie H. Eaton, who
is now residing at El Paso, Texas, may be able to give you
some information about the Pike family.
Very truly yours,
[Signed] BENJAMIN HARRISON.
Mrs. Bettie Harrison Eaton was kind enough to reply to my further
inquiries, in a letter dated El Paso, Tex., July 2d, 1894, from which
I quote in substance:
My cousin's, William Henry Harrison's, mother was a
daughter of General Pike, whose maiden name was Clarissa
Harlowe Pike. She was married to my uncle, John Cleves
Symmes Harrison, but in what year I do not know. Indeed, I
know very little about the Pike family, as I always
understood that my aunt was General Pike's only child; if
he had others I never heard of them. I remember her very
slightly, as I was quite a little girl when she died. Her
mother, Mrs. General Pike, of whom I have a better memory,
was a tall, dignified, rather austere looking woman, who
always dressed in deep black, wearing always a large black
Canton crape shawl and a black crape turban on her head,
which to my childish eyes gave her a somewhat awe-inspiring
appearance. She was a highly educated and accomplished
woman, and a fine French scholar. She kept for many years a
diary, which was written in French. My cousin, to whom I
refer you, lives on the old Pike homestead, and could
probably give you the dates you wish, as he no doubt has
the family Bible, and the old graveyard where the family
are buried is on the place.
On applying to William Henry Harrison of North Bend, O., I received a
brief note dated Sept. 10th, 1894, in which the following information
is given: "My house burned some years ago, when all General Pike's
private papers were lost. He had but one child, my mother Clara. His
wife's maiden name was Clara Brown; she was the daughter of Captain
John Brown of Revolutionary fame."
* * * * *
With thus much--none too complete, but all that I have in
hand--concerning Pike's private life, we return to his public career.
The unnumbered extant notices to which the fame that he acquired gave
rise are mainly and most naturally devoted to the consideration of the
Mississippian, Arkansan, and Mexican exploits which form the matter of
the present volumes, but which need not occupy the present biographer,
as they speak for themselves. These cover the dates of 1805-6-7; and
before taking up Pike's life in 1808, we may next consider the
bibliography of the books to which his expeditions gave rise.
The earliest one of these, forerunner of the regular edition of 1810,
is entitled:
_An Account | of a | Voyage | up the Mississippi River,
from St. | Louis to its source; | made under the orders of
the War De- | partment, by Lieut. Pike, of the Uni- | ted
States Army, in the Years 1805 and | 1806. Compiled from
Mr. Pike's Jour- | nal. |_
Pamphlet, 8vo., pp. 1-68, no date, no author, no editor, no
publisher, no printer, no place of publication; title,
verso blank, pp. 1, 2; text, pp. 3-67, with colophon
("Finis."); p. 68 being "Extract of a letter from N.
Boilvin [Nicholas Boivin] Indian agent, | to the Secretary
of War, dated St. Louis, | Oct, 6, 1806. |"
This is an extremely rare tract. I have handled two copies, one of
which I own, title page gone; the other being a perfect example in the
Library of Congress at Washington. There is a third in the Ridgway
Library of Philadelphia; and Sabin's Bibl. Amer. cites a fourth, in
the library of the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester, Mass.
These are all that I know of, though of course others exist. The
authorship and circumstances of publication remain unknown, to me at
least. Sabin gives the date 1807; this is probably correct, certainly
true within a year, but questionable. I adopt it, in view of its
probability, and in the absence of conclusive evidence against it,
though Whiting says 1808. But early in 1808 Pike was already arranging
for the publication of his own book, which appeared in 1810. Pike does
not even allude to this publication, either in his own book, or in any
of the manuscripts I have seen in which the latter is mentioned. On
consultation with Mr. A. R. Spofford over the general aspect and
"make-up," no definite conclusion could be reached by that
exceptionally well-versed librarian. It is supposed by some, not
without plausibility, to have been a government publication; but Mr.
Spofford's ignorance of the fact, if it be such, is against this
supposition; for a publication which he cannot recognize on sight as
having been issued in Washington is unlikely. The tract looks as if it
formed a part of something else; witness the peculiar set of the title
page, the conclusion of the Pike matter on p. 67, and the appearance
on p. 68 of the Boivin letter, having no obvious connection with the
rest. However all this may really have been, there is no question of
the genuineness of this unauthenticated narrative. Pike never penned
it--he could not write so well as the anonymous author of this tract
did. But whoever wrote it had Pike's original manuscript journal or
note-book before him, and followed him closely, faithfully, and
accurately. Pike's case is put in the third person by the writer, who
gives in narrative form a better account of the Mississippi voyage
than Pike's slender literary attainments enabled him to write for
himself. This "text of 1807," as I shall call it, when I have occasion
to cite it in my commentary, is an invaluable check upon Pike's own
itinerary; he cannot have been unaware of its existence, and the
friendly hand which thus first gave to the world the best account
extant of the Mississippi voyage should not have been ignored when
Pike came to write out his notes for publication in the princeps
edition of his several expeditions, of date 1810.[M-10]
* * * * *
Immediately upon his escape from his Spanish captors and hosts, and
his return to his native land, Pike set about writing his book. This
was finished--or at any rate so far advanced that a contract for its
publication had been made--early in 1808 (see letter of May 27th,
1808, beyond, p. lxi). The original edition of his Expeditions is as
follows:
_[1810.]--An Account of Expeditions | to the | Sources of
the Mississippi, | and through the | Western Parts of
Louisiana, | to the Sources of the | Arkansaw, Kans, La
Platte, and Pierre | Jaun, Rivers; | performed by order of
the | Government of the United States | during the years
1805, 1806, and 1807. | And a Tour through | the | Interior
Parts of New Spain, | when conducted through these
Provinces, | by order of | the Captain-General, | in the
Year 1807. | ---- | By Major Z. M. Pike. | Illustrated by
maps and charts. | ---- | Philadelphia: | Published by C.
and A. Conrad, Co. No. 30, Chesnut Street. Somer- | vell &
Conrad, Petersburgh. Bonsal, Conrad, & Co. Norfolk, | and
Fielding Lucas, Jr. Baltimore. | ---- | John Binns,
Printer......1810. | One Vol. 8vo._
CONTENTS.
Portrait of Pike, frontispiece.
Title, backed with copyright, pp. [1], [2].
To the Public, being Preface by Pike and publisher's
Apology, pp. [3]-[5]; blank, p. [6].
Dedication, To the President and Members of the U. S. M. P.
S., one leaf not paginated, verso blank (= pp. 7, 8).
Part I., being the Mississippi Voyage: Pike's Itinerary,
pp. 1-105; blank, p. 106; Meteorological Tables, 5
unnumbered leaves, raising pages to 116, last blank.
Part II., being the Arkansaw Journey: Instructions to Pike,
pp. 107-110; Pike's Itinerary, pp. 111-204.
Part III., being the Mexican Tour: Pike's Itinerary, pp.
205-277; p. 278 blank; one blank leaf; Meteorological
Table, one unpaged leaf.
Appendix to Part I., pp. 1-66 (last not numbered) + 2 folding
Tables; contains Documents Nos. 1-18, and some others (No.
18, pp. 41-66, is Observations, etc., on the Mississippi
Voyage); the folders are Tables C and F (other tables being
on pages), respectively to face p. 40 and p. 66.
Appendix to Part II., pp. 1-53 (p. 54 blank), + 1 folding
Table to face p. 53; contains (No. 1) A Dissertation, etc.,
on the Arkansaw Journey, pp. 1-18; (No. 2) Lieut.
Wilkinson's Report on his Arkansaw Expedition, pp. 19-32;
and other Documents to No. 15.
Appendix to Part III., pp. 1-87 (p. 88 blank); contains
(No. 1) Geographical, Statistical, and General
Observations, etc., on the Mexican Tour, pp. 1-51, by far
the most important thing in the book; No. 2, pp. 52, 53, a
certain Vocabulary belonging to the Mississippi Voyage, and
therefore to App. to Part I.; with other Documents to No.
19.
Map, Falls of St. Anthony, page size.
Map, Mississippi river, about 29⅞ × 9 inches.
Map, the First Part of Pike's Chart of Louisiana, folding,
about 17½ × 17½ inches, called Plate I.
Map, the Second Part of Pike's Chart of Louisiana, folding,
about 17 × 15½ inches, called Plate II.
Map, Internal Provinces of New Spain, about 18¼ × 17¾
inches.
Map, Sketch of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, about 15⅝ ×
12⅞ inches.
Total pages 8 + 278 + 10 + 4 + 66 + 54 + 88 = 508, some not paginated,
a few blank; 5 sets of pagination. Inserts 1 portrait, 3
folding tables, 6 maps (5 folding) = 10. Folders all may be
found in a separate vol. in some copies.
It has been said, "The pen is mightier than the sword." Pike's pen
proved mightier than his sword, and pistols too, in putting bookmaking
to confusion and editors to despair. It would be hard to find a match
for the disorder in which Pike's materials were set forth in print,
especially in the several Appendixes: Even the patient printer would
not let it go without published apology. No editor has hitherto been
found expert or rash enough to reproduce anything like the original
arrangement of the "Parts," "Appendixes" with their numerous pieces,
folding "Tables," etc. The English editor, who first undertook to
bring something like cosmos out of this chaos, created a new book by
weaving as much as he could of the matter of the Appendixes into the
main text, or into footnotes thereto, thereby greatly reducing the
bulk of the appendicial texts. But these contained documents which
proved refractory to such treatment; the plan could not be fully
carried out, for there was a residuum which still called for an
Appendix. In fact, the real bulk of Pike's cargo is in these
Appendixes; his Itineraries--the only portions of his book which were
printed in large type, as main text--being less important, if not less
interesting, than the rest of the freight. In approaching my own
editorial labors, my intention was to adhere as closely as possible to
the arrangement of the original. This I flatter myself I have
succeeded in doing, with a few important exceptions to which attention
is pointedly directed in my notes. These transpositions, with the
introduction of chapter-heads, and co-ordination of all of the
original book in uniform typography, have probably effected the
required result.
In 1811 Pike's work was also published, from another MS. copy, with
many modifications, in a handsome quarto edition, as follows:
_[1811.]--Exploratory Travels | through the | Western
Territories | of | North America: | comprising a | Voyage
from St. Louis, on the Mississippi, | to the | Source of
that River, | and a | Journey through the Interior of
Louisiana, | and the | North-eastern Provinces of New
Spain. | Performed in the years 1805, 1806, 1807, by Order
of the Government of the United States. | ---- | By Zebulon
Montgomery Pike, | Major 6th Regt. United States Infantry.
| ---- | London: | Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme,
and Brown, | Paternoster-Row. | ---- | 1811. |_
One vol., 4to. Half-title, 1 leaf, verso blank; title, 1
leaf, verso blank; advertisement, dated Jan. 28th, 1811,
and signed Thomas Rees, pp. v-ix; Congressional matters
taken from the App. to Part III. of the orig. ed., pp.
xi-xviii; contents, pp. xix, xx; main text, pp. 1-390;
Appendix, pp. 391-436; colophon, J. G. Barnard, Printer,
Skinner-street, London. The copy examined has only two
maps--the Mississippi, reduced to 4to page size; Louisiana
and New Mexico, prepared by putting together two of Pike's
orig. maps and reducing the result to 10⅛ × 13⅞
inches. Folding tables reset to page size.
This is the standard English edition, prepared under the careful and
able editorship of Dr. Thomas Rees, from a manuscript copy transmitted
to England at the time that the original manuscript went to press in
America. This edition, and not the American of 1810, is the basis of
the French and Dutch versions, and is also the one which was textually
reprinted as the Denver edition of 1889. Dr. Rees made Pike a much
better book than the author made for himself. The very great
differences from the American original, due to the English editor's
literary skill, are modestly set forth in the latter's Advertisement.
It appears from this that the MS. transmitted to England "was divided
into six parts, comprising the three journals which follow, and the
observations pertaining to each in a separate portion." As the
appendicial matters were received "in the desultory manner in which
they were originally composed, the editor judged it for the advantage
of the work to restore them, as nearly as he possibly could, in
distinct paragraphs, to the places they had first occupied in the
journal, thus rendering it unnecessary to lead the reader a second
time over the same ground." In other words, Dr. Rees picked the
helter-skelter Appendixes to pieces, and wove most of their contents
into the main text, as already said. The accounts of the Indians on
the Upper Mississippi, and the Observations on New Spain, he
"preserved in their original state. The Notes and Appendixes, with
some variation of arrangement, have been printed after the
manuscripts, but a few articles have been omitted, as containing only
repetitions of what had already appeared in the body of the work. With
respect to the language and style of the Author, the Editor felt he
had a much more delicate task to perform than in the disposal of the
materials." He therefore preserved Pike's language in substance, but
corrected his grammar freely. Dr. Rees' avowal of the trouble he had
with proper names of persons and places will surprise no one who reads
the present edition and sees with what extraordinary perversions of
Indian, French, and Spanish names both Dr. Rees and myself had to
contend. Dr. Rees speaks also of the "ignorant and careless
transcriber" of the copy which reached him, and observes further: "It
is mortifying to find that in America, where the Author was
accessible, and might readily have elucidated any accidental
obscurities in his manuscript, the work has been printed in very
nearly as incorrect a state as it appeared in the present editor's
copy. The sheets of the American Edition reached here some time after
his own had been in the printer's hands, but its numerous errors,
discreditable certainly to the American press, left him little to
regret that they had not arrived at an earlier period." For the rest,
Dr. Rees remarks that he furnished "some cursory notes, which are
distinguished by the letter E," and adds: "In the account of New Spain
he has subjoined the population of several places from Humboldt's
recent 'Essai Politique,' in order to furnish the reader with the
means of instant comparison. It is pleasing to observe how nearly
these statements agree in the most material instances; and the
circumstance affords no slight evidence of the general accuracy of
Major Pike's information." He is charitable enough to refrain from
adding what else this circumstance evidences. Dr. Rees' further
introduction to his main text consists of the Congressional papers,
which in the orig. ed. form a part of the App. to Pt. 3, and which are
given this prominence, apparently, to authenticate the whole work in
the eyes of the English public by these officialities. In the copy of
the Rees edition which I have handled I find but two maps, reduced as
above said.
This was followed in 1812 by a French version, the title and collation
of which are here given:
_[1812]--Voyage | au | Nouveau-Mexique, | a la suite a'une
expédition ordonnée | par le Gouvernement des États-Unis, |
pour reconnoître les sources des rivières | Arkansas,
Kansès, la Platte et Pierre-jaune, | dans l'intérieur de la
Louisiane occidentale. | Précédé | a'une Excursion aux
Sources du Mississippi, | Pendant les années 1805, 1806, et
1807. | Par le Major Z. M. Pike. | Traduit de l'anglais |
Par M. Breton, Auteur de la Biblioth. géographique. | Orné
d'une Nouvelle Carte de la Louisiane, en trois parties. |
Tome Premier [Second]. | A Paris, | Chez D'Hautel,
Libraire, Rue de la Harpe, n^o. 80, | près le Collége de
Justice. | -- | 1812. |_
Two vols., 8vo. Vol. I., pp. i-xvi, 1-368; Vol. II., pp.
1-373, with 3 maps. In Vol. I. the half title p., backed de
l'imprimérie de L. Hausmann, Rue de la Harpe, N^o. 80, is
pp. i, ii; full title p., verso blank, is pp. iii, iv;
Préface du Traducteur, pp. v-xiv; sub-title, Voyage au
Mississippi, backed with errata, pp. xv, xvi; Avertissement
de l'auteur, pp. 1-6; Wilkinson's instructions to Pike of
July 30th, 1805, abstracted from one of the pieces of App.
to Pt. 3 of the orig. ed., pp. 7, 8; main text of the
Mississippi Voyage, pp. 9-236, ending Pt. 1 of the orig.
ed.; thence the Arkansaw Journey, with separate sub-title,
Voyage au Nouveau-Mexique, pp. 237-368, ending Vol. I.,
with end of Pt. 2 of the orig. ed.--In Vol. II., half title
p. backed blank, pp. 1, 2: full title, backed blank, pp. 3,
4; main text, pp. 5-373, beginning at date of Feb. 27th,
1807, when Pike was starting on his involuntary Mexican
tour; this tour ending on p. 236, with end of the main
text of Pt. 3 of the orig. ed.; thence to end of vol.
various matters from the Appendixes of Pts. 2 and 3,
including Lieutenant Wilkinson's Arkansaw Report, pp.
325-363, and a piece of padding, pp. 293-324, this last
being Remarques Additionelles sur le sol, les productions
et les habitans de la Nouvelle-Espagne, of which the editor
says that "ces détails sont extraits en partie de
l'excellente histoire d'Amérique par Winterbotham, et de
l'ouvrage de l'abbé Clavigéro." These 32 pages of padding
have no business in the book; I suppose they were wanted to
balance the bulk of the two volumes. The maps of this
edition are three in number, supposed to belong in Vol. II.
They are the Mississippi and the two Arkansaw maps,
prepared by Antoine Nau, redrawn and re-engraved, with
French names instead of English ones; the size is about the
same as that of the original; the execution is rather
better. The editor apologizes, Vol I., p. xiii, for not
reproducing Pike's two maps of Mexico, because he would not
venture "d'attenter à la propriété de M. de Humboldt," _i. e._,
steal Humboldt's thunder. For it seems that Humboldt
thought Pike had done so, and he had just previously so
expressed himself in a réclamation in Le Moniteur. Humboldt
compliments Pike pro formâ, and proceeds to protest: "Mais
les cartes du Mexique, publiées sous son [Pike's] nom, ne
sont que des réductions de ma grande carte de la
Nouvelle-Espagne, sur laquelle le voyageur a tracé sa route
de Santa-Fé par Cohahuila à Nacodolhes [Nacogdoches or
Natchitoches]."
Humboldt's direct and unqualified charge of plagiarism against Pike,
which has never been answered and is probably unanswerable, is
reiterated in that one of his works entitled: Personal Narrative of
Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent during the
Years 1799-1804. By Alexander de Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland. Written
in French by Alexander de Humboldt, and translated into English by
Helen Maria Williams, Philadelphia, M. Carey, 1 vol., 8vo, Dec. 23d,
1815, on p. xxii of which we read: "Mr. Pike displayed admirable
courage in an important undertaking for the investigation of western
Louisiana; but unprovided with instruments, and strictly watched on
the road from Santa Fe to Natchitoches, he could do nothing towards
the progress of the geography of the provincias internas. The maps of
Mexico, which are annexed to the narrative of his journey, are
reduced from my great map of New Spain, of which I left a copy, in
1804, at the secretary of state's office at Washington." In this
connection Humboldt also makes the same well-founded charge against
Arrowsmith, saying, p. xxi: "My general map of the kingdom of New
Spain, formed on astronomical observations, and on the whole of the
materials which existed in Mexico in 1804, has been copied by Mr.
Arrowsmith, who has appropriated it to himself, by publishing it on a
larger scale under the title of New Map of Mexico, compiled from
original Documents, by Arrowsmith. It is very easy to recognize this
map from the number of chalcographical errors with which it abounds,"
etc.
Of all forms of dishonesty, literary larceny is the most futile,
because the surest of detection. Plagiarism is worse than a crime--it
is a blunder. If the matter stolen is worth stealing, the transaction
is certain to be exposed, sooner or later. The distinction between the
use and misuse of the literary labors of another is so plain and
simple that it cannot be misunderstood. It depends solely upon whether
acknowledgment be made or not. Plagiarism acknowledged is no
plagiarism--one has only to say "by your leave," to appropriate with
impunity whatever he desires. But this instant formula is
indispensable. Subsequent apology or explanation is impossible.
Humboldt took Pike red-handed; this the present biographer deplores;
but he can neither discover nor invent a defense. Pike's senselessness
in this matter aggravates the offense. To have acknowledged his
indebtedness to Humboldt and Bonpland, and then utilized their work to
any extent he chose, would have been shrewd policy, as well as honest
conduct; for Humboldt's was already a name to conjure with, and the
hitherto nameless young writer could not have done better for himself
than to cite such high authority in connection with his own work.[M-11]
I have reluctantly satisfied myself that Pike's map of New Spain is
no other than Humboldt's Carte Générale du Royaume de la Nouvelle
Espagne, with Nau's errors and some little further modification.
The Dutch edition of Pike, 1812-13, is as follows:
_[1812-13.]--Reize | naar | Nieuw-Mexico | en de
Binnenlanden van | Louisiana, | Voorgegaan door eenen togt
| naar de Bronnen der | Mississippi, | gedaan op last van
het Gouver- | nement der Vereenigde Staten | in de jaren
1805, 1806 en 1807, | door den Majoor | Z. M. Pike. | -- |
Uit het Engelsch vertaald. | -- | Eerste [Tweede] Deel. |
met Kaarten. | -- | Te Amsterdam, bij | C. Timmer. |
MCDCCCXII [MDCCCXIII]. | Stilsteeg, N^o. 18. |_
Two vols., 8vo. Vol. I., 1812 (notice misprint of date on
title page), pp. i-viii, 1-327. Vol. II., 1813, two prel.
leaves, and pp. 1-374, with three maps. Printed at
Amsterdam by A. Breeman & Co. In Vol. I., title leaf, verso
blank, pp. i, ii; Voorberigt van den Vertaler (Translator's
Preface), pp. iii-viii, dated Amsterdam, Nov. 7th, 1812;
main text, pp. 1-327, of which the Mississippi voyage runs
to p. 218 inclusive, and the remainder finishes the
Arkansaw journey, these being respectively Pt. 1 and Pt. 2
of the orig. ed. In Vol. II. a half title and a full title
make each one unpaged leaf, and the main text runs pp.
1-374, being Pt. 3 of the orig. ed. The three maps belong
in this vol.
The general form and style of this version are most like those of the
French translation, from which, however, the Dutch differs in various
particulars. It appears to have been based upon the English quarto
rather than upon the original Philadelphia octavo, and to have been
translated independently therefrom, as the French also was. Both the
Dutch and the French editions follow the English one in working the
matter of the Appendixes into the main text--in fact, _no_ edition
that I know of has hitherto followed the awkward and exasperating form
of Pike's own book. The anonymous Dutch translator introduces a new
preface, and a few short footnotes, not reproducing those of the
French translator; the three maps are re-engraved from those prepared
by Antoine Nau, as in the French edition, but with lettering of the
names in Dutch instead of French.
The foregoing English, French, and Dutch editions were speedily
followed by a German version. This seems to be a scarce book; I have
not yet been able to find a copy. I presume that, like the French and
Dutch, it was modeled upon the London quarto; but with what
modifications, if any, aside from translation into another language, I
have no idea.
The latest and best edition of Pike which has hitherto appeared in the
United States, was published in 1889, as follows:
_[1889.] Exploratory Travels | through the | Western
Territories | of | North America: | comprising a | Voyage
from St. Louis, on the Mississippi, | to the | Source of
that river, | and a | Journey through the Interior of
Louisiana, | and the | North-eastern Provinces of New
Spain. | Performed in the years 1805, 1806, 1807, by Order
of the Government of the United States. | -- | By Zebulon
Montgomery Pike, | Major 6th Regt. United States Infantry.
| -- | London: | Paternoster-Row. | -- | 1811. | -- |
Denver: | W. H. Lawrence & Co. | 1889. |_
One vol., large 4^to. Engr. portrait, frontispiece,
answering to pp. i, ii; title, verso copyright, pp. iii,
iv; introduction (new, by Wm. M. Maguire, Denver, 1889),
pp. v-xii; missing, pp. xiii, xiv; Report of Committee,
etc. (1808), pp. xv-xxii (abstracted from Doc. No. 6 and
accompanying papers of Appendix III. of the original);
contents, pp. xxiii, xxiv, or pp. 23, 24; main text, pp.
25-351; blank, p. 352; Appendix, pp. 353-394; Mississippi
map, reduced, opp. p. 24; 1st Louisiana map, reduced, opp.
p. 146; 2d do., do., opp. p. 208; maps of Falls of St.
Anthony and of Mexico not found; folding tables reset to
page size.
As appears from the foregoing title and collation, this is a faithful
and complete reprint of the English quarto. The title page is
facsimiled with the camera, down to the publishers' names; the text
is identical throughout, barring such slight literal or punctual
differences as are necessarily incident to resetting type. The only
noticeable change from the London edition is that Dr. Rees'
advertisement is replaced by a new introduction, from the pen of
William M. Maguire, Esq., of Denver. This is a valuable feature; my
only regret is that so competent and conscientious an editor as Mr.
Maguire--one familiar with much of Pike's route, and enthusiastic on
the subject--did not give the work that extended critical revision
which would have forestalled my own commentary and left me to exercise
my editorial wits in some other direction. As it is, I am indebted to
my valued correspondent in several particulars which appear in their
proper connections in the course of my notes.
It is needless to cite here the multiplied notices of Pike and of his
travels or his book which appear in ordinary biographical and
encyclopedic publications. But, aside from Whiting's Memoir, already
adduced, I may notice some special articles of more or less recent
date.
The Pacific Railroad Reports, XI. 1855, pp. 19-22, contain a notice of
Pike's Expeditions, by the late eminent geographer, General Gouverneur
Kemble Warren. The routes are traced correctly, except in the instance
of sending Pike over the Continental Divide to headwaters of the
Colorado of the West; for General Warren says: "It appears that
Lieutenant Pike has the honor of being the first American explorer
that reached the sources of this large river [the Arkansaw], and the
second that crossed the divide between the waters of the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans." The first clause of this statement is correct; in the
second, the writer was misled.
"Mungo-Meri-Paike" is not the name of the celebrated Ethiopian
explorer who was born at Fowlshiels, in Selkirkshire, Scotland, Sept.
20th, 1771, and became known to fame as Mungo Park, but a
phonetization of the way "Montgomery Pike" reverberated in Spanish
ears. Colonel James F. Meline's Two Thousand Miles on Horseback,
etc., New York, Hurd and Houghton, 1867, exploits Pike in an
interesting manner, especially in Letter xxix, pp. 234-245. Meline's
contribution to the present biography is particularly valuable, as it
gives some documentary evidence of the Spanish view of Pike's invasion
of New Mexico. Most of this we have in Pike's book; but one of the
papers which Colonel Meline presents, both in the original Spanish and
in an English version, must find a place here; I give it in English,
from Meline's pp. 243-245.[M-12] It is Governor Allencaster's report to
General Salcedo, of date Santa Fé, N. M., Apr. 1st, 1807: compare Pike
at p. 607 and following pages; also, p. 809.
The Topeka Commonwealth, a Kansan newspaper, during the summer and
autumn of 1877 published a series of articles by Noble L. Prentis.
These were afterward gathered in a volume entitled: A Kansan Abroad,
what purports to be the second edition of which appeared in 1878,
Topeka, Geo. W. Martin, sm. 8vo, pp. 240. One of the articles in this
book, pp. 191-214, is thus described by its author, who seems to have
been something of a wag: "The sketch, Pike of Pike's Peak, was first
delivered at Topeka, February 19th, 1877, under the patronage of the
Kansas State Historical Society. Afterward, in the cheerful month of
March, the author went around the country with his production in the
form of a 'lecture.' It was not as funny as was expected, and, as a
lecture, was not an overwhelming success. It now appears for the first
time in print; and may it find more readers than it ever did hearers."
In this wish I concur with pleasure; for Mr. Prentis evidently had
read his Pike with interested attention, and his essay is one of the
best short biographies of our hero that I have seen. I have occasion
to cite it twice in the present memoir.
In his Explorers and Travellers, forming a volume of the Men of
Achievement series, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1893, Art. VI.,
pp. 163-193, General A. W. Greely, Chief Signal Officer, U. S. A., who
himself illuminates achievement in exploration, has given an
appreciative sketch of Pike's career, in the main correct, though
inaccurate in certain particulars. If I here specify two of these, it
is in no spirit of detraction, but with the good feeling that General
Greely reciprocated when I called his attention to them. It is said,
p. 173, that "Pike visited Red Lake and passed to the north, which
carried him to the drainage-basin of the Red River"; but Pike was
never out of the Mississippian watershed on that voyage, his furthest
point being Cass lake. This was formerly known as Red Cedar lake,
whence perhaps General Greely's misapprehension. Again, it is said, p.
183, that Pike "doubtless crossed into Middle Park [in Colorado] and
saw the head-waters of the Colorado"; but Pike went directly from
South Park back into the valley of the Arkansaw, and never viewed a
Pacific watershed. The general's summary, p. 175, of Pike's results on
the Mississippi is judicious--a conservative estimate, colored with a
generosity which none would wish to have been withheld:
Pike had more than carried out his orders to explore the
sources of the great river, and did something more than
give to the world the first definite and detailed
information as to the upper river and its tributaries. He
discovered the extent and importance of the British trade
in that country, brought the foreign traders under the
license and customs regulations of the United States, and
broke up for all time their political influence over the
Indians. He did much to restrain the unlawful sale of
liquor to Indians by domestic traders, and not only
inspired the Indians with respect for Americans, but also
induced them to at least a temporary peace between
themselves. He replaced a foreign flag by the ensign of his
own country, and for the first time brought into this great
territory the semblance of national authority and
government.
Hon. Alva Adams of Pueblo, Col., delivered an address before the
students and faculty of Colorado College, Colorado Springs, July 12th,
1894, which was published under the title: The Louisiana Purchase and
its first Explorer, Zebulon Montgomery Pike, 8vo, pp. 23. This is a
spirited oration, befitting the occasion and inspiring to read. It is
true that Pike's book appeared in 1810, thus anticipating by four
years the publication of Lewis and Clark; but can Governor Adams have
forgotten who first explored the Louisiana Purchase, and returned from
their expedition to the Pacific at noon of Sept. 23d, 1806? At that
date Pike was at the Pawnee village on the Republican river; and on
the 4th of October he had the news of Lewis and Clark's return to St.
Louis. His western expedition had been in progress only since July
15th, 1806. If Governor Adams had Pike's Mississippi voyage in mind,
that does not alter the case. Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri
May 24th, 1804; and when Pike began to navigate the Mississippi, Aug.
9th, 1805, Lewis and Clark were on Jefferson river, in Montana.
Furthermore, Pike was preceded in exploring Louisiana, from Missourian
waters to those of the Rio Grande, by James Pursley, who had himself
been preceded by Jean Baptiste Lalande, as we are duly informed by
Pike himself; and it is probable that French traders reached Santa Fé
by the same way half a century before Pike.
The Annals of Iowa, 3d series, Vol. I. No. 7, Oct., 1894, pp. 531-36,
contains an article entitled: Pike's Explorations. This is anonymous,
but was written by my much esteemed friend, Hon. Charles Aldrich,
editor of the Annals and curator of the Iowa State Historical
Department at Des Moines. The article is clear and concise; and it
traces Pike's several journeys with absolute accuracy.
* * * * *
We return from this bibliographical excursus to resume the thread of
Pike's biography--would that there had been many more years to
chronicle in the gallant and patriotic, but all too brief, life of the
young soldier! No longer lieutenant, but captain, since Aug. 12th,
1806, Pike was delivered out of the hands of "our friends the enemy"
on the Sabine river, to which he had been escorted by his Spanish
captors, June 29th, 1807; and arrived at Natchitoches about 4 p. m.,
July 1st. The following letter was received at the War Department
Sept. 29th, 1807; it is not included in the Appendix to Pt. 3 of the
book, and has probably never been published. I print verbatim from a
copy of the original now on file in the office of the secretary of
war:
NATCHITOCHES 15 July. 1807.
SIR
I arrived here a few days since with part of my command
only, the ballance being yet in New Spain, but expect them
daily; as the Capt. General assured me they should follow
me in a short period; he detaining them I presume, to put
them through an _examination_, when he conceived they would
be more easily _intimidated_ into some equivocal
expressions; which might palliate the unjustifyable conduct
of the Spanish Government with respect to the expidition
which I had the honor to command.
Whatever may be the sentiments of the Executive of the
United States as to the conduct of the Spaniards to
_myself_ and _command_, I am bound to submit. Yet I am
conscious that our Honor and Dignity, as a nation will not
permit us to tranquilly view, the violation of our
Territories; infringements of Treaties; Hostile
communications to our Savages; and oppression of our
Citizens; in various Instances: all of which I can make
manifest.
The unreasionable Ideas of the Vice Roy, & His Excelly the
Capt. Genl. (the immediate representatives of his Catholic
Majesty on our Spanish Frontiers) as it respects the line
of Demarkation, is such that in my humble oppinion almost
precludes the possibility of a thought that they can ever
be amicably adjusted.
On that subject I flatter myself I have acquired some
important and interesting information.
Although the Capt. Genl. seized on (what he conceived all)
my papers, I yet possess by a little strategem, the whole
of my Journals; courses; and distances; and many other
Geographical; Historical; and Philosophical notes; which I
presume will be worthy of particular notice.
I conceive by a fortuitous event, that information has been
acquired of the Spanish Kingdom of New Spain, which a
foreigner never yet possessed; and which in case of a
rupture between the United States, and that Govt, will be
of the highest importance: but should peace still continue
to bless those happy climes, will afford pleaseing subjects
of contemplation, for the statesmen, the philosopher; and
the Soldier.
I received from Genl. Wilkinson, some Conditional Orders on
my Arrival at the place [this place--Natchitoches]; to
which I have replied; but as the destination of that
Gentleman, was uncertain, I thought it my duty to make a
short report to you: I shall remain here waiting for my men
a short time longer (as I expect some important information
by their hands) when I shall march by the way of Kentucky,
for the City of Washington. My papers being in such a
mutilated and deranged state it will require some time to
arrange them & (to which object every moment shall be
devoted) likewise at Washington: I can obtain some
necessary assistance as it would take one person a great
length of time to make fair copies, and draughts of the
plans, Journals &c &c of a tour of upwards of 4000 Miles--
The Surveys of Capns Lewis & Clark; mine of the
Mississippi; Osage; upper Arkensaw; L'Platte; and Kans
rivers; with Lieut Wilkinson's, & Mr. Freemans, of the
lower parts, of the Red, and Arkensaw rivers; together with
the notes I intend takeing on my route from hence up the
Mississippi; will I presume form a mass of matter; which
will leave but _three_, more objects, to be desired in
forming a compleate chart of Louisiana.
I am Sir with High Consideration
Your obl. Sert.
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Capt.
The Honl.
HENRY DEARBORNE
Sect. W. Dept.
While at Natchitoches, Captain Pike made it one of his first concerns
to move in the matter of Captain Nolan's men, then prisoners in
Mexico: see beyond, pp. 609, 657, 660, 666, 767, 811. The case is
little known, and has not proved an easy one to recover. But through
the kind attentions of the eminent historian, Reuben T. Durrett, LL.
D., president of the Filson Club of Louisville, Ky., I am put in
possession of an article which appeared in the Natchez Herald of Aug.
18th, 1807, setting forth the facts in full. This I have the pleasure
of presenting, literally according to the type-written copy which Dr.
Durrett transmits, Apr. 12th, 1895:
NACHITOCHES, July 22, 1807.
DEAR SIR--Inclosed you have a statement of the situation of
the companions of the deceased Philip Nolan, and a short
account of the ineffectual application I made, to rescue
them from the eternal slavery, which it is to be feared, is
destined for them, unless our government should be pleased
to interfere in their behalf. Certainly the court of Spain
would be too generous to refuse liberty to a few
debilitated and half-lost wretches, who have at least
expiated their crime, (if any) tenfold.
As I promised on my arrival in the United States, to give
their friends an account of their situation, I could
conceive no more certain and expeditious a method than
through the medium of your Herald, and therefore wish you
to give this communication publicity; and hope the Editors
of the Gazettes of the states in which the friends of those
unfortunate young men may belong, will republish it, that
their connections may receive the melancholy assurances of
some being in existence, and that others are beyond the
power of tyranny and oppression.
I am, &c.,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE.
In a late involuntary tour which I made through part of his
Catholic majesty's dominions of New Spain, whilst at St.
Affe [Santa Fé], the capitol of N. Mexico and Chihuahua, I
met with a number of the poor unfortunate companions of the
deceased Nolan. One of whom gave me the following cursory
statement of their treatment, &c. since their being taken,
and on their joint application, I addressed a letter to his
excellency Nemeio [_sic_] Salcedo, in their favor, of which
an extract is subjoined, with the verbal reply of the
general.
"We crossed the Mississippi on the 1st day of November,
1800, at the Walnut hills [Nogales], and in January
following arrived at the river Brassus [Brazos], in the
provinces of Texus, and proceeded to build pens [for the
capture of mustangs]. In March, 1801, we began to run wild
horses, and having caught several hundreds of them we
selected the handsomest and let the ballance go. On the 22
of March, we were attacked at break of day, by sixty
regular troops, and two hundred and forty militia and
Indians, with one field piece. Our commander, (Nolan) being
killed, we capitulated in the evening, on the assurance
that Nolan was killed, who only was to blame, we should be
conducted to Naggadoches [Nacogdoches], from whence there
was no doubt, we would have permission to return to our
country, as soon as the circumstances were stated to the
governor of St. Antonio. We remained there under promises
and daily expectations of being released until July, when
we were all put in heavy irons.
"In August we were marched, in irons, to St. Antonio
[Texas]; and in December through the province of Coqquella
[Coahuila] and [New] Biscay, into the vice-royalty of
Mexico, to the city of St. Louis Potosi, where we remained
fourteen months, ironed, and in close confinement. In
February, 1803, we were dispatched to Chihuahua, where
after some time, our irons were struck off. From which to
the present time, we have experienced various treatment,
sometimes enjoying the liberty of the town, sometimes the
barracks, and for three months in irons and close
confinement.
"David Fero, from near Albany, state of New York, has been
alternately in irons, the guard-house, limits of the fort
or procedie [presidio]--is now confined to the limits of a
fort called Cayome [_sic_], eight leagues distant from
Chihuahua--in bad health. [See beyond, pp. 660, 665, 811.]
"Simon M'Coy, of the Oppelousas, or Natchez, a carpenter by
profession, has the liberty of the town of Chihuahua--in
good health.
"Joseph Reed, state of Kentucky, in the province of Biscay,
but in what part and how situated unknown.
"Solomon Cooley [Colly of pp. 609, 613, beyond], of the
state of Connecticut, a taylor by profession, carries on
his business in the town of St. Affee, which is his limits.
"William Danton, of Natchez, residence and situation
unknown.
"Charles King, of Natchez, works at the carpenter's trade,
is confined by night to the quartel at Chihuahua--in good
health.
"Ephriam Blackburn, of Natchez, is in some of the procedios
of the province of Biscay--situation unknown.
"Joel Pears, of North Carolina, deceased at Chihuahua.
"John Waters, of Winchester, Virginia, a hatter, and
carries on his business at Chihuahua, has embraced the
Roman Catholic faith, after betraying a well concerted plan
of his companions to effect their escape, and in which it
is supposed they would have succeeded: his treachery caused
them a close confinement in irons, and in a loathsome
prison for three months--he is hated and despised, not only
by his own countrymen but by every honest Spaniard in the
place.
"Ellis Bean, of Granger county, state of Tennessee, a
hatter, formerly carried on his business in the city of
Chihuahua, but being detected in an intrigue with the
daughter of an officer, and refusing to marry her, was in
close confinement at St. Jeronime [San Jeronimo], a few
leagues distant, in good health.
"Thomas House, of Jefferson county, Tennessee, blacksmith,
confined to the quartel at night, but at that time was at
the hospital, in a very bad state of health.
"Stephen Richards, of Natchez, has inlisted in the Spanish
service, was lately at Baton Rouge with his father, in the
quality of a citizen--belongs to the troops at Nagadoches."
[Here follows the above-mentioned letter from Pike to his
Excellency, General Salcedo, given beyond, pp. 810-812.]