Chapter V: Correspondence.v'-1

_Art. 1. Letter, Pike to Allencaster._ (_Orig. No. 8, pp. 69, 70._)

[TRANSLATION.]

SANTA FE, March 3d, 1807.

SIR:

On the arrival of your troops at my encampment, last month, under the command of Lieutenant Don Ignacio Saltelo and Mr. Bartholomew, they informed me that your Excellency had directed them to assure me that I should be escorted through your dominions to the source of Red river, as our being on the frontiers of your province gave cause to suspicion. I conceived it more proper to comply with the request and repair to Santa Fe, in order to explain to your Excellency any circumstance which might appear extraordinary; but on my arrival here I am informed by your Excellency that it is necessary for myself and troops to pass by Chihuahua in the province of Biscay, more than 200 leagues out of my route. I have demanded of your Excellency to know if we are to be considered as prisoners of war. You inform me that you do not consider us in that light. Not to embarrass your Excellency with many demands, I only request to receive it from under your hand, in what manner I am to consider myself, and the orders for my passing into the country; also, whether the expense of the voyage is to be considered as defrayed by the government of Spain or of the United States. Excuse my language, as I am not much accustomed to writing in French, but your Excellency's having no person who understands English obliges me to attempt that language.

I am, Sir, etc.,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE.

_Art. 2. Certificate, Allencaster to Pike._ (_Orig. No. 9, p. 70._)

[TRANSLATION.]

SANTA FE, March 3d, 1807.

The first lieutenant of the Anglo-American troops, of the name of Z. Montgomery Pike, with the party of soldiers under his command, having been met with by the troops under my orders, at four days' journey from the seat of government, in this province, which is under my charge, he was required personally to appear, which he voluntarily did; and, complying with the orders of the commanding-general of these internal provinces, I bade the said lieutenant proceed on his march, with his party, equipped with horses, provisions, and equipage, under the charge of an officer and 60 men of our troops, with orders to introduce him to the said commanding-general in the town of Chihuahua.

I permitted said party to carry their arms and ammunition, being actuated by proper consideration, and in order to grant said Anglo-American's petition.

I certify the foregoing contents to be accurate.

[Signed] JOACHIN RL. ALLENCASTER.

_Art. 3. Letter, Pike to Allencaster._ (_Orig. No. 10, p. 71._)

ST. FERNANDEZ, March 7th, 1807.

SIR:

On my arrival at this village, and meeting with Dr. Robinson, he informed me he had acknowledged to Lieutenant Malgares to belong to my party. As this acknowledgment, in fact, only interested himself, I am constrained to explain to your Excellency my reasons for having denied his connection with me. He marched from St. Louis with my detachment as a volunteer, after having with much pain and solicitation obtained permission from the general for that purpose. On our arrival on the Rio del Norte, then supposed to be Red river, he left the party in order to come to Santa Fe, with a view of obtaining information as to trade, and collecting some debts due to persons in the Illinois. On my being informed of his embarrassments, I conceived it would be adding to them to acknowledge his having accompanied a military party to the frontiers of the province, and conceived myself bound in honor and friendship to conceal it; but his scorning any longer the disguise he assumed has left me at liberty to make this acknowledgment to your Excellency, which I hope will sufficiently exculpate me in the opinion of every man of honor, and of the world, for having denied a fact when I conceived the safety of a friend, in a foreign country, was concerned in the event.

The above statement will be corroborated by General Wilkinson, and he will be reclaimed by the United States as a citizen, agreeably to our treaties with Spain regulating the intercourse, commerce, etc., between the two nations.

I felt disposed to enter into an expostulation with your Excellency, as to the deception practiced on me by the officers who came out with your invitation to enter the province; but will omit it, and only request that my sergeant and party may be ordered to follow with all possible dispatch, as he has all my astronomical instruments, and clothing, except what I now wear.

I have found Lieutenant Malgares to be what you stated, a gentleman and a soldier, and I sincerely wish the fortune of war may one day enable me to show the gentlemen of the Spanish army with whom I have had the honor of forming an acquaintance, with what gratitude I appreciate their friendship and politeness, and none more highly than your Excellency's.

With sincere, etc.,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE.

_Art. 4. Letter, Pike to Salcedo. (Orig. No. 17, pp. 82, 83.)-

CHIHUAHUA, April 4th, 1807.

Sir:

I hope your Excellency may not attribute it to presumption or a disposition to intrude, when I address you on a subject foreign to my official duties, and on which I can only speak as an individual; for I should feel myself wanting in humanity, and that attention which every man owes to his fellow-creatures in distress, should I remain silent, more especially when those who are compatriots, and some of them former companions, are now in a strange country, languishing out their days far from their friends and relations, with scarcely a dawn of hope remaining of ever again being blessed with a view of their native homes. It is scarcely necessary to add that I allude to the unfortunate companions of [Captain Philip] Nolan, who, having entered the territories of his Catholic Majesty in a clandestine manner, equally in violation of the treaties between the two governments, the laws of the United States, and those of Spain, could not be reclaimed or noticed by their own country. Yet, from every information I have received on the subject, the men of the party were innocent, believing that Nolan had passports from the Spanish governor to carry on the traffic of horses. I pretend not to justify the many irregularities of their conduct since [they have been] in the Spanish dominions; but hope that these may be viewed with an eye of clemency, as the men are most of them very illiterate, possessing scarcely any part of an education.

David Fero was formerly a subaltern in a company of infantry of the United States commanded by my father at the time I served as a volunteer, but left the service, as I have been informed, owing to some irregularities of conduct. His having been once my companion entitles him at present to my particular attention; yet I will here mention to your Excellency a circumstance which may appear, if known, in an unfavorable light, viz.: About 15 days past I was informed Fero was in town, and that he desired to see me. I was extremely mortified at receiving the information, as I conceived he must have left his post in a clandestine manner; yet I could not find it in my heart to refuse the interview, which I gave, but determined at the same time to inform you of the circumstance, conceiving that you could not look on it as a matter of much criminality. [Note 11, p. 660.]

But to conclude, I have to beg of your Excellency, if it be in your power and consistent with the line of conduct you conceive proper to pursue, to inform me if anything can be done toward restoring these poor fellows to their liberty, friends, and country; and in a particular manner I intercede for Fero. If it is out of the power of the general to grant them leave to return to the United States, I beg to know if there be any objection to my taking letters to their fathers, wives, etc. I should not have addressed this letter to the general, had I not conceived the fate of those men to be at his disposal, as he had suffered one of them to join the service of his Catholic Majesty; neither do I request the honor of any other than a verbal reply, as I write in the character of an individual, not as an officer of the United States.

I am, Sir,
With high consideration,
Your humble, obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE.

His Excellency,
GENERAL NIMESIO SALCEDO.

_Art. 5.[V'-2] Letter, Pike to Salcedo. (Orig. No. 11, p. 72.)-

CHIHUAHUA, April 6th, 1806 [_i. e._, 1807].

SIR:

Having been for near the space of a year absent from my country, the probability of its yet being two or three months before I arrive in the territory of the United States, and the necessity of passing through some hundred leagues of foreign territory, with the distressed situation of my troops, have induced me to apply to your Excellency for a necessary supply of money. Any arrangement which may be conceived proper for the remuneration I will cheerfully adopt, to pay it either to the Spanish consul at New Orleans, or the ambassador of his Catholic Majesty at Washington.

The sum which I conceive will answer the present purposes of myself and troops is $1,000, for which I will give such vouchers as your Excellency may conceive proper.

I have the honor to assure your Excellency
of my high respect, and
to be your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE.

His Excellency,
GENERAL SALCEDO.

_Art. 6. Letter, Salcedo to Pike. (Orig. No. 12, p. 72.)-

[TRANSLATION.]

CHIHUAHUA, April 7th, 1807.

Acceding to the solicitation you have made in your letter of yesterday, that from the royal treasury of this place there should be delivered you one thousand dollars, which you say are necessary for the accommodation of the troops of the United States of America which you have under your charge, or whatsoever other sum you choose to demand, and that the government of the said United States shall refund the said sum to the Señor Marquis de Cassa Yrujo, I have directed the formula of four corresponding and quadruplicate receipts for you to sign.

God preserve you many years.
[Signed] NIMESIO SALCEDO.

For the 1st Lieutenant,
MONTGOMERY PIKE.

_Art. 7. Letter, Salcedo to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 19, pp. 86, 87.)-

[Translation.]

CHIHUAHUA, April 8th, 1807.

EXCELLENT SIR:

On the 16th of February last, John Robinson appeared before the governor of New Mexico, saying that he was a Frenchman, an inhabitant of St. Louis, which place he left on the 15th of June last year, with the view of going to the country of the Pananas [Pawnees], to make recoveries [of certain debts]; that, having received information that his debtors had directed their steps to said province [of New Mexico], he had concluded to follow them, in company with 15 other persons, who went for the purpose of hunting on the rivers of Arcs,[V'-3] Arkansaw, and Colorado (Red river); that in the neighboring mountains of the two last [named rivers] his company had left him, for which reason he saw himself under the necessity of proceeding to the Yutas Indians [Utes], to whom he exposed his situation, and who accordingly agreed to conduct him [to Santa Fé].

On the 25th of the same month of February, at the distance of four days' march from the town of Santa Fe, and nine leagues west of its settlement, at the place called the Ojocaliente (Hot Spring), near the confluence of Rio Grande del Norte (Great North river), and that known under the name River [Rio] de los Conejos ([River] of Rabbits), a detachment of the garrison of said province of New Mexico met Montgomery Pike, first lieutenant of the infantry of the United States, with eight men of the said infantry; who, on being given to understand that he must be conducted to said town, consented to accompany them. It was then settled that two of his [Pike's] men should remain on the spot with half of his Catholic Majesty's detachment, to wait for six others [of Pike's men] who had not yet arrived; while he proceeded to the governor's, to whom he declared that his being in that neighborhood was owing solely to his having been lost, and having mistaken the Rio del Norte for the Colorado. But this [Spanish] officer, in compliance with the orders of his superior officer, forwarded the said first lieutenant [Pike], with the six men of the American army and the above mentioned John Robinson, to this capital.

They arrived here on the 2d instant, and said officer [Pike], on being presented to me, laid before me, in the same manner as he had done to the governor of Santa Fe, the papers relative to his mission, the correspondence he had carried on with your Excellency since it commenced, his journals, and note books.

Your Excellency is not ignorant of the repeated representations made by the king's minister in the United States, and by the Marquis of Cassa Calva while he was in Louisiana, summoning[V'-4] the American government to carry into effect any projects of extending its expeditions into territories unquestionably belonging to his Majesty. You must therefore, without any further observations or remarks on my part, be satisfied that the documents contain evident, unequivocal proofs that an offense of magnitude has been committed against his Majesty, and that every individual of this party ought to have been considered as prisoners on the very spot. Notwithstanding such substantial and well-grounded motives as would have warranted such a measure, also wishing to give the widest latitude to the subsisting system of harmony and good understanding, and, above all, being finally persuaded that your Excellency would take such steps as your judgment might suggest as best calculated to prevent any bad consequences on the occasion, I have concluded to keep in this general government all the papers presented by Lieutenant Pike, and to give him and his men full liberty to return to your Excellency, after having treated them with attention, and offered them every assistance they stood in need of.

I am, without reserve, and beyond expression, your most obedient, humble, respectful, and faithful servant, who prayeth God may preserve your Excellency many years.

[Signed] SALCEDO.

GENERAL JAMES WILKINSON.

_Art. 8. Inventory and Certificate, Valasco and Walker to Pike. (Orig. No. 16, pp. 80-82.)-

[TRANSLATION.]

Inventory of papers which [from] the lieutenant of infantry of the United States of America, Montgomery Pike, in the superior government, and [by the] commandant general of the internal provinces of New Spain, [were taken] as belonging to a voyage which he executed from St. Louis up [of] the Illinois to the population [settlements] of New Mexico, to visit the Indian nations, and reconnoiter the country and intermediate rivers, as it appears his expedition was undertaken by provision of the government of the said United States and the orders of General Wilkinson:

1. Letter from General Wilkinson to Pike, dated 24th June, 1806.

2. Another from the same to Pike, 18th July, 1806.

3. Another from the same to the same officer, 19th July, 1806.

4. Another from the same to Pike, dated 6th August, 1806.

5. Letter from Lieutenant Wilkinson to his father, 27th October, 1806.

6. Another from the same to the same, 28th October, 1806.

7. Letter from Pike to General Wilkinson, 22d July, 1806.

8. Letter from Lieutenant Wilkinson to Lieutenant Pike, 26th October, 1806.

9. Proclamation of General Wilkinson, prohibiting any citizen of the United States from trading with the Indian nations without his permission or that of the government, dated 10th July, 1805.

10. A letter from Charles Junot, Agent for the Indians, to General Wilkinson, dated 10th July, 1806.

11. Notes of Lieutenant Pike on the voyage from New Mexico to Chihuahua, of four pages.

12. A rough manuscript [draught] of the Missouri and Osage rivers.

13. Letter from Sergeant Ballenger to General Wilkinson, without date.

14. Letter from Lieutenant Wilkinson to Pike, without date.

15. A certificate, in the French language, of a certain Baptist Lamie [note 44, p. 388] found among those nations, specifying his motive for being there.

16. A bundle of papers, in the French language, which contain notes on the harangues and manifestoes which Lieutenant Pike delivered to the Indian nations.

17. A passport of Lieutenant Pike to the Indian Winapicane, a captain of the little Osage.

18. A small draught or map of the country which is situated between the Mississippi and Santa Fe, with a description of that town, and of having met with 3,000 Camanches.

19. A book, 8vo, manuscript, which contains the diary of Lieutenant Pike, from January, 1807, to the 2d March of the same year, when he arrived at Santa Fe, in 75 pages.

20. A book, 4to, manuscript, in pasteboard, with copies of letters to the secretary of war and General Wilkinson, and various observations relative to the commission of the lieutenant, in 67 pages.

21. A manuscript book, in folio, containing different plans of countries, etc., with a diary with rhumbs, distances, and worked observations and meteorological tables, which arose from a revisal of the voyage, by the said Lieutenant Pike, in 40 pages.

Don Francisco Valasco, first officer of the secretaries of the commandant-generalship of the internal provinces of New Spain, and Juan Pedro Walker Alferez,[V'-5] of the company of horse of the royal presidio of Janos:

We certify that the lieutenant of American infantry, Montgomery Pike, when presented to the commandant general of the before mentioned provinces, Don Nimesio Salcedo, likewise produced a small trunk which he brought with him;[*] and that, in the presence of the undersigned, [he] opened [it] himself, and took out different books and papers; when, having separated with his own hands, under our cognizance, all that appeared to be, or that he said was, private, or had no connection with the voyage, [he] delivered the remainder to the demand of the commandant general, which [papers delivered] were solely those comprehended in the foregoing inventory which we have formed, and for the verification of which we have signed these presents at Chihuahua, the 8th of April, 1807.

[Signed] FRANCISCO VALASCO.

JUAN PEDRO WALKER.

[*] The want of candor exhibited in the certificate is manifest. It was an imbecile attempt to show that all my actions were voluntary, and that in the delivery of my papers there was no degree of constraint. [Orig. note.]

_Art. 9. Letter, Pike to Salcedo. (Orig. No. 14, pp. 78, 79.)-

CHIHUAHUA, April 14th, 1807.

SIR:

On my marching from Santa Fe, Governor Allencaster informed me that my papers would be considered as a sacred deposit until my arrival at this place, when your Excellency would examine and take them into consideration.

When they were examined and taken possession of, I explained without disguise the nature and contents of each, conceiving that those only which had any relation to the object of my expedition could be interesting, and that merely a copy of the chart and a translation of the official papers would be taken. You must be conscious, Sir, that it was in my power to have secreted or destroyed every trace of my voyage and plans previous to my arrival at Chihuahua; but, resting satisfied that no rupture had taken place between his Catholic Majesty and the States I have the honor to serve, which would have been a justification for the seizure of my papers, I preferred leaving them _in statu quo_, to using that duplicity which in some degree always implicates the character of a military man.

Admitting the country which I explored to be contested between the two governments, each would naturally wish to gain some information as to its geographical situation, in order that they might each form correct ideas as to what would be their mutual interests, founded on justice and the honor and dignity of the nation, in forming the line of demarcation. This was the view of the United States government in the expedition which I had the honor to command; the loss of the geographical sketches taken might be the occasion of a suspension of the final line of limits, and consequently the delay of an amicable adjustment of the differences now existing between the two governments.

Your Excellency may not have an intention of detaining my papers, which I had begun to suppose from your returning only part of them by Lieutenant Walker; in which case you will please to excuse this intrusion. But I will add that, if you have it in view to detain the papers, I request you will be pleased to examine them with particular care. You will find that there are letters from General Wilkinson, as well as his son, to me; also, from the latter to his father and mother; and others which, being by no means of a political nature, or at least not relative to the relations existing between the government of Spain and the United States, therefore can by no means be interesting to your Excellency. The book which contains my charts also contains part of the blotters of a voyage to the source of the Mississippi, which I presume cannot be interesting to the Spanish government.

But, to conclude, I have only to request of your Excellency to know if it is your intention to detain my papers now in your possession; and if so, that you may cause me to be furnished, or suffer me to take, a copy of them, and that I may receive a certificate from under your hand of the number, nature, etc., of the said papers, and the reasons for their seizure and detention, in order that my government may be enabled to make the proper application to the Spanish court for an explanation. My reason for applying to your Excellency so early on this subject is that, on the arrival of my men who are still in the rear, I may be prepared to march in a short period of time; for, under the present aspect of affairs, I feel conscious that I am as anxious to arrive on the territories of the United States as your Excellency must be for me to quit the dominions of his Catholic Majesty.

In all events, I hope you will believe me to be, with the highest sentiments of personal respect,

Your most obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE.

His Excellency, Brigadier-general Don Nimesio Salcedo,
Commanding-general of the Interior Provinces of the kingdom
of New Spain.

_Art. 10. Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 3, pp. 53-55.)-

CHIHUAHUA, April 20th, 1807.

MY DEAR GENERAL:

Never did I sit down to address you with a heart so oppressed with anxiety and mortification; but knowing the uncertainty which must exist as to the fate of myself and party, I conceive it proper to attempt a communication, although I think it extremely uncertain, owing to the difficulty of the route, whether it may ever come to hand, or at least, previous to my arrival at the territories of the United States, owing to the various circumstances which are not to be communicated in a letter. I was detained in the mountains of Mexico [_i. e._, present State of Colorado] until the month of January, and in February found myself with eight of my party only, on the head branches of the Rio [Grande] del Norte, which I then conceived to be the sources of the Red river, our information making the latter extend the whole distance between the former and the Arkansaw, although its sources are some hundred miles below either of the others.

Here I was encountered by two officers and 100 men, who bore orders from the governor of New Mexico to cause me and my party to march to the capital of said province. His request was in the most polite style, and in fact the commanding officer assured me there was not the least constraint, but that his Excellency desired a conference, and that I should be conducted by the most direct route to the navigable part of the Red river, whence I could immediately descend to Nachitoches. Although dubious of the faith of the invitation, and in a situation where I could have defended myself as long as my provision lasted, or until I might probably have escaped in the night; yet, knowing the pacific intentions of our government, and the particular instructions of my general as to my conduct in case of a rencounter with a body of Spanish troops, I conceived it most proper to comply with the demand and repair to Santa Fe; and, as the balance of my party who remained in the mountains were, many of them, invalids and not in a situation to be able to return, I conceived it most proper to leave orders for them to follow, accompanied by an escort of Spanish troops left for that purpose.

On my arrival in Santa Fe, his Excellency Governor Allencaster informed me it was necessary that I should immediately march to Chihuahua, Province of Biscay, in order to present myself to his Excellency, Commandant-general N. Salcedo, for further orders. This being so different from what I had been taught to expect, I demanded of Governor Allencaster, in a written communication, to know if I were to consider myself and party as prisoners of war. He replied in the negative. We marched on the following day, and arrived on the 2d instant at this place, whence, I am informed by the general, I shall march, on the arrival of the remainder of my party, for Nachitoches.

I must here acknowledge myself and party under infinite obligations to the friendship and politeness of all the Spanish officers, and in a particular manner to the commandant-general of those provinces.

Should the politics of our country make it necessary to augment the army previous to my arrival, I hope the general will approve of my aspiring to a considerable promotion in the new corps. Should the line of demarcation be amicably adjusted between the United States and Spain, I hope to obtain the appointment of one of the commissioners, as I make bold to assert that, with respect to the arrangements necessary, and knowledge of the country through which the line must pass, I am better instructed than any other officer of my age in our service; and, if joined to a colleague of profound astronomical knowledge, we could surmount every difficulty. I likewise beg leave to suggest to your Excellency that I conceive the information I hold to be of considerable consequence in the determination of the line of limits, and that if it be not already determined I can throw considerable light on the subject.

I hope your Excellency will be pleased to forward orders for me to Nachitoches, informing me if I am to descend to [New] Orleans or proceed to the Federal City; and if the latter, permitting me to pass by Louisiana, in order to visit and arrange the affairs of my family, to whom I beg the favor of my general to communicate the certainty of the existence of myself and Dr. Robinson, who begs to be sincerely remembered to you.

Please to present my respectful compliments to your lady; and the doctor's and mine to James [Lieutenant Wilkinson], who, I hope, has long ere this arrived in safety.

The general will pardon the requests I have made of him, knowing the confidence of my heart in the paternal and soldierly esteem which he has manifested for him who has the honor to be,

With every sentiment of esteem,
Respect, and high consideration,
Dear General,
Your obedient humble servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE.

His Excellency,
GENERAL WILKINSON.

_Art. 11. Letter, Salcedo to Pike. (Orig. No. 15, pp. 79, 80.)-

[TRANSLATION.]

CHIHUAHUA, April 23d, 1807.

Of the papers connected with the expedition which by orders of the United States government you have made from the St. Louis of the Illinois unto the settlements of New Mexico, and which you yourself[*] separated from those [others] which you brought here and put into my hands the day you arrived in this town, there have been formed an inventory, and a certificate respecting each of them accompanying it, to you, and in the office, the 17th current, for the purpose therein expressed, the judgment on which remains for the decision of the king, my lord, and shall be reported in the secret archives of this captain-generalcy. Meditating that you have indicated, in your official summons to this government, the greatest desire to arrive at the territories of the United States, [I] have resolved that you prepare to continue your voyage in two or three days, in consequence of which the arrangements necessary shall be made, such as you, with the people of your expedition, have experienced until your arrival at this place.

God preserve you many years.
[Signed] NIMESIO SALCEDO.

MONTGOMERY PIKE, 1st Lieutenant of Infantry.

[*] See my account of the seizure of my papers, April 1st, 1807. [Orig. note. Read Apr. 2d, and see p. 658.]

_Art. 12. Letter, Wilkinson to Pike. (Orig. No. 4, pp. 55-57.)-

NEW ORLEANS, May 20th, 1807.

DEAR SIR:

After having counted you among the dead, I was most agreeably surprised to find, by a letter from General Salcedo, received a few days since, that you were in his possession, and that he proposed sending you, with your party, to our frontier post. I lament that you should lose your papers, but shall rely much on your memory. Although it was unfortunate that you should have headed Red river, and missed the object of your enterprise, yet I promise myself that the route over which you have passed will afford some interesting scenes, as well to the statesman as the philosopher.

You will hear of the scenes in which I have been engaged, and may be informed that the traitors whose infamous designs against the constitution and government of our country I have detected, exposed, and destroyed, are vainly attempting to explain their own conduct by inculpating me. Among other devices, they have asserted that your and Lieutenant Wilkinson's enterprise was a premeditated co-operation with [Aaron] Burr. Being on the wing for Richmond, in Virginia, to confront the arch-traitor and his host of advocates, I have not leisure to commune with you as amply as I could desire. Let it then suffice for me to say to you, that of the information you have acquired, and the observations you have made, you must be cautious, extremely cautious, how you breathe a word; because publicity may excite a spirit of adventure adverse to the interests of our government, or injurious to the maturation of those plans which may hereafter be found necessary and justifiable by the government.

I leave Colonel Cushing[V'-6] in command of the district, with plenary powers, and have informed him that you have leave to repair to St. Louis by the most direct route, the moment you have communicated to me in duplicate the result of your travels, voluntary and involuntary, in relation to clime, country, population, arts, agriculture, routes, distances, and military defense. The president will be impatient to have whatever you have acquired; to the detailed account a sketch must be added, and the original and duplicate addressed to me at the city of Washington, with the least possible delay. You may make up your report at Natchitoches, and proceed thence to the Wascheta [Washita] and thence to the Arkansaw, or you may descend to Fort Adams, and proceed thence to St. Louis by the most convenient route. Colonel Cushing, whom I leave in command of the district, has my orders in your favor, and will give you every indulgence; but as an expedition is now in motion up the Arkansaw, to explore it to its source and further northwest, it is highly important that you should, either in person or by two or three confidential men, send forward to the Arkansaw every information which you may deem essential to the success of the enterprise. A Mr. Freemen [Thomas Freeman], under the chief direction of Mr. [William] Dunbar of Natchez, has control of this operation. The escort, which consists of 35 select non-commissioned officers and privates, is commanded by Lieutenant Wilkinson, seconded by Lieutenant T[homas]. A. Smith. This detachment, with two boats suitably equipped, will reach Natchez in eight or ten days from the present, and will proceed with all possible dispatch. You will address your communications to Lieutenant Wilkinson, who, after many hardships and difficulties, reached this place about the 1st of March. He has finished a pretty good traverse of the river, and his journal is interesting. I think the present party will winter near the Arkansaw Osages, about 600 miles by the river from the Mississippi.

The president mentioned you and your explorations to the source of the great river, in his address to Congress, in handsome terms. I am convinced he has a proper sense of your merits, and will do you ample justice. I offer you leave to go immediately to your family, because I apprehend it will be most desirable; yet, if you possess in your information aught which you may desire to communicate in person, you are at liberty to proceed, by the shortest route, to the seat of government, near which you will find me, if alive, three or four months hence.

I pray you to attend particularly to the injunctions of this hasty letter, and to believe me, whilst I am your general,

Your friend,
[Signed] JAMES WILKINSON.

CAPTAIN PIKE, U. S. Army.

_Art. 13. Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 5, pp. 57-63.)-

NACHITOCHES, July 5th, 1807.

DEAR GENERAL:

Once more I address you from the land of freedom and under the banners of our country. Your esteemed favor of the 20th of May now lies before me, in which I recognize the sentiments of my general and friend, and will endeavor, as far as my limited abilities permit, to do justice to the spirit of your instructions.

I must premise to your Excellency that my letter of the 20th of April, dated at Chihuahua, went through a perusal by General Salcedo, previous to his forwarding it.

That letter stated the mode of my being brought into Santa Fe, and I will now state to your Excellency the proceedings on the subject of my papers. I will omit the hauteur of the reception given me by Governor Allencaster, for a more particular communication; it changed afterward to extreme politeness. Being under no restrictions previous to arriving at Santa Fe, I had secreted all my papers which I conceived it necessary to preserve, leaving my book of charts, my orders, and such others as should induce the governor to know me in my proper character, and prevent his suspicions being excited to a stricter inquiry.

On examining my commission, orders, etc., he told me to remove my trunk to my own quarters, and that on the morrow he would converse with me on the subject. I had caused my men to secrete my papers about their bodies, conceiving this safer than [leaving them] in the baggage; but in the evening, finding the ladies of Santa Fe were treating them to wine, etc., I was apprehensive their intemperance might discover the secret, and took them from all but one, who had my journal in full, but who could not be found, and put them in my trunk, conceiving that the inspection was over. But next morning an officer, with two men, waited on me and informed me that he had come for me to visit the governor, and brought these two men to take up my trunk. I immediately perceived I was outgeneraled. On my arrival at the governor's house, his Excellency demanded if I had the key. My reply was in the affirmative; when he observed, "It is well"; my trunk should be a sacred deposit in the charge of the officer who would escort me to Chihuahua, for which place I marched after dinner, under the escort of Lieutenant Don Facundo Malgares and 65 men. His character I beg leave to introduce to the attention of your Excellency as that of a European possessing all the high sense of honor which formerly so evidently distinguished his nation, the commandant of the 600 troops who made the expedition to the Pawnees, an officer of distinguished merit, who in his mode of living fully justified the pomp and style of his actions, who outshines many of the governors of provinces, and whom in my future reports I shall have frequent occasion to quote. He observed to me: "The governor informs me, Sir, your trunk is under restrictions; but your word of honor as a soldier that no papers shall be taken out, and you have free ingress, as usual." I gave it, and I presume it is scarcely necessary to add it was religiously adhered to.

On our arrival at Chihuahua the general demanded my trunk, and on its being opened and the papers laid on the table, he took them in hand one by one and demanded what was the purport of each, which truth obliged me to declare; had I been disposed to equivocate, Ensign Walker, of his Catholic Majesty's service, who stood present and assisted in the examination, could have immediately detected the fraud; also, his Excellency understands sufficient of the English language to discover the general purport of any paper.

After going through them in this manner and separating them into two piles, he observed to me: "You will leave those papers for my inspection, and in the meanwhile, in concert with Ensign Walker, who will give the Spanish translation, you will give me a detailed account of your route, views, destination, etc., during which time I will examine the papers now before me." With this I complied, flattering myself that it was his intention to return me my papers, by his demanding a sketch; also, so great was my confidence in the all-protecting name of my country, I conceived it was a greater step than the general would venture to take, to seize on the papers. But when I had finished the proposed sketch and presented it, and found a still further delay, I addressed the general on the subject. After a few days, some were returned, but I was officially informed that the remaining papers had been seized, but would be kept in the secret cabinet of that captain-generalship until the pleasure of his Catholic Majesty should be known. At the same time I was presented with a certificate specifying the number and contents of those detained, and adding that they were assorted by my own hand, and voluntarily. This assertion was so contrary to truth, honor, or the line of conduct a general should have pursued with a young gentleman, that I took the liberty of telling one of the officers who signed said certificate that it was incorrect. But as Sergeant Meek was still in the rear with nearly all my baggage, I took care to give him orders that none of said baggage should be opened, except by force; which will evince that, although I preferred acting like a gentleman to obliging General Salcedo to resort to rough treatment, yet that it was not a volunteer surrender of my papers.

But the general will please to recollect that my journals were saved at Santa Fe, were continued, and are entire to this post; for the fortunate circumstance of the doctor's having copied my courses and distances through all the route, except an excursion we made to the source of the river La Platte, unto the Spanish territories, preserved them. These will enable me to exhibit a correct chart of the route, although not so minute as the one seized on, which was plotted daily by the eye and angular observations. Thus the only essential papers lost were my astronomical observations and meteorological tables, and a book containing remarks on minerals, plants, etc., with the manners, population, customs, etc., of the savages. But the results of the former were in part communicated, and probably my journal may supply part of the balance, while our memories will make the loss of the latter of but little consequence. While in the Spanish territories I was forbidden the use of pen and paper, notwithstanding which I kept a journal, made meteorological observations, and took courses and distances from the time I entered their country until my arrival at this place; all of which I brought safe off in the men's guns, where I finally secreted my papers without detection.

From our unremitting attention day and night, the immense territory they led us through, and the long time we were in their country, I make bold to assert I have been able to collect a correct account of their military force, regular and irregular; also, important and interesting information on geographical situations, political sentiments and dispositions of the people of every class, manners, arts, resources, riches, revenues, situation, value, and productions of their mines, etc.; also, the annual revenues paid to Bonaparte. Had we possessed as great a knowledge of the Spanish language when we entered the territories as when we left them, our information would have been nearly as complete as I could wish it, if sent expressly for the purpose of acquiring it, by the open authority of his Majesty. But the French language, in which my communications were sometimes made, was greatly beneficial.

By the sergeant, who is still in the rear and was never suffered to join me, as General Salcedo conceived he would probably procure some information from him, which he could not if [the sergeant were] immediately under my orders, I expect many other communications of importance from many individuals who promised to forward them by him. But I presume the general has found himself in error; as I perceive by a letter from him to Governor Cordero, the sergeant killed one of his[V'-7] men, in consequence of some improper conduct, and the general accuses him of great intractability, as he is pleased to term it.

From the foregoing statement your Excellency will observe that I yet possess immense matter, the results of one year's travel in countries, desert and populated, which have both been long the subject of curiosity to the philosopher, the anxious desires of the miser, and the waking thoughts and sleeping dreams of the man of ambitious and aspiring soul--results which, in our present critical situation, I do conceive to be immensely important, and which open a scene for the generosity and aggrandizement of our country, with a wide and splendid field for harvests of honor for individuals. But my papers are in a mutilated state, from the absolute necessity I was under to write on small pieces in the Spanish country; also, from being injured in the gun-barrels, some of which I filed off three times to take out the papers. These circumstances make it necessary, in the first place, to take a rough copy as they stand; then it will be necessary to assort the matter, as military, political, moral, mercantile, meteorological, agricultural, etc., all now forming an undigested mass. Then, Sir, the combining each, the plotting, etc., would take up a time of considerable extent for one man; and to make duplicates after they are in order could not be done in three months. The general may recollect it was nearly that period before my reports were completed last year, although I was assisted by Mr. [Antoine] Nau and the sergeant-major, and sometimes by Lieutenants [James B.] Wilkinson and [Henry Richard] Graham.[V'-8] Also, with respect to the Spanish country, I must know the extent of the objects in view, in order to embrace those points in my reports; and further, my dear sir, my health is by no means the most perfect, my eyes being so extremely weak that it is almost impossible for me to continue for one hour with the pen in my hand, and by that time I have a considerable pain in my breast.

From those circumstances my general will perceive the almost impracticability of my complying with the contents of his letter as to duplicate reports from this place; but I shall immediately commence the business of arranging and digesting my papers, and will proceed with the labor with every perseverance my situation will permit until the arrival of my sergeant and the balance of the party, should they not be retarded more than 20 days, when I shall proceed immediately to St. Louis, and thence through Kentucky, Virginia, etc., to the Federal City, making no unnecessary delay, and during the whole of the route prosecuting my business at every leisure moment. When at Washington, I flatter myself with your assistance and advice. As I propose taking courses, distances, etc., hence to St. Louis, it will be making the tour of the greatest part of Louisiana, crossing the main rivers at different points. I am certain that from the survey of the Missouri by Captains Lewis and Clark, my own of the Mississippi, Lieutenant Wilkinson's of the lower Arkansaw, which river I surveyed to its sources, and Mr. Dunbar's of Red river, can be formed the completest survey of Louisiana ever yet taken.

As to the instruments I had with me I wish the general to inform me in what light they stood, as most of them were ruined in the mountains by the falling of the horses from precipices, etc., and I left an order at Chihuahua for the sergeant to sell them at a certain price, as the addition of a land carriage of 500 leagues would not add to their benefit.[V'-9] Baroney, if alive, is with my sergeant; he has proved a noble fellow in his line, and I beg liberty to recommend him to some appointment near the Kans, should any offer. I must further add the following anecdote of my men, in whose breasts lay the whole secret of my papers, and whom I frequently, when in the Spanish territories, was obliged to punish severely for outrages committed in a state of intoxication, yet who never once offered, or showed a disposition to discover it. It is certain they knew instant death would follow; still, their fidelity to their trust is remarkable. I have charged them as to communications, and shall dispose of them in such a manner as not to put it in their power to give things much publicity.

Dr. Robinson has accompanied me the whole route, is still with me, and I take pleasure in acknowledging I have received important services from him, as my companion in dangers and hardships, counselor in difficulties, and one to whose chemical, botanical, and mineralogical knowledge the expedition is greatly indebted--in short, Sir, he is a young gentleman of talents, honor, and perseverance, possessing, in my humble opinion, a military turn of mind, and would enter, I believe, in case of an augmentation of the army, if he could obtain a rank above a subaltern.

I hope the general will be pleased to have my copies forwarded by Lieutenant Wilkinson, so that I can command the use of them at Washington; also all my letters written him during the expedition, as they contain information I wish to refer to, and the copies were seized. Dr. [John] Sibley has informed me that the expedition up the Arkansaw is suspended, which supersedes the necessity of my sending the express ordered.

I congratulate the general on the safe arrival of Lieutenant Wilkinson, and am sorry to hear of the difficulties he encountered. I have been obliged to draw money of the Spanish government, which I have to pay to their ambassador at Washington. I supported those of my men who were with me all the time in the Spanish country. Being separated from my baggage and never permitted to have it join me, and having been presented to the commandant-general in a blanket cappot,[V'-10] I was under the necessity of going to very considerable expense to support what I considered not only my own honor, but the dignity of our army. This, when a captain's pay is $2,400 per annum, was a ruinous thing to my finances; but I hope it may be taken into due consideration.

After making myself pretty perfect in the French language, I have obtained such a knowledge of the Spanish as to make me confident in asserting, in three or four years I will with ease make myself sufficiently master of the latter, Italian, and Portuguese, to read them all, and speak and write Spanish. The doctor has even exceeded me in that point. I mention this to the general, as I know the interest he takes in the improvement of his military protégé.

We heard in the Spanish dominions of the convulsions of the western country, originating in Mr. Burr's plans, and that you were implicated; sometimes that you were arrested, sometimes superseded, etc. Those reports, although I never credited them, gave me great unhappiness, as I conceived that the shafts of calumny were aimed at your fame and honor, in a foreign country where these had hitherto stood high and been revered and respected by every class. At St. Antonio Colonel Cordero informed me of the truth of the statement [_i. e._, falsity of those reports], which took a load from my breast and made me comparatively happy; I hope ere long the villainy will be unmasked, and malignity and slander hide their heads. The before mentioned gentleman sent you by me a box of Spanish chocolate, which I shall forward to Colonel Cushing. Governor Herrara said the maliciousness of the world was such as to forbid his writing, but begged to be sincerely remembered to you. A letter addressed to me at Cincinnatti, Ohio, may possibly reach me on my route, when I hope to receive your approbation of my conduct. Many letters written to me, addressed to this place, have been secreted or destroyed; possibly the general can give me a hint on the subject.

Those ideas have made a deep impression on my mind, and did not an all-ruling passion sway me irresistibly to the profession of arms and the paths of military glory, I would long since have resigned my sword for the rural cot, where peace, health, and content would at least be our inmates, should not our brows be crowned with laurel.

I must now conclude, as this letter has far exceeded the bounds proposed when commenced; but the effusions of my heart on its contents are such that I could not limit them to a more contracted space. Excuse my scrawl, as I am entirely out of practice, but believe me to be,

Dear General,
With high respect and esteem,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Captain.

GENERAL WILKINSON.

_Art. 14. Letter, Pike to Salcedo. (Orig. No. 18, pp. 83-85.)-

NATCHITOCHES, August 20th, 1807.

SIR:

Previous to my departure from Chihuahua, we had entered so fully into the subject of the seizure of my papers, that I should never have made another appeal until I made one through our government to the ambassador of his Catholic Majesty, had I not received orders to that effect; it not being known, at the time those instructions were given, that the propriety of the seizure had been contested between your Excellency and myself. But as you have now had time fully to reconsider the business, it may not appear in the same light that it did when I had the honor to address you before. Your Excellency may be induced to conceive that the measure of seizing my notes, plans, meteorological and astronomical observations, etc., for parts of the Mississippi, Missouri, Osage, Kans, and Arkansaw rivers--waters acknowledged by the Spanish government to be within the known territories of the United States--may not be justifiable. Whatever may be your opinion on those subjects, I am at an entire loss to conceive how, and upon what principle, you could involve in that seizure letters from individuals to individuals, the contents of which could in no wise be interesting to the Spanish government.

I have therefore once more to appeal to your Excellency, with the hope that the time you have had for deliberation may induce you to conceive it proper, and but an act of justice, to deliver up the papers seized at Chihuahua; and hope your Excellency will have the goodness to address them to me in a packet, to the care of the commanding officer of this place.

If the continuation of an amicable understanding between the two nations be an object of estimation in the mind of your Excellency, the final demarcation of limits must be considered as the first great step to be taken toward its accomplishment. To enable my government to form a correct idea on that subject, it was requisite they should be well acquainted with the geographical situation of the heads of the Arkansaw and Red rivers. The former part of this [requirement] I had accomplished, and could with all ease have carried the remaining part of that object into execution, after discovering my mistake of the Rio del Norte for the Red river, had I been permitted by the governor of New Mexico. Instead of which, I was hurried through the country to Chihuahua, without having time given for the absent part of my party and baggage to join me; by which means I was obliged to appear in a garb and manner entirely incompatible with the rank I have the honor to hold, and in some degree an indignity [was thus offered] to the country whose commission I bear. To add to my mortification, I was then deprived of the information I had obtained at the risk of our lives, and the suffering of unknown miseries. The information contained in my notes was not only of a geographical nature, but also such as would enable the executive of the United States to take some steps to ameliorate the barbarous state of various savage tribes whom I visited; and, I may be permitted to add, would have added in some small degree to the acquirement of science, which is for the general benefit of mankind.

When I left Chihuahua, I was informed that my sergeant and party were detained near the place, in order that they should not be permitted to join me, [and to the end] that by a separate examination they might be intimidated to make a declaration to justify the conduct observed toward us. This I am conscious must have failed; but I am at an entire loss to conceive why they should have been detained until this time, when your Excellency assured me they should follow immediately. Their detention has been of considerable private injury to myself, and an insult to my government.

When I marched from Chihuahua, your Excellency officially informed me that everything had been prepared for my transport to our lines. I was much surprised to have to pay for the hire of horses, etc., demanded of me at the first place where we changed our escorts, as I neither conceived it just that I should pay for an involuntary tour I had taken through your territories, nor was I prepared to do it; but as your officers were responsible, and gave their receipts for the transport, and from the orders received by Captain Viana at Nacogdoches, I was obliged to hire beasts to take me to Natchitoches, although an escort of your troops were furnished. [See note 2, p. 814].

I here with the greatest pleasure embrace the opportunity of acknowledging the polite treatment I received from your officers in general on my route, but in particular from Colonels Cordero and Herrara, Captains Barelo and Viana, and Lieutenant Malgares; to all of whom it would be my greatest pleasure to have it in my power to return the compliment.

Will your Excellency do me the honor to present my high respects to your lady, and my compliments to Mr. Truxillo and Father Rocus.

I am, Sir,
With the most profound consideration,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Captain.

His Excellency,
GOVERNOR SALCEDO.

FOOTNOTES:

[V'-1] The Appendix to Pt. 3 of the orig. ed. was the most extraordinary hotch-potch I ever saw in type--a lot of letters and other papers bundled together in no intelligible or imaginable order. There being no evidence of design or purpose, the first step toward bringing an appearance of order out of this confusion must be taken by disregarding the original helter-skelter entirely, and by rearranging the various pieces of which this Appendix consisted as freely as if they were loose manuscripts accidentally disordered. The documents with which we have to do were disarranged as follows:

No. 1. Pike's Observations on New Spain, the leading article, not numbered, making pp. 1-51, or more than half of the whole Appendix. (This I have disposed of in the foregoing Chap. IV.)

No. 2, pp. 52, 53. A fragmentary vocabulary of Mississippi place-names, having no connection with Pt. 3 of the book. (This I have made Chap. IX., pp. 355, 356, of Pt. 1, where it belongs.)

No. 3, pp. 53-55. A letter from Pike to Wilkinson.

No. 4, pp. 55-57. A letter from Wilkinson to Pike.

No. 5, pp. 57-63. A letter from Pike to Wilkinson.

No. 6, pp. 64-68. A Congressional report, with accompanying documents, including matter relating to all three of Pike's expeditions, yet lacking one of the most important of the papers belonging to it (see No. 13, below). (All these I shall relegate to the following Chap. VI.)

No. 7, p. 69. A mere paragraph about a priest. (This I have simply interpolated in the text of the itinerary, Chap. II., pp. 603, 604--the place where it belongs.)

No. 8, pp. 69, 70. A letter from Pike to Allencaster.

No. 9, p. 70. A certificate from Allencaster to Pike.

No. 10, p. 71. A letter from Pike to Allencaster.

No. 11, p. 72. A letter from Pike to Salcedo.

No. 12, p. 72. A letter from Salcedo to Pike.

No. 13, pp. 73-77. The missing document which belongs to No. 6 (see above), being a brief sketch of Pike's Arkansaw Expedition and of his Mexican Tour, no date, no place, no addressee. (This, of course, goes with No. 6, in the following Chap. VI.)

No. 14, pp. 78, 79. A letter from Pike to Salcedo.

No. 15, pp. 79, 80. A letter from Salcedo to Pike.

No. 16, pp. 80-82. Inventory of papers seized by the Spanish authorities, with accompanying certificate.

No. 17, pp. 82, 83. A letter from Pike to Salcedo.

No. 18, pp. 83-85. A letter from Pike to Salcedo.

No. 19, pp. 86, 87. A letter from Salcedo to Wilkinson.

By eliminating from the above No. 1, No. 2, No. 6, No. 7, and No. 13, as above indicated, the residuum consists entirely of correspondence relating to the Mexican Tour, which is easily rearranged in the chronological order of the several letters, and thus forms the present