Pike
...hose Pike to head an expedition up the Red River in 1805. Wilkinson wanted Pike because of the intelligence, robustness, and experience in wilderness operations that he had. This exploration would greatly increase Pike・s potential in his career. August 7, 1805 twenty men with Zebulon Pike started from Fort Bellefontaine and made their way up the Mississippi River on a seventy-foot long keelboat. Pike continued to show courage, endurance, and incredible sexual desire to complete the mission. However, this mission completed nothing of importance. The only little amount accomplished was some added information to previously existing knowledge of the upper Mississippi River. The Expedition: Less than two months after the end of Pike・s last mission, Wilkinson issued him with new orders for another expedition. This expedition was to cross the western plains, visit with various Indian tribes, and to explore the upper parts of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. Wilkinson also gave secret orders telling him to spy on New Mexico. He was to go about this in a devious way that encouraged the Spanish themselves to escort him and his party through their territory. July 15th marked the starting point of Pike・s journey. With him he had twenty-one men in his party, only eighteen were enlisted men most of which were veterans from the last expedition. The others were Second Lieutenant James B. Wilkinson, the son of the general; Baronet Vasquez, the interpreter; and Dr. John H. Robinson, the surgeon. Pike・s party traveled by boat up the Missouri and Osage Rivers into western Missouri, to reach the Osage villages in late August. From there they traveled by horseback northwest across Kansas to a Pawnee village on the Republican River. Three days before reaching the village a very large group on Spanish cavalry had passed through recently, however, this did not surprise Pike as he had been forewarned. The governor of Chihuahua learned through spies of the expedition and sent six-hundred men to intercept Pike. However, the force missed Pike・s party and by the time the Americans reached the River they were well on their way to Santa Fe. The party stayed two weeks with the Pawnee in order to insure and strengthen their allegiance to the United States. After which the grand old expedition went southward down onto the Kansas plains crossing the Solomon, Saline, and Smokey Hill Rivers. On October 28, Lt. Wilkinson and five others went by boat down the Arkansas River went down the Mississippi on separate orders by the General. They became the first Americans to explore Oklahoma and their findings were included in Pike・s reports. From the Great Bend of the Arkansas River, Pike and his men marched westward along the south bank. He believed that he was following the trail of the Spanish and that it would lead him to Santa Fe. However, the path that he was following had been by left by Indians not the Spanish. This caused him to steer away from Santa Fe and more towards the central Rockies. Many times he thought of turning back, however, his dealings with the winters of the north gave him determination that he could bear these winters of the south. On November 15 Pike first saw the ： Small Blue Cloud； which when viewed at through a telescope turned out to be a rather large mountain. A half hour ride brought the Rockies into full view and excited Pike and his men in thinking that they were the Mexican mountains. Severe hunger and cold plagued the party as well as nearly clashing with a band of Pawnee that wanted to plunder them. November 23 they came to the site of Pueblo, Colorado and camped near Fountain Creek. From here the following day, Pike, Dr. Robinson, and privates Theodore Miller and John Brown set forth to scale the ：Grand Peak； later referred to as ：Pike・s Peak；. Pike believed that they could scan thousands of square miles to discover the source of the Arkansas River from the top of the mountain. Like many others that approached it from the east, they thought the mountain was much closer than it actually was. In fact, it was 50 air miles from Pueblo. Pike spent the next month and a half exploring a great part of central Colorado because of his poor map and bad geographical guess...