party and baggage, and how anxious his Excellency was to see me at
Santa Fe." I stated to him the absence of my sergeant [Meek, with
Miller], the situation of the balance of the party [Vasquez and Smith
in the stockade on the Arkansaw; Dougherty and Sparks in the mountains
with frozen feet], and that my orders would not justify my entering
into the Spanish territory. He urged still further, until I began to
feel myself a little heated in the argument; and told him, in a
peremptory style, that I would not go until the arrival of my sergeant
with the balance of the party. He replied, "that there was not the
least restraint to be used; that it was only necessary his Excellency
should receive an explanation of my business on his frontier; that I
could go now, or on the arrival of my party; that, if none went in at
present, he should be obliged to send in for provisions; but that, if
I would now march, he would leave an Indian interpreter and an escort
of dragoons to conduct the sergeant [Meek, and the five other
absentees--Miller of the relief-party, Vasquez, Smith, Sparks,
Dougherty] into Santa Fe." His mildness induced me to tell him that I
would march, but must leave two men [Jackson and Carter] to meet the
sergeant and party, to instruct him as to coming in, as he never would
come without a fight, if not ordered.
I was induced to consent to this measure by the conviction that the
officer had positive orders to bring me in; and as I had no orders to
commit hostilities, and indeed had committed myself, although
innocently, by violating their territory, I conceived it would appear
better to show a will to come to an explanation than to be in any way
constrained; yet my situation was so eligible, and I could so easily
have put them at defiance, that it was with great reluctance I
suffered all our labor to be lost without once trying the efficacy of
it. My compliance seemed to spread general joy through their party, as
soon as it was communicated; but it appeared to be different with my
men, who wished to have "a little dust," as they expressed themselves,
and were likewise fearful of treachery.
My determination being once taken, I gave permission for the Spanish
lieutenant's men to come to the outside of the works, and some of mine
to go out and see them. The hospitality and goodness of the Creoles
and Metifs began to manifest itself by their producing their provision
and giving it to my men, covering them with their blankets, etc.
After writing orders to my sergeant [Meek], and leaving them with my
corporal [Jackson] and one private [not named (Carter)], who were to
remain, we[III-50] sallied forth, mounted our horses, and went up the
river about 12 miles, to a place where the Spanish officers had made a
camp deposit, whence we sent down mules for our baggage, etc.
WASHINGTON CITY, January, 1808.
FOOTNOTES:
[III-1] Crossing the river from S. to N. above the mouth of Turkey
cr., somewhere about the place now called Swallows, below the mouth of
Rush cr., and where the bluffs come down to the Arkansaw. The D. and
R. G. R. R. now makes a crossing a little higher up. Passing up the N.
bank, opp. Red cr., S., the party continued to Carlisle Springs and
camped in that vicinity, just over the border of Frémont Co. Red cr.
is lettered "Bed" on the G. L. O. map of 1892.
[III-2] The excessive estimate of the height of Pike's Peak, 18,581
instead of 14,147, was in part due to a misapprehension of the
elevation of the prairie whence the observation was taken. This was
assumed to be 8,000, but is really little, if any, over 5,000. The
altitude of Pico de Teyde, the volcanic Peak of Teneriffe, in the
Canary isls., is given on good authority as 12,200; and that of Mt.
Chimborazo, one of the highest peaks in the Ecuadorean Andes, is
placed at 20,498 feet by Whymper, who ascended it in 1880.
[III-3] Passing Beaver cr., N., with places called Beaver Depot and
Beaver at and near its mouth; passing opp. Hardscrabble cr., S., with
a place called Adobe at its mouth, where one of the two railroads now
makes a crossing; continuing up N. bank, past Ute or Brush Hollow cr.,
N., and Eight Mile cr., N., to camp below Six Mile cr., N., about
opposite the mouth of Coal cr., S., where is now the town of Florence.
[III-4] Passing opposite mouth of Oak cr., S., Six Mile cr., N., and
Chandler cr., S., then coming to the "bad place of falling rocks,"
which is where a bluff point comes down to the river--all these places
within 2 or 3 m. of camp; and continuing past Oil cr., N., to camp
within the present limits of Cañon City, Frémont Co. This is already a
considerable village, and is growing. It nestles directly at the foot
of the mountains, under the shadow of Noonan's and Frémont's Peaks,
and derives its name from the remarkable formation which the text
presently describes. This is the Grand Cañon of the Arkansaw, a part
of which is well known to tourists as the "Royal Gorge," because it
has been exploited so much on the folders of the D. and R. G. R. R.
But it is worthy of exploitation, and does not disappoint the
expectations raised by the advertisements of the "scenic line of the
world." Cañon City is almost in the very jaws of this vast chasm,
through which the Arkansaw has forced its way to issuance on the
plains. It was practically impassable, even afoot, until a way was
hewn and blasted for the railroad which now traverses its whole
length. Both trails which lead west from Cañon City get around the
terrible place; one on the north starts up Sand cr., past Noonan's and
Frémont's Peaks, and swings around to Parkdale at the head of the
cañon; and the other, on the south, crosses Grape cr., traverses
Webster Park, and comes down Copper cr. to Parkdale. Next after
Pueblo, the basis of the Pike's Peak trip, as we have seen, Cañon City
is the most notable place on Pike's Arkansaw route. The party stops
here awhile to scout about, before starting for South Park; and to
this place they return afterward, build a blockhouse, leave two men,
and start on their perilous adventures by way of Grape cr. to the
Sangre de Cristo range and so to the Rio Grande.
[III-5] One of these is, of course, the main Arkansaw, in the Royal
Gorge; the other, on the left, or S., is Grape cr., which runs through
the Wet mts. to its confluence with the Arkansaw a mile or so above
Cañon City, under Noonan's Peak. Grape cr. used to be called Pike's
fork of the Arkansaw, as by Gregg, 1844; but this name lapsed.
Bringing it in for a moment, we find the "forks" of the Arkansaw to
be: 1st fork of Pike, Purgatory r.; 2d fork of Pike, Huerfano r.; 3d
fork of Pike, St. Charles r.; Grand forks of Pike, confluence of
Fountain r. with the Arkansaw; Pike's fork of some books, Grape cr.
From his present position at Cañon City, Pike explores the Royal Gorge
and Grape cr. to some little extent, and abandons them both; he scouts
about for the Spanish trail, and having found it, as he supposes,
starts N., up Oil cr., very likely by the present road from the town
to that stream.
[III-6] A mountain trail with no course or distance given is not
encouraging to follow. In earlier studies of Pike, I had supposed he
reached South Park by way of Currant cr., as he might have done. But
no doubt remains in my mind that he took the Oil Creek route. If we
regard his map attentively, we see that he went up along a large creek
which he fetches into the Arkansaw _below_ the blockhouse he built on
his return to Cañon City, and which is certainly Oil cr. Camp of Dec.
10th is therefore in a "dry ravine" within "one mile" of Oil
cr.--perhaps at the first ravine above where Wilson cr. falls in from
the left, or on Wilson cr. itself. Oil cr. is a very well known
stream, on the banks of which oil works have been established, and at
whose mouth is a place called Reno, about 4 m. below Cañon City. It
heads by two main branches and many small tributaries in the mountains
S. of Ute Pass, W. of Pike's Peak, and about Saddle and Thirty-nine
Mile mt., and runs S. about 50 m. into the Arkansaw. Pike goes up Oil
cr. and takes the western one of its two main branches, crosses a
divide, and strikes the South Platte r. in South Park.
[III-7] Pike has gone N. from Cañon City some 30 or 35 m., having Oil
cr. on his right, and having crossed certain of its tributaries from
the west known as Wilson, South Oil, and High creeks. He is now camped
on West Oil cr. (the western one of the two main branches), at or near
a place called Truro. This is a sufficiently well known locality, in a
nest of mountains whence Oil cr. gathers several affluents from
various directions. On another branch of the creek is the place called
Alnwick, near where Riggs used to have his ranch, or in the same
place. West Oil cr. is also called Ten Mile cr.; another small stream
is Martin's or Slate cr. Some of the surrounding points are: Mt.
Pisgah, 10,322 or 10,487 feet high; Rhyolite Peak, 10,860; Dome Rock
or the Needle, 9,463 feet--these on Pike's right as he faces N., and
S. W. to W. of his peak; while on his left are in succession: Iron
Knoll or Trachyte Knob (lettered "Trackite" on G. L. O. map, 1892);
Saddle mt.; Thirty-nine Mile mt., 11,000 feet; Chalcedony Buttes,
10,400 and 10,200 feet. Now the usual way out of this place is N. by
Alnwick or Rigg's ranch, between Dome Rock and Saddle mt., over a
divide about 9,200 feet high, known as Two Creek or Twin Creek Pass,
which fetches out on S. Platte waters at Florissant, on the W. border
of El Paso Co.; but Pike takes a route to the left, up West Oil or Ten
Mile cr.
[III-8] Between Arkansan and Missourian waters, in a broad sense;
between the Oil Creek branch of the Arkansaw and the South Platte r.,
in a stricter sense; more exactly still, between West Oil or Ten Mile
cr. and one of several small spring runs that make into the S. Platte.
Pike makes the pass between Ten Mile mt. (right) and Thirty-nine Mile
mt. (left), at an elevation of something over 9,000 feet. The
difference between this Oil Creek way into South Park and the way by
Currant cr. is that, had he come up the latter, he would have made
Currant Creek Pass, 9,550 feet, between Thirty-Nine Mile mt. (right)
and Chalcedony Buttes (left); it is simply a matter of "cotoying"
(flanking) Thirty-nine Mile mt. E. or W. By the way he came, he
strikes the South Platte r., in South Park, Park Co., at the very
nearest approach it makes to the point he left on the Arkansaw--that
is to say, at the elbow it makes where, after flowing S. E. through
South Park, it turns sharp N. E. and enters what is called the Upper
or Eleven Mile cañon. These particulars are assured: for Pike finds
that the river "ran northeast." Camp of Dec. 13th is set in the hills
2 m. south of the river, near the head of the cañon just said.
Pike's route from Cañon City and back to that place has been a subject
of much doubt and discussion, in which some very wild notions have
been indulged by those who had any opinion whatever as to where he
went on this round trip. It has even been mooted whether he was ever
on the South Platte, or even in South Park at all. A cautious and
tentative statement is ventured in the 1889 Denver reprint of the
London ed. of the Travels, where my friend Mr. Maguire says in his new
Preface: "The exact line of march of the party from the time it
reached the foot of the Grand Cañon ["Royal Gorge"] of the Arkansas is
not easy to trace. It is likely that it reached the Platte in the
South Park, and quite possible that it penetrated to the headwaters of
the Gunnison." I do not profess to be able to trail a mosquito over a
granite bowlder, but I think we shall be able to discover precisely
where Pike went on this trip, where he entered South Park, his course
through it, the place where he left it, and how, after ascending the
Arkansaw for two days, he descended this river to Cañon City. Every
one of Pike's camps can be fixed within 2 or 3 m., and some of them
with absolute precision. He was never on the Gunnison, or any other
Pacific waters. One who wishes to satisfy himself on all these points
needs only to study Pike's text with Sheet vii. of Hayden's Atlas of
Colorado.
[III-9] At or near the place now called Howbert, on the N. bank of the
S. Platte. This great river has its uttermost source in that section
of the Continental Divide which bounds South Park on the N. W., above
the sources of the Arkansaw, and in the southward continuation of the
same mountains. The latter, bounding South Park on the W., and known
as the Park range, are not the Continental Divide, because the
Arkansaw r. here intervenes, and the Divide separates the Arkansan
water-shed from that of Gunnison r. Having gathered its numerous
tributaries from these mountains, the South Platte sweeps
southeastward across South Park, and then turns abruptly northeastward
to leave the Park by the Eleven Mile Cañon already mentioned, finds
its way through the Front range south of Denver, and runs in the
prairie till it joins the North Platte in Lincoln Co., Nebraska. The
Col. Mid. R. R. now runs from Colorado Springs, past Florissant,
through Eleven Mile cañon, and skirts the South Platte across South
Park, on its way to the already notable mining camp Leadville, which
no doubt has a future as well as a past; the Denv., S. P., and Pac. R.
R. traverses South Park from N. to S.; and each of these roads leaves
the park on the S. through Trout Creek Pass, where Pike did also when
he struck over for the Arkansaw. These points will appear more clearly
as we proceed to trail the Expedition through South Park.
[III-10] Further up the N. bank of the S. Platte, to vicinity of the
C. M. R. R. station, Sulphur Springs.
[III-11] Which could never be struck on any such course as this. To go
hence S. W. would take the Expedition over the Park range to the
Arkansaw, thence over the Continental Divide to the headwaters of the
Gunnison, and so on.
[III-12] Hartsell's or Hartzell's ranch was located in the crotch of
the forks Pike passed, and the town or railroad station by this name
is now 2 m. above, on the N. bank of the S. fork, or Little Platte r.
The two forks are of approximately equal size; but the N. or
right-hand fork is the main one. The other, left-hand one, which Pike
goes up a very short distance, and finds it does not suit him, is
formed by the confluence of various creeks, among which may be named
High, Herring's (Agate cr. of Hayden), Buffalo, and Long Gulch. Camp
is set about 2 m. west of Hartsell's, near where High cr. falls into
this branch of the S. Platte.
[III-13] Pike has actually got on the old San Juan road, which he
follows more or less nearly out of South Park, as does also a branch
of the Col. Midl. R. R. He enters those outliers of the Park range
called the Trout Creek Pass hills, gets over the range itself by this
pass, supposed to be 9,800 feet high, and goes down Trout cr. Some
named places near or on his route are Salt Works, Mill Top, Higgins',
and McGee's. Camp on Trout cr., in the vicinity of the last named
place.
[III-14] Merely shifting camp a little distance down Trout cr. from
the gorge to the open country, about the mouth of the creek, through
which the Arkansaw here flows. It is a very well known place. The D.
and R. G., the Col. Midl., and the D., S. P., and P. R. R. come
together here; in the immediate vicinity are places called Charcoal
(about where, I suppose, camp was set), Midway, and Schwanders; a
little below is Nathrop, where the D., S. P. and P. R. R. starts over
the Continental Divide for Gunnison; and a little above is Buena
Vista, seat of Chaffee Co., which Pike entered when he made the Trout
Creek Pass. The Arkansaw is here flowing about S. S. E. The
Continental Divide is directly W., 15 to 20 m.; the mountains that
make it are the Sawatch range, some of whose peaks along here are: Mt.
Princeton, 14,190 feet, nearest Pike's camp; Mt. Antero, 14,245; Mt.
Shavano, 14,230; Mt. Keyes, 13,700. Arnold's cr. falls in a little
below Trout cr., on the same side; while from the Sawatch mts. come
Chalk and Cottonwood creeks, respectively below and above camp. Pike
is going to descend the Arkansaw from this station to Cañon City; but
he first starts his people in that direction, while with two men he
makes a little reconnaissance up river, in the narrow valley between
the Sawatch and Park ranges.
[III-15] Pike stepped off the ties of the Col. Midl. R. R., if he went
up the N. side of the river, and those of the Denver and Rio Grande,
if he passed on the other side. His camp was between the station
Fisher of the former railroad, and Riverside of the latter, below the
mouth of Pine cr., which comes down from Mt. Harvard. To reach this
point, he passed Buena Vista and the stations Dornick and Americus;
also, the place where one Leonard had his ranch, and there used to be
a toll-gate--for an old mail route passed by here. Two streams he
passed were Cottonwood cr., on the left, coming down from between Mts.
Princeton and Yale, latter 14,187 feet; and next Seven Mile or
Sweetwater cr., on the right, down a branch of which came the old
California road. He is under the shadow of Mt. Harvard, of the Sawatch
range, 14,375 feet high, and Marmot Peak in the Park range.
[III-16] The highest point on the Arkansaw ever reached by the
Expedition, and that only by three of its members. This is the nearest
Pike ever came to Pacific waters; and it is close enough to have
easily started the erroneous tradition. This has been given currency
in General A. W. Greely's sketch, and very lately also supported by
Governor Alva Adams, in his address, July 12th, 1894, p. 13, where we
read: "He wandered west over routes we cannot identify until he must
have found the Tomichi, a tributary of the Gunnison, and the only time
Pike touched Pacific waters." But let us see about this. Assuming the
substantial accuracy of Pike's mileages for the 21st and 22d, or at
any rate, that they were not _understated_, and taking the Trout Creek
camp to have been 6 m. below Buena Vista, his uttermost point may be
fixed within a mile or two of Twin Lakes station on the D. and R. G.
R. R. This place takes name from the two beautiful lakes which lie
from 2 to 5 m. westward. This determination would be more particularly
acceptable, as the point indicated falls almost exactly on the
boundary between Chaffee and Lake cos. I think, very probably, that
the "large point of the mountain," on turning which Pike viewed the
further course of the Arkansaw, was that sharp spur which projects to
the river on the left, 3 m. above Granite station and Cache cr., and
at the foot of which falls in the discharge stream from the lakes.
Pike could have seen up river a good way from any elevation in this
vicinity, though by no means "at least 35 miles." I doubt that the
course of any river in these parts is continuously visible for this
distance; besides, there is no 35 m. of the Arkansaw above Twin Lakes.
The Arkansaw is composed from three branches which unite west of
Leadville--the middle, Tennessee fork, heading in the Continental
Divide, in and near Tennessee Pass, in relation with heads of Eagle
r., a tributary of the Grand; the east fork, heading about Frémont
Pass with Ten Mile cr., a tributary of Blue r. and so of the Grand;
which two, having joined, are joined by the west or Lake fork. There
is little to choose between the middle and east forks, as to which is
the ultimate "source" of the Arkansaw. Both are now meandered by the
D. and R. G. R. R., the east one also by the Denver, Leadville and
Gunnison division of the U. P.; while the Col. Midl. goes along the
west fork. Below the junction of this fork the Arkansaw receives
various small tributaries, chiefly from the Park range on the east, as
those from the gulches known as Iowa, Thompson, Empire, Union, Weston,
and Granite; the corresponding streams on the other side, from the
Sawatch range, mostly fall into the west fork, as Half Moon cr. and
others; but one which gathers from Mt. Elbert falls into the main
river 2 m. above the discharge of Twin Lakes. The lesser of these two
is fed by Lake and other small streams, and discharges into the
greater one, which in turn discharges into the Arkansaw. The lakes are
about 1½ and 2½ m. in their respective diameters. Between the two is a
place called Interlaken, reminding one of the fact that Colorado is
often styled the Switzerland of America.
[III-17] We must guess as well as we can where this was. Pike, Miller,
and Mountjoy started early from their camp below Pine cr., about
Riverside station, and made a forced march well into the night. We may
credit them with 25 m., and suppose them to be below Nathrop (which is
on Chalk cr.), and somewhere in the vicinity of Brown's cr., which
falls in from the left.
[III-18] It is specially desirable to fix this Christmas camp, if not
for the sentiment of the thing, then because it is our initial point
for the whole journey hence down the Arkansaw to Cañon City. From
anything that has preceded we do not know where it was, within 10 m.
But on the 26th Pike notes a "large stream" from the south, at 7½ m.
This is the South Arkansaw, which falls in very near the well-known
town of Salida. Salida is 7 m. by rail below a station called Brown
Cañon, which latter is a little above Squaw cr. Between Salida and
Brown Cañon the country is open and park-like among the
mountains--just the sort of a place where buffalo would herd in the
winter. The seasonable supply of eight beeves was got in consequence,
and I have no doubt that Christmas was spent in the immediate vicinity
of Brown Cañon. The mountain fastnesses about the headwaters of the
Arkansaw long continued to be wintering-grounds for the buffalo. Thus
we find one of the most experienced officers of our army making the
following remark: "Although generally regarded as migratory in their
habits, yet the buffalo often winter in the snows of a high northern
latitude. Early in the spring of 1858 I found them in the Rocky
mountains, _at the head of the Arkansas and South Platte rivers_, and
there was every indication that this was a permanent abiding place for
them," says Marcy, Pra. Trav. 1859, p. 234, half a century after
Pike's fortunate find. The herd now preserved in Yellowstone Park has
no trouble with the deepest snows and coldest weather of that region.
[III-19] Down the Arkansaw, past Squaw cr., right, and some runs in
the park he traversed, also past the stations Bellevue and Salida, to
the mouth of the South Arkansaw r., where the so-called Arkansaw hills
on the north close in against the Sangre de Cristo range on the south,
thus straitening the valley. The S. Arkansaw heads about Mts. Shavano
and Keyes; its principal branch is Poncho or Puncho cr. There was a
good road up both these streams, which are now meandered by railroads.
Had Pike known it, he could have struck up the S. Arkansaw to Poncho
cr., and up this by Poncho Pass into Homan's Park. This is _west_ of
the great Sangre de Cristo range, and is in fact the upper part of the
San Luis valley or basin of the Upper Rio Grande, which Pike only
reaches by a roundabout way, after subjecting himself and his men to
almost incredible sufferings. But it is easy to be wise after the
event.
[III-20] To a point on the Arkansaw about the mouth of Badger cr.,
from the N.; vicinity of station Wellsville or Badger.
[III-21] Camp in vicinity of that elbow which the river makes, nearly
from S. E. to E. N. E., and near where there is a way up a creek from
the S. over the S. de C. range by Hayden's Pass. The position is short
of Bernard and even of Oak Grove cr.
[III-22] Only to the vicinity of Bernard cr. (past Cotopaxi). Pike's
mileages appear excessive for the actual advance made, in comparison
with modern schedules; but he has to step over much ground for
comparatively little progress. All his distances to Jan. 5th require
adjustment, or we should fetch him out a long way below Cañon City.
[III-23] Camp about the mouth of Texas cr., a considerable stream from
the S., which falls in three or four miles below the mouth of Corral
or Carroll cr., another large one from the N.; Texas Creek station and
a place called Ford in the vicinity.
[III-24] Camp in the vicinity of the station Spikebuck. The river here
bears noticeably to the N. E. A little further along there is a sharp
turn to the S. E., at Parkdale. This place is at the head of the Grand
Cañon proper, or Royal Gorge, by rail 10 m. above Cañon City, 22 below
Cotopaxi, and 46 below Salida; total, 56 m. from what is practically
the same as Pike's camp of Dec. 26th to that of Jan. 5th, when he
reaches Cañon City. These figures may be here compared with his
mileages, which are: 12½ + 16 + 5 + 8 + 10¾ + 1 + 6 + 8 + 7 = 74¼.
Details aside, the routes are identical; and a discrepancy of 17 or 18
m. is not more than would be expected under the circumstances.
[III-25] For the past three days the party has been struggling with
cumulative difficulties that threaten to become insurmountable, and
are already strung along miles apart in the mountains. Yet Pike is
only at the head of the Royal Gorge--that Grand Cañon of the Arkansaw
which he had before noted from its lower end and regarded as
impassable for horses. Parkdale is the place where Currant cr. falls
in on the N. or left. This is the large creek which heads in the
mountains about South Park, and which we have heard of before, when
the Oil Creek route to that park was in question: see back, note 6, p.
464. Now we see more clearly than before that Pike never went up
Currant cr. This has two principal branches, both from the W., one
called Cottonwood and the other Tallahassee (Hayden), Tallahassa
(Wheeler), or Talahsee (G. L. O., 1892, brought into the Arkansaw as a
separate tributary).
[III-26] It should be noted here that not one of the eight straggling
parties managed to get through the cañon itself. Some came over the
mountains on the N., and the rest over those on the S. Pike alone
essayed the gorge, but only got halfway through. Next morning he
escaped by scrambling up a small side cañon which occurs on the N.
side, and came down on the N. of Noonan's Peak. This is the mountain
that overhangs Cañon City, standing guard at the throat of the gorge.
Dr. Robinson and his man came that way too. Vasquez and his men
brought the horses the other way, across Webster Park, and had an
easier time of it. It was three days before all the party got in.
[III-27] Pike's map shows "Yellow Stone River Branch of the Missouri,"
with his trail looped up to it. This of course is an egregious error,
as the Yellowstone is much further off, beyond anything that Pike
sighted when he was highest on the Arkansaw, Dec. 22d. Next N. of him
there, and on the W. of the Continental Divide, was Grand r., which
unites with the Green to form the Colorado of the West. This arises in
Middle Park. North of this again, in North Park, are the headwaters of
the North Platte; and the southernmost heads of the Yellowstone are
still beyond these. The mountains which Pike legends "White Snow" are
the Sawatch range, continued southward by the Sangre de Cristo range.
All this part of Pike's map is too defective to be of any use in
tracing the trip just ended, and I have not had occasion to adduce it
in support of the text since we started up Oil cr. The dotted trail
loops up the Arkansaw far beyond the point Pike reached, and a number
of the camps he made are omitted. The best delineation of Pike's route
in South Park and about the headwaters of the Arkansaw is that traced
on Josiah Gregg's map of the Indian Territory, etc., in his Commerce
of the Prairie, 1844. This loops Pike around the Park, thence almost
to the source of the Arkansaw, and back down this river--which is
quite right. This case must be more accentuated, because tradition
_will_ have it that Pike got over on Pacific waters--not a drop of
which he ever saw.
[III-28] Marked "[Symbol: Square] Block house" on Pike's map. Lewis
and Clark's map of 1814 letters "[Symbol: Square] Block House U. S.
Factory in 1806" on the same spot on the "Rio de Nanesi," _i. e._, the
Arkansaw. The building stood on the N. bank of the Arkansaw, doubtless
within present limits of Cañon City. All trace of the structure seems
to be gone, and I doubt that the precise spot will ever be recovered.
My correspondence with several persons in Cañon City and vicinity has
availed nothing. But the location at Cañon City is unquestionable.
The terrible trip Pike now ventures to make should not have been
attempted in the dead of winter, with his miserable outfit. Pike was
brave to excess, as we know; that and the mysterious _crux_ of the
orders he had from Wilkinson about the Spanish business must excuse
this particular piece of foolhardihood. A more experienced
mountaineer, with any concern for his own life, to say nothing of the
lives of his men, would not have bucked up against those mountains
under such circumstances. If he had had to hunt for the unknown
sources of a river which came eastward from there, he would have
backed out of the mountains, gone down the Arkansaw a piece, struck
south at his convenience till he found his river, and then considered
the chances of being able to follow it up to its source. That Red r.
of which Pike is supposed to have gone in search was never found, for
the simple reason that there is no such river in that part of the
world--as probably Pike himself knew. He had a chip on each shoulder
for some Spaniard to please knock off; his coat-tails were dragging
all over the R. mts. for some Spaniard to please step on; and he would
rather have broken some Spanish heads than have discovered the head of
any river.
[III-29] This "18" is a misprint for 12. There were but 16 persons all
told, of whom 2 are left when Pike, Robinson, and 12 soldiers proceed
to tempt fate. The 12 were: Sergeant Meek, Corporal Jackson, Privates
Brown, Carter, Dougherty, Gorden, Menaugh, Miller, Mountjoy, Roy,
Sparks, Stoute.
[III-30] The "South fork" of the Arkansaw, afterward sometimes called
Pike's fork, as for example on Gregg's map, 1844, and which he now
proceeds to ascend, is Grape cr. This considerable stream arises on
the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo range, waters the Wet
Mountain valley, receives various tributaries from the western slope
of the Wet mts., and traverses a gorge in the latter to fall into the
Arkansaw from the S. W., about a mile above Cañon City. The general
course is about N. from its uttermost head in the S. de C. range, in
the vicinity of Music Pass. Here its watershed is separated, on the E.
side of the range, by a divide, on the other side of which are certain
sources of the Huerfano r.; while on the west of the S. de C. range
the connection is with "Meadow" (qu. Medano?) cr., a tributary of San
Luis cr., in the valley of the latter name, and consequently in the
basin of the Rio Grande--that "Red river" which Pike seeks in vain.
To-day he strikes Grape cr. at or near present site of Williamsburg, a
station on the railroad which once meandered Grape cr. to Silver
Cliff, but was washed out and abandoned. This is a good way below the
entrance of Pine cr., a branch which falls into Grape cr. from the W.
This may seem short for the "13" m. of the text; but if anyone should
think so, he has only to start from Cañon City to change his mind by
the time he finds himself on Grape cr. by the present best trail.
Besides, we shall soon see that we have to shorten up all of Pike's
mileages in this rough country.
[III-31] Past Pine cr., to some point on Grape cr. short of the
boundary between Frémont and Custer cos., probably in the vicinity of
Soda Springs or the station Grape. Pike is flanking a mountain as well
as meandering a crooked creek; and, aside from any question of
typographical error, we have to adjust his whole set of ostensible
mileages by the topography of the country. If we should apply the
figures he gives to the flat face of the map, we should run him clear
over into New Mexico before he reaches his camp on the Conejos in
Colorado.
[III-32] Over the line from Frémont into Custer Co., past Grape and
Blackburn, to camp about the mouth of Silver cr. This heads about Mt.
Tyndall and Mt. Herring, and by another branch N. of these; it runs N.
W. and then N. to fall into Grape cr., between Blackburn and Gove.
Camp is 6 or 8 m. (air-line) due N. of Round mt. and town of Silver
Cliff; but much further by the meanders of the creek or either of the
roads through the mountains.
[III-33] "White" and "Snow" are Pike's names for what he regarded as a
continuous chain from as far N. as he knew anything about it, to the
Sierra Blanca of New Mexico. That is to say, the names cover the whole
Sawatch range, along the Continental Divide, and the Sangre de Cristo
range; which latter separates the Arkansaw from the Rio Grande basin,
and ends on the S. with the bold elevations of the Sierra Blanca, or
White mts. of modern geography. In saying that the "great White
mountain presented itself," Pike means that he has reached a point in
the Wet Mountain valley where he has the Sangre de Cristo range
immediately before him, on the W. In this direction are the heads of
the Texas cr., already mentioned (p. 475), and of Swift or Dutch cr.,
draining eastern slopes of the mountains, two of the nearest points of
which are Electric Peak and Monte Rito Alto, the latter 12,863 or
12,989 feet high, according to whether Lieut. Wheeler or Dr. Hayden
made the most accurate determination.
[III-34] This is the most difficult itinerary of the whole trip, and
much depends upon its correct recovery. It is out of the question to
take "28 miles" at its face value; the difficulty must be adjusted.
Pike's trail shows with substantial accuracy his three camps of the
14th, 15th, and 16th, along Grape cr.; then a long loop S. E. and back
S. W. to a point on Grape cr. again, above two creeks coming down from
the Sangre range. I think these creeks can be identified; this would
fix to-day's camp with sufficient precision. I base my conclusions on
Pike's whole set of mileages for this trip, as applied to the
topography of the route. Thus we have, going up Grape cr., 13 + 19 +
18 = 50 m.; with 4 more miles on the 17th, making 54 to the point
where this creek is left. Further on come (28 - 4 =) 24 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
0 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 0 + 0 + 14 = 63 m., which puts Pike over the Sand Hill
Pass on the 27th. Finally, we have 15 + 17 + 24 + 18 = 74 m., in the
San Luis valley to the stockade on the Rio Conejos; total, 191 m. The
three sections of this route--the Grape Creek course, the Wet Mountain
Valley course, the San Luis Valley course--are practically, therefore,
in the ratio of 5 : 6 : 7; and such figures must be made to fit the
known geography of the route. I make the journey of the 17th as
follows: Pike proceeds up Grape cr. a short distance, leaves it,
flanks Round mt., and passes by or near the present site of Silver
Cliff, seat of Custer Co.; continues S. E. across the valley or
prairie to the base of the Wet mts., in the vicinity, not immediate,
of Mt. Robinson, Mt. Brinley, and Rosita, where the mines of the
latter name were or are; where, not liking the place, as there was no
fuel, he turns about S. W. and repasses the valley at a right angle to
his other course through it, recrosses Grape cr. a little below the
confluence of Rosita cr., and camps under the Sangre de Cristo range,
somewhere about Spring cr. or Horse cr. This day was disastrous, as a
culmination of misery already endured by the handful of half-naked and
more than half-starved adventurers, for whom still more acute
suffering was in store. The wonder is not at any error in distances,
but that any intelligible itinerary of such a journey has reached us
from the splendidly brave young fellow, who so rashly led his
companions into a death-trap. But for the buffalo which were wintering
in the Wet Mountain valley, not a man would have escaped with his
life. Whatever the exact spot, this is the place where poor Sparks and
Dougherty were abandoned with frozen feet. What they endured may be
imagined from the mute messages Pike afterward received from them--a
present of some of the bones which came away from their gangrenous
feet after sphacelus had set in.
[III-35] By Pike's map, this should be the next to the last creek
before Grape cr. is headed--the first one above Horse cr. If so, the
party are in the vicinity of the place now called Blumenau.
[III-36] About to the ultimate forks of Grape cr. The S. end of the
Wet Mountain valley is a sort of pocket where the Wet mts. connect
with the Sangre range by intermediate elevations (as Promontory
Bluffs, etc.). Creeks come into the valley from the E., S., and W.,
converging to compose Grape cr., the ultimate tributary of which is
now known as Cottonwood cr. The border of this pocket, on the S., is
the boundary between Custer and Huerfano cos.--an irregular line
continuing on the W. along the main ridge of the Sangre range, and on
the E. along that ridge of the Wet mts. which divides sources of
Hardscrabble cr. and St. Charles and Greenhorn rivers from those of
the Huerfano.
[III-37] Taking the party over the low divide mentioned in the last
note, from Custer into Huerfano Co., and from the Grape Creek
watershed to that of the Huerfano. The exact spot is perhaps not
determinable, but it was not far from Bradford, a place on Muddy cr.,
one of the first two forks of the Huerfano. The map shows that Pike
has headed Grape cr. and got into another basin, from which he starts
a river running out on the prairie to the Arkansaw. This is by mistake
made out to be his "3d Fork," _i. e._, the St. Charles and Greenhorn;
it is really his "2d Fork," _i. e._, the Huerfano.
[III-38] If we call the roll to-day we find: Vasquez and Smith left at
Cañon City on the 14th; Sparks and Dougherty left at camp of the 22d;
Menaugh left at camp of the 26th; present on the 27th, Pike, Robinson,
Meek, Jackson, Brown, Carter, Gorden, Miller, Mountjoy, Roy, Stoute =
11.
[III-39] The Expedition crosses the Sangre de Cristo range to the
basin of the Rio Grande, and is about to enter the San Luis valley.
The matter of the pass by which they came has been much mooted and
left in doubt. Thus we find Maguire saying in the preface to the
Denver ed. of Pike, p. xi: "Whether this pass was the Mosca or the
Medano (known also as 'Sandhill') or whether it was one still farther
to the north as thought by some, cannot be definitely established."
Governor Adams in his Address, p. 17, says "Medano or Music Pass." I
think it is certain that the Expedition made the Sand Hill Pass, and I
hope to be able to settle the question. The three passes to which
Maguire refers, and the only ones to be considered for a moment, are
the following, in order from N. to S.
1. A pass from Antelope cr., one of the heads of Grape cr., in Custer
Co., over to a tributary of San Luis r. in Saguache Co., not
traversing any portion of Huerfano Co., or barely touching the extreme
N. W. corner of this county--in fact, Custer, Huerfano, and Saguache
cos. meet in this pass, and Muddy as well as Antelope cr. heads there.
This is the "one still farther to the north" to which Maguire alludes.
It is the one marked "Music Pass" on the G. L. O. and U. S. G. S. maps
of 1892 (but not the Music Pass of Hayden's map). This seems to me so
far N. as to be out of the question, if any reliance is to be placed
on either Pike's mileages or his map. Even after the utmost reduction
of his distances that can be made with any regard to the topography of
the region, we fetch him out of the Grape Creek basin, into that of
the Huerfano, and thus well along in Huerfano Co. His map bears this
out completely. Observe that on the 24th he has _crossed_ the head of
Grape cr., left it a good way behind him, and marked his camp near the
head of the other stream--the Huerfano. Notice also that from this
camp of the 24th-26th the trail makes a sharp elbow _west_, and goes
through the Sangre range in a gap next _below_ that one in which he
makes Grape cr. head. Again, if he had made this northernmost pass he
would have come out N. of the Sand Dunes, and had these on his left as
he went S. in the San Luis valley; whereas, we find them on his right
as he comes down from the mountains to the S. of them. Finally, the
mileages of the San Luis Valley route do not fit so well from this
pass as from the next one. These facts seem to me to prove that Pike
made no pass N. of the sand-hills.
2. The Sand Hill Pass, also rightly Medano and wrongly Modenos Pass,
called Music Pass by Hayden, and Williams' Pass by Gunnison and
Beckwith, is that which connects Navajo or Greaser cr. (br. of Muddy
cr.) with a certain tributary (Medano or Sand cr.) of the San Luis r.
This is on the boundary between Huerfano and Saguache cos., about 5 m.
(air-line) S. of Music Pass. The Huerfano gathers its waters in the
valley called Huerfano Park. The three principal tributaries, from the
N. to N. W., are Turkey, Wilson's, and Muddy creeks. The place
Bradford, already named as that to the vicinity of which we traced the
Expedition, without reference to any question of a pass, is on Muddy
cr., and a road goes direct from this place through this pass. That
branch of Muddy cr. by some called Navajo cr. drains from this pass,
and Greaser cr. also heads in its immediate vicinity. Across the
divide, which sinks to an altitude of about 9,800 feet at the pass,
Medano or Sand cr. drains S. W. and then S. between the Sand Dunes and
the mountains, in the San Luis basin (Saguache Co.). That Pike took
this route I have no question. There seems also to have been no doubt
in the minds of Captain Gunnison and Lieutenant Beckwith, who quote
Pike on their approach to this pass, Aug. 25th, 1853, and add: "The
course of Williams' Pass as we entered it [from the sand-hills] is N.
58° E., but it soon bends to the left to N. 27° E. We passed up it
only about three-fourths of a mile. Its width is about 250 yards,
rising gradually as far as we could see. Its walls of rock rise on
either side to a height of some hundreds of feet, and are nearly
vertical. Our guides represent it as continuing for 14 miles, both in
character and direction as here described; beyond that it is more
abrupt, terminating at its summit less favorably for a road than
Roubideau's Pass. It is followed by a large Indian trail." (P. R. R.
Rep. II., 1855, p. 43.)
3. Mosca or Musca Pass, also called Fly Pass by some, translating the
Spanish, and by others Robideau's Pass, 6 or 8 m. in an air-line S. of
the Sand Hill Pass, is a lower and better one. It connects the Bear
Creek branch of May cr. (the latter a tributary to the Huerfano) with
the branch of Mosca cr. on the other side of the divide. There is a
place called Sharpsdale on Bear or May cr., whence a road goes W. up
to the pass, and others N. to Bradford, E. through Poison cañon to
Gardner on the Huerfano at the mouth of Muddy cr., and also E. down
May cr. and along the Huerfano to Point of Rocks and Malachite, and so
on to Gardner. On the subject of Mosca Pass Maguire's remarks seem to
me judicious, and I transcribe them to express my concurrence in his
decision: "In the early days of the settlement of the country the
Mosca was well travelled by the Southern Utes on their journeys to the
Plains, and their 'hieroglyphics,' of which Pike speaks, were to be
seen cut in the bark of the aspen trees; but from the fact that on
reaching San Luis valley on January 28th, 1807, the party marched some
considerable distance on a course lying between the sand dunes and the
mountains, the evidence would seem to warrant the belief that the pass
used was north of the Mosca."
There are other passes of this range, as the one called Sangre de
Cristo, and the Veta Pass (which latter is now utilized by the D. and
R. G. R. R.). But these are altogether too far S., and have never been
brought in question. There seems to be no named or used pass from the
head of the Huerfano itself. The ultimate heads of this river drain N.
from Cerro Blanco and Baldy Peak, with collateral sources thence along
the line between Huerfano and Costello cos. to Grayback and Iron mts.,
etc., besides those from the W. on the line between Huerfano and
Saguache cos. in the direction of Mosca Pass.
In view of the above considerations, we will proceed with Pike through
Medano or Sand Hill Pass into San Luis valley (or Park). This is a
plain between the Sangre de Cristo range on the E. and N. E., and on
the W. and N. W. the San Juan and Sawatch ranges. It has a total
length of about 110 m. from Poncho Pass on the N. to Taos valley on
the S., with a maximum breadth of about 45 m., and an area of upward
of 3,000 square miles. The general elevation is between 7,500 and
8,000 feet. The Rio Grande enters this valley at about the middle of
its W. side, running E. and then sweeping in a long curve S.
[III-40] The billows of sand which Pike has on his right as he comes
down Sand cr. from Sand Hill (Music, Medano) Pass are very remarkable
formations, which alone would fix his position in the lack of any
other data. West of these Dunes are several streams of the San Luis
system, flowing southward to form sinks called the San Luis lakes,
though Pike's map runs them into the Rio Grande. His camp is on or
near Sand cr., at about the point where this and Mosca cr. join, or
perhaps a little further along. Mosca cr. is the one that comes down
from Mosca Pass, and if Pike had made this pass he would have fetched
out in the valley at about the same spot--at or near Montville.
[III-41] About S., along the W. base of the Sierra Blanca, which is
simply the continuation of the Sangre de Cristo range. Some of the
summits Pike has on his left are: Grayback Peak, 12,387 feet; Bald,
Baldy, or Old Baldy mt., 14,125 feet; and Cerro Blanco itself, 14,431
feet, giving name to the group. Pike goes from the vicinity of
Montville past Zapato cr., probably on the present road through the
town of the latter name on the creek, and camps in the valley at the
place where timber reaches furthest from the mountains. A present road
curves S. E. from this point, around to the S. of the range, where was
built Fort Garland, probably 12 or 15 m. S. E. of to-night's camp.
This was a sort of focal point to which roads converged from various
points, and especially was it on the most direct route from any place
in the lower part of the San Luis valley through Sangre de Cristo Pass
to the Huerfano, and so on. Garland was on Ute cr., a branch of
Trinchera cr., which latter falls into the Rio Grande about 3 m. above
the Rio Conejos.
[III-42] Pike reaches the Rio Grande on a S. W. course, about the
present position of the town of Alamosa, whence railroads now radiate
in or converge from four directions. These branches of the Denver and
Rio Grande system come from the E. through the Veta Pass, from the N.
directly down the San Luis valley, from the N. W. down the Rio Grande,
and from the S. up the same river. A few miles S. of Alamosa, Alamosa
and La Jara creeks fall in close together, from the W. These are both
indicated by a single unlettered trace on Pike's map. Next below
Trinchera cr. falls in on the E. This is the one called Rio de la
Culebra on Pike's map, which correctly brings it in above the one from
the W. (Rio Conejos) on which he established himself. The Rio Culebra
is the next one, from the E., below Trinchera and Conejos, and above
Rio Costilla. Pike lays down the Costilla by its proper name, omits
the Culebra, and calls the Trinchera by the name of the latter. In
English, Rio Conejos would be Rabbit r.; Culebra, Snake r.; Costilla,
Rib r.; and Trinchera, Cut-bank r. Alamosa should imply that the river
so called were shaded with elms, though cottonwood (_Populus
angustifolia_) is the actual growth. La Jara is properly the rock-rose
(_Cistus creticus_), but as a name of this creek it refers to
willow-brush.
[III-43] Of which about 13 (misprinted "18") was down the Rio Grande,
the rest up the Rio Conejos; Trinchera cr. (the one from the E., which
Pike's map letters "Rio de la Culebra") was passed a short distance
above the Conejos. The latter is a large stream from the W. which
arises in the San Juan range, in the vicinity of Conejos Peak (13,183
feet), leaves the mountains by the foot of Prospect Peak (6,837 feet),
is joined in the San Luis hills by San Antonio cr. (its principal
branch), and then seeks the Rio Grande by winding about the northern
ends of the hills just named. The data already given, with those
details which the text presently offers, serve to fix the present
station with precision--about 5 m. up the Conejos, on its N. bank, at
a point where it was not fordable, and directly S. of which was a high
hill. A sufficiently large map, such as Sheet X of the Hayden survey,
shows exactly these topographical details, and also marks two ranches
in the immediate vicinity: see also Pike's own map. Under these
circumstances it seems to me wasted ingenuity to find Pike's
blockhouse in some other place; yet its locality has been disputed.
Maguire puts the case well: "The exact locality of the site (a notable
spot in Western history) is in dispute, owing to the discovery many
years ago of the remains of an ancient log structure further W. on the
Conejos, which some suppose to have been Pike's fortress; but
everything in the narrative, as well as in the Spanish records,
indicates the prairie opposite the mineral springs and high hill on
the S. bank of the Conejos as the spot where the flag of the United
States is first recorded as floating above the soil of Colorado."
Gregg's map locates the place approximately, with the legend "[Symbol:
Square] Pike's Stockade Whence taken to Santa Fé. Feb. 1807".
Concerning the exact location of Pike's post on the Conejos, I am
favored with the following letter (cited in substance) from Mr.
Maguire, an old resident of the San Luis valley:
"DENVER, COLO., _April 18th, 1894_.
"MY DEAR SIR:
"... As to the disputed stockade on the Conejos: I am
entirely familiar with that country, and had fixed it as
having been situated in the prairie on the N. bank of the
stream due across from what is known as the Ojo Caliente.
Before writing the preface to the Denver reprint of Pike, I
had made up my mind to that, although it was contended in
the neighborhood that the stockade had been situated some
14 or 15 m. from the mouth of the stream. This supposition
was due to the fact that Lafayette Head, the oldest
American settler on the Conejos, who came there early in
the fifties, was lieutenant-governor of this state, and a
man of high standing and much authority, had asserted that
the fort had been built much further up the stream than the
site I had accepted. In 1890 I saw Mr. Head upon the
subject, and he told me that when he first came to the
country there still existed on the Conejos the remains of a
structure of cottonwood logs laid horizontally, which he
had seen, and which was so old that the logs would scarcely
bear the weight of one's foot. Upon this evidence, with or
without suggestion from some source, he concluded it was
Pike's fort, and so gave out; whence the prevalent
impression. That Mr. Head saw this structure there is no
question. I have no idea what it was, or when or by whom
built; but it would be useless to pursue this matter,
because Mr. Head is positive that the location was on the
_south_ side, and therefore the structure cannot have been
Pike's. The Ojo Caliente above mentioned is on the property
of Mr. A. W. McIntire, as is also the prairie opposite, on
the north bank of the river. Mr. McIntire is a Pike
enthusiast, very much interested in the case. When in
Denver recently he startled me by stating that we had been
in error as to the exact location, as he had become
convinced it was about half a mile below the Ojo Caliente.
This half-mile bears a remarkable relation to the statement
in your letter to me: 'I have it probably within half a
mile.' Mr. McIntire says that the depression caused by
digging the moat is still visible. The place is on the
north bank of the Conejos, opposite some warm or mineral
springs flowing out of the hill on the south side; and Mr.
McIntire informs me that the spot is a little north of the
center of Sect. 7, T. 35, R. 11.
"Very truly yours,
"W. M. MAGUIRE."
Later correspondence on this subject with Mr. Maguire includes a
letter and sketches from Gov. McIntire, who is satisfied that he has
the exact site. He marks it on a township map which he transmits, as
on the middle of the W. line of the N. W. ¼ of the N. E. ¼ of Sect. 7,
T. 35, R. 11, just across the Conejos, under a hill from out of which
flows a mineral or thermal spring which never freezes, at a point so
chosen that the current in the river would not cut the ditch around
the work. Gov. McIntire's sketch represents the ditch as 2½--3 feet
deep, 68 steps long (including an unbroken place of 13 steps), and of
semi-circular figure; the two ends of this figure against the river,
in a small deep bend, so that the river and the ditch inclose an oval
space 37 steps in the longest diameter. This seems large for such a
temporary work as Pike started, but he tells us that it was never
finished, and Gov. McIntire is persuaded that the ditch is not a
natural formation. I am therefore led to believe that he has found the
right spot.
[III-44] That our friend Robinson was, in plain English, a spy, is
incontestible. If he had any other object in joining the Expedition,
it is certain that he had no other in leaving it than to find out what
he could about New Spain for the benefit of his own country. Had it
been in actual war times he could have been hanged or shot by the
Spaniards without violation of the customs of nations. As it was, Pike
felt so apprehensive for Robinson's personal safety that when the two
met in New Mexico Pike at first affected not to know Robinson, for
fear of putting him in jeopardy, and he denied point-blank to the
Spanish authorities that Robinson was one of the party. They had
parted on the Conejos with a perfect understanding on such points;
indeed, General Whiting calls it "in pursuance of a previous scheme"
that Robinson set out alone for Santa Fé; meanwhile, Pike sat down on
the Conejos to wait for the Spaniards to come and catch him. The
ostensible object of Robinson's visit to Mexico was fictitious; Pike
says himself that the commercial claim Robinson pretended to have was
worthless "in his hands." Whiting observes that "it was transferred to
Dr. Robinson, who was to make it a pretext for a visit to the place,
and a cover for observing its trade and resources, for the benefit of
his countrymen. He regarded the excursion as a romantic adventure, and
in that mood detached himself from the protection of his friend and
commanding officer." (Life of Pike, p. 272.)
The _ultima ratio_ of Pike's presence on the Rio Grande in Spanish
territory will probably always remain in question, unless some
documentary evidence, not yet forthcoming, should turn up to show
whether he came there by accident or design. Perhaps the safest ground
to take would be to suppose it the particular accident of a general
design. His open and official instructions required him to
"approximate" to the Spanish possessions; he was to spy out all the
land and see how it lay, politically as well as geographically; hunt
up the Comanches; and make a counter-demonstration to Malgares'
spirited raid, involving a reconnoissance in force as a military
operation. This may all be true of the general design of his
expedition, but it may as easily be true that he lost his way in
searching for the Red river, and only found his way to the Rio Grande
by accident. This seems to be the view of his biographer, General
Whiting, who was a very competent critic of Pike's military career,
and who wrote in comparatively short historical perspective, though he
does not seem to have possessed, or at any rate to have utilized, any
private sources of information. Whiting fully acquits Pike of
intentional errancy, and gives no hint that he is keeping anything
back that would support any other view of the case than that which he
presents, without apparent reserve or arrière-pensée. Some of his
expressions may be here cited. Speaking of Pike's seeing a Mexican
newspaper with an account of Burr's conspiracy, he remarks, p. 277:
"This afforded a clew to the suspicions with which his movements on
the Mexican frontier had most naturally been regarded. It was not
surprising that he should have been looked upon as forming one of the
ramifications of the revolutionary scheme which that distinguished
individual had projected.... It was true, that he had been found, with
a belligerent aspect, in the Mexican country; but his apology was
ready, and, no doubt, acceptable; while he knew that the Mexican
authorities had lately violated, in a similar way, the soil of the
United States, for which no apology could be rendered.... His
misapprehensions of the geography of the country, which led him to
establish himself in such a suspicious manner, on a foreign river,
were excusable, bewildered as he was among mountains and streams that
were likely to confuse all calculations. Still, it was natural for the
Mexican authorities to regard his conduct, at first, as the result of
a design, rather than a mistake, particularly when taken in connection
with Colonel Burr's contemporaneous movements; and their treatment of
him must be considered under the circumstances, as having been marked
by much consideration." General Wilkinson also alludes to the
assertion that had been made, that the expedition which resulted in
the orders he had given Pike "was a premeditated coöperation with
Burr." The Mexicans, it seems, were not alone in their suspicions and
expressions to that effect.
However the bottom facts of Pike's coming on the Rio Grande may turn
out to be, it is certain that after he had been captured and taken to
Mexico under the diplomatic disguise of a polite invitation to visit
the governor, who had heard of his having lost his way, hastened to
send to his rescue, etc., Pike turned spy and informer with great
agility and signal success. He kept his temper well in hand, except on
one or two occasions; and in several instances showed that art which
diplomacy has been defined to be. He bore himself with courage,
dignity, and much fertility of resources; while that duplicity and
prevarication which he confesses his conscience condoned, if it did
not justify, were never indulged from personal considerations, but
from his intense patriotism. His love of his country was the crucible
in which he assayed his own motives; that was fervid enough to relax
the rigidity of morals he professed and practiced on all ordinary
occasions, and induce a certain ethical elasticity, so to speak, if
not actually to melt all scruples. Patriotism must sometimes shake
hands with Jesuitism in this wicked world; and the majesty of the
flag, like the glory of God, must be maintained by human means.
Abstract questions of the adaptation of means to ends are best left
with casuistry. Pike's methods, while he was the distinguished guest
of a half-hostile foreign power, may be questioned by some, but his
motives by none; and as for his ends, we know that nothing succeeds
like success. The results are well summed by his biographer, p. 282,
in words which I will cite:
"At the time Captain Pike explored those regions of our wide-spread
interior, almost nothing authentic was known of them. More
satisfactory information of the headwaters of the Mississippi than was
in the possession of the public was highly desirable, and his
narratives relating to them were read with interest. But his accounts
of the Mexican territories were looked for with much more interest,
and when they came out were received with avidity. The jealous policy
of Spain had surrounded her provinces with guards and restraints, that
rendered them almost inaccessible. Their condition and prospects were
veiled from all foreign observation; and at the time Captain Pike
obtained, through an unintentional aberration from his prescribed
route, access to them, unusual attention was turned upon the Mexican
country by the events of Burr's conspiracy. This extraordinary
transaction had awakened an intense curiosity respecting a region
which was known to abound with gold, and which precious metal was
supposed to have been its ultimate object. The trial of Colonel Burr
was beginning, or in progress, when Captain Pike returned, and was
known to have visited the El Dorado, on which this individual was said
to have fixed an eye of cupidity and ambition. Scarcely anything had
been heard of Mexico since the conquest of Cortes, excepting vague
reports of the unbounded wealth that flowed from its mines into the
public and private coffers of Spain. It is not strange, then, that
Captain Pike's tour through some of its provinces should have been
regarded as a rare and most opportune work. His statements were of
course founded on hasty and imperfect observations, it being obvious
from his journal, that, from the time he left Santa Fe, until he
reached the United States, he was under a surveillance, and could only
take notes by stealth. He could neither survey attentively what passed
beneath his eye, nor inquire about that which he did not see, without
exciting suspicion and provoking a rebuke. Still, with an acute eye,
and a retentive memory, he appears to have gathered up many new and
interesting facts, that were well received at the time."
[III-45] It is uncertain to what work we are here referred. There may
be some old military treatise, well known in Pike's time, to which he
thus alludes; but I think it most likely that he means his own
Observations on New Spain, which formed a part of the App. to Pt. 3 of
the orig. ed. of this work, and which included a considerable account
of the military establishment of that country. If so, the "Essai
Militaire" in question will be found beyond.
[III-46] My editorial function becomes extremely distasteful, with
Pike's reiterated insistence upon affecting to believe himself upon
the Red r., and expecting us to believe him. See note 44, and imagine
Dr. Robinson starting off alone to walk from the Red r. into Santa Fé!
I have blinked the business thus far, but I cannot keep my eyes shut
to the end of this chapter, as there is worse to come in the miserable
straits to which Captain Pike reduces himself through his awkwardness
and inexperience in telling lies. He bluffs the thing through, to be
sure; but at the present juncture he catches himself in the meshes of
his own falsification. For, supposing he had really been on the Red
r., as he declared he believed; he had _crossed that river_, and gone
5 m. up a stream on the other side of it; so he was absolutely in
Spanish territory, and this he must have known perfectly well. On the
22d he says, p. 507, that he "began to think it was time we received a
visit from the Spaniards or their emissaries," which shows that he was
expecting to be caught. When they come, he makes a show of resistance
by blustering a little, then hauls down his flag and goes with them
peaceably enough--probably not only a willing captive, but one who had
all along intended and desired to be taken into the enemy's country
for purposes of his own. And back of this sorry scene there looms the
sinister shadow of General James Wilkinson, the traitor and
conspirator with Aaron Burr--let the curtain fall.
[III-47] Doubtless the more eligible Mosca Pass instead of the Sand
Hill Pass: see note 39, p. 492. A clause in Pike's next sentence is so
singularly constructed as to leave the sense obscure; he simply means
to call attention to the fact that Meek and Miller had asked him to
order them on that trip.
[III-48] Rio Culebra of present maps--next below Trinchera cr.
[III-49] Escopets or escopettes: the carbine or short rifle used by
Spanish-Americans.
[III-50] The roll-call now is:
1. Interpreter Vasquez and Private Smith on the Arkansaw. (2.)
2. Privates Dougherty and Sparks in the mountains, with frozen feet.
(2.)
3. Sergeant Meek and Private Miller gone to the relief of the
foregoing. (2.)
4. Corporal Jackson and one man (Private Carter) left on the Rio
Conejos to await the coming of the foregoing six. (2.)
5. Dr. Robinson gone ahead to Santa Fé. (1.)
6. Pike therefore sallies forth under escort of the Spanish dragoons
with the following: Privates Brown, Gorden, Menaugh, Mountjoy, Roy,
Stoute. (7.)
Total 16, present or accounted for.