Pike Expedition
| Pike Expedition | |
|---|---|
 A Chart of the Internal Part of Louisiana from An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi and through the Western Parts of Louisiana … Philadelphia: C. & A. Conrad, 1810 | |
| Type | Military party |
| Location | Colorado |
| Planned by | Thomas Jefferson |
| Commanded by | Zebulon Pike |
| Objective | To explore the south and west of the recent Louisiana Purchase |
| Date | 15 July 1806 |
The Pike Expedition (July 15, 1806 – July 1, 1807) was a military party sent out by President
Pike's company made several errors and ended up in Spanish territory in present-day Southern Colorado, where the Americans built a fort to survive the winter. Captured by the Spanish and taken into Mexico in February, their travels through present-day New Mexico, Mexico, and Texas provided Pike with important data about Spanish military strength and civilian populations. Although he and most of his men were released because the nations were not at war, some of his soldiers were held in Mexican prisons for years, despite U.S. objections. In 1810, Pike published an account of his expeditions, which was so popular that it was translated into French, German, and Dutch for publication in Europe.
Exploration
On June 24, 1806, General
Striking northwest, the group made for the Pawnee territory on the Republican River in southern Nebraska. Pike spent several weeks at the Pawnee village on September 29, Pike met with the Pawnee tribal council. He announced the new claim of protectorship by the United States government over the territory.[4] He persuaded the Pawnee chief to remove a Spanish flag from their village and to fly the American flag instead. He left them with the understanding, "... That for the fear the spaniards might return there in force again but with an ejection that it should never be hoisted during their stay".
The expeditionary force turned south and struck out across the prairie for the Arkansas River. After reaching it on October 14, the party split in two. One group was led by Lieutenant James Biddle Wilkinson, son of the General.[5] They traveled downstream along the length of the Arkansas to its mouth and back up the Mississippi, safely returning to St. Louis.
Pike led the other, larger group upstream, to the west, toward the headwaters of the Arkansas. Upon traversing the
Pike in Colorado
On November 15, Pike recorded the first sight of the distant mountain Tava which he called "Grand Peak".[7] It has since been called Pikes Peak in his honor. Pike tried to climb the peak, hoping to get a view of the surrounding area to record on maps, the 14,000-foot (4,300 m) summit. Pike's group ascended a lesser summit nearby—likely Mount Rosa.[8] With winter threatening, Pike pressed onward up the Arkansas, and on December 7 the party reached Royal Gorge, a spectacular canyon on the Arkansas at the base of the Rocky Mountains.
Pike next intended to travel to the headwaters of the Red River and head downstream to the Mississippi and relative safety in the lowlands. But, the company had gotten confused in its bearings, and they made several blundering steps trying to find the river. They were not equipped for a mountain expedition, nor for hard winter weather. Heading north, the party found the South Fork of the Platte River and, following it upstream, came to what they thought were the headwaters of the Red. Turning back downstream, they returned to the point at which they had left the Arkansas originally. They had executed a large loop, taking weeks of precious travel time.
Hungry, cold, and exhausted, the party headed south over the mountains. Several men were left behind as they dropped from fatigue, but Pike doggedly pressed on. By January 30, he and the ten men still with him came to the Rio Grande at a point near Alamosa in present-day southern Colorado and then part of the Spanish empire. Pike mistook the Rio Grande for the Red River he had been seeking. Here, he built a fort and attempted to collect the rest of his men, who were strewn across miles of mountains behind him.
Capture
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2012) |
On February 26, in the night Pike and his remaining men were captured at their fort by Spanish soldiers from nearby
locals, and Pike made careful notes of the military strength and civilian population.Chihuahua's Governor Salcedo released Pike and most of his men, as they were military officers of a neighboring country, with whom Spain was not at war. He ordered the repatriation of Pike, but held some of the soldiers of his party in jail in Mexico for years. The Spanish military escorted Pike and some of his party back north, through San Antonio, Texas, arriving at the border with Louisiana at Natchitoches on July 1, 1807.
The Spanish formally complained to the United States Department of State about the military expedition in its territory, but the government maintained that the party had been one of exploration only. Pike's capture by the Spanish and travels through New Mexico, northern Mexico, and Texas, gave him more information about Spanish power than his expedition could have done.
Notes
- ^ Berry, Trey; Pam Beasley; Jeanne Clements (eds.) (2006), The Forgotten Expedition, 1804–1805: The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter, Editors' Introduction, p. xi
- ^ Hart; Hulbert, p. 57
- ^ Hart; Hulbert, pp. 86–88
- ^ Hart; Hulbert, pp. 114–115
- ^ Terrell, John U. (1968). Zebulon Pike: The Life and Times of an Adventurer, Weybright and Talley. p. 75
- ^ Hollon, p. 111
- ^ Hart; Hulbert, p. 138
- ^ "America's Mountain is Pikes Peak". zebulonpike.org. 24 August 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
- ^ Buescher, John. "Trailing Lewis and Clark." Teachinghistory.org. Accessed July 12, 2011.
References
- Hart, Stephen H.; Hulbert, Archer B., eds. (2006). The Southwestern Journals of Zebulon Pike 1806–1807. University of New Mexico. ISBN 0-8263-3389-3.
- Hollon, W. Eugene (1949). The Lost Pathfinder: Zebulon Montgomery Pike. University of Oklahoma.
Further reading
- Jackson, Donald Dean, ed. The Journals of Zebulon M. Pike, with Letters and Related Documents, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 1966
- Merk, Frederick, History of the Westward Movement, Knopf, New York, 1978
- Nobles, Gregory H., American Frontiers: Cultural Encounters and Continental Conquest, Hill and Wang, New York, 1997
- Owsley, Frank L., Jr., and Gene A. Smith, Filibusters and Expansionists: Jeffersonian Manifest Destiny, 1800–1821, University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, AL, 1997
External links
- Lake History.info: "The Exploration of the Osage Valley by Zebulon Montgomery Pike and His Party in the Year 1806", Lake History
- Zebulon Pike website
- Rick Brainard, "18th Century History – The Zebulon Pike Expedition of 1806/07", History 1700s website
- "Expedition of Zebulon Pike – The History of Texas: Zebulon Pike Expedition", Son Of The South website
- "Zebulon Pike's Expedition To The Southwest 1806–1807", Santa Fe Trail Research official website
