Pike Goes Southwest

Upon Pike's return to St. Louis, Wilkinson was ready to dispatch Pike again into the Southwest.  His
"official" instructions were to avoid Spanish territory.  After three months rest, Pike and 23 men moved up the Osage River on barges and followed the Arkansas River after trading barges for horses. 

Pike's view of the Plains as a treeless wasteland would help establish the myth of the Great American Desert which inhibited settlement for decades. 

By November they were close to Spanish territory at the southern reaches of the Rockies. Pike and three companions made an unsuccessful attempt to climb one of the highest peaks, a mountain that now bears his name.  (If you thought it was named for him because he reached the summit, wrong!)

Winter was coming and the men were deep in Spanish territory and built crude shelters.  Local authorities were out to locate and arrest Pike.  He was captured by the Spanish and taken to Santa Fe.  From there he was dispatched under guard to Chihuahua, Mexico and escorted back to the US territory via Texas. 

With all of his maps and papers gone, Pike relied on his memory for knowledge of the Southwest in a report published in 1807.  Pike was killed in the War of 1812 as a Brigadier General.

Next time...Drifting Back to War
______________________

On This Day in Pioneer History:  On January 18, 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays emanating from Crookes tubes and the many uses for X-rays were immediately apparent. One of the first X-ray photographs was made of the hand of Röntgen's wife.

Mr. Zebulon Pike - Explorer

Ironically Aaron Burr's shady activities actually gave the US some benefits in creating interest in new explorations.  In 1805, Wilkinson ordered Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike, a young officer under his
command to lead an expedition up the Mississippi River to locate the source, inform the Indians of American sovereignty and warn the Canadian fur men off US soil.  He was also to report on mining activities around the French settlement of Dubuque.   The lead mined there was necessary for making bullets.

On August 9, 1805, Pike started out with 20 soldiers, totally innocent of any plots or schemes.  He inspected the lead mines and fought the Sioux in Minnesota.  They wintered in Little Falls. In December Pike set out with a small party to find the headwaters of the Mississippi.  Only by being given shelter by the Canadians at a trading post was he and his party able to survive being frozen to death.  Pike then ordered the hosts to evacuate US Soil or pay American duties. When Pike was refused he shot down the British flag. 

Pike thought he found the headwaters at Leech Lake, but was mistaken.  He returned to St. Louis in April 1806. 

Next time...Pike goes Southwest
_________________________
On this Day in History: "On January 14,  1639,  the first constitution in the American colonies, the “Fundamental Orders,” is adopted by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford in Connecticut.