.... I determined that its upper branches should be well explored".
Turning back, the weather being "extremely cold". Pike overtook the
main body of his party on tlie 24th, "encamped on the river's bottom".
Some of these men had had good luck in hunting, having killed eight buf-
falos within the last twenty-four hours. "Thus", as the leader records,
"from being in a starving condition, we had at once eight beeves in our
camp. We now again found ourselves all assembled together on Christmas
eve, and appeared generally to be content, although all the refreshment
we had to celebrate the day was with buffalo flesh, without salt or any
other thing whatever".
Christmas was spent in that camp,- the location of which probably was
near Brown's Canon Station, on the Denver & Eio Grande Eailway, seven
miles above the city of Salida. In his Journal, under date of December
25th, Pike says:
"The weather being stormy, and having some meat to dry, I concluded to
lie by this day. Here I must take the liberty of observing that in this situation
the hardships and privations we underwent, were on this day brought more fully
to our minds than at any time previously. We had before been occasionally accus-
tomed to some degree of relaxation, and extra enjoyments; but the case was now
far different: eight hundred miles from the frontiers of our country, in the most
inclement season of the year; not one person properly clothed for the winter, many
without blankets, having been obliged to cut them up for socks and other articles;
lying down, too, at night on the snow or wet ground, one side burning whilst the
other was pierced with the cold wind; this was briefly the situation of the party:
whilst some were endeavouring to make a miserable substitute of raw buffalo hide
for shoes, and other covering. I will not speak of diet, as I conceive that to be
beneath the serious consideration of a man on a journey of such a nature. We
spent this day as agreeably as could be expected from men in our circumstances."
On the next day, the party continued the march down the Arkansas,
HISTORY OF COLORADO 61
but did not cover the distance to the Royal Gorge, some forty-five miles by
the river's course — Pike makes it one-half greater — until January 4th.
It was a hard Journey. The horses floundered, stumbled, and fell, one be-
ing hurt so badly by falling from a precipice that he had to be shot.
The animals were relieved of their packs, some of which were carried by
the weary and footsore men and others drawn by them upon makeshift
sleds, and the party l^ecame scattered into several small groups.
It would seem from Pike's chart that the expedition went through the
Royal Gorge, but the narrative shows that this was not the case. Each of
the detachments, that of Interpreter Yasquez having the horses, detoured
and straggled over the mountains in which the chasm lies, some going on
the north side and others on the south. Pike alone attempted to make the
passage of the gorge, but when nearly half-way through gave up the task and
took the small side-canon that opens from the caiion, on the north side, and
by which he clambered out to the summit of the ridge, where he fell in with
two of the others and made camp. In the forenoon of the next day, he
obtained a wide view eastward, and then "immediately recognized" that the
river flowing through the gorge was the Arkansas, and realized that for
nearly a month he had been traveling in a circle. Descending the moun-
tain, he and his companions "proceeded to our old camp [on the site of
Caiion City], which we had left on the 10th of December, and reoccupied
it". But it was not until January Oth that the last of the stragglers came
in. "The whole party", says Pike, "was once more joined together, when
we felt comparatively happy, notwithstanding the great mortification I had
experienced at being so egregiously deceived as to the Red river".
But the disappointed and still bewildered leader was not disposed to
tarry here any longer than necessity required. I quote again from liis
Journal:
"I now felt at considerable loss how to proceed, as any idea of service at
that time from my horses was entirely preposterous. Thus, after various plans
formed and rejected, and the most mature deliberation, I determined to build a
small place for defence and deposit, and leave part of the baggage, horses, my
interpreter, and one man ; and with the remainder, with our packs of Indian presents,
ammunition, tools, &c., on our backs, to cross the mountains on foot, find the Eed
river, and then send back a detachment to conduct the horses and baggage after ns.
by the most eligible route we could discover; by which time we calculated our
horses would be so far recovered as to be able to endure the fatigue of the march.
In consequence of this determination, some were put to constructing the block
house, some to hunting, some to take care of horses, &c., &c. I myself made prep-
arations to pursue a course of observations, that would enable me to ascertain the
latitude and longitude of the situation, which I conceived to be an important one."
All traces of Pike's "place of defense and deposit", which is designated
upon his map as "Blockhouse", have vanished ; and it is not unlikely that
they had disappeared long before the permanent settlement of Colorado.
The blockhouse was built upon the northward bank of the river, upon a site
that most probably is within the corporate limits of Caiion City.
Pike set out upon his terrible and foolhardy journey "to find the Eed
river" on January 14, 1807. His Journal says his party "consisted of 18
soldiers, the Doctor, and myself"; but "18" probably is a typographical
error, as there were but twelve soldiers in the devoted band— Sergeant
Meek, Corporal Jackson, and Privates Brown, Carter, Dougherty, Gordon,
Menaugh, Miller, Jlountjoy, Roy, Sparks, and Stoute. Interpreter Yasquez
C:^ HISTOEY OF COLOEADO
and Private Patrick Smith were left â– i charge of the blockhouse and the
horses. Pike says "each of us carried fort;'-tive pounds, and as much pro-
vision as he thought proper; which, ^yith arms, &c., made on an average
seventy pounds"'.
They took the course of Grape Creek (which unites with the Arkansas
a mile or so above Canon City, and which appears upon some early maps
of the West as "Pike's Fork",) into the Wet Mountain Valley: and, con-
sidering the depth of the snow, made good progress in the first four days.
Pike says they covered seventy-eight miles, but probably, with all the wind-
ings, the distance was within sixty. In the evening of the fourth day,
they encamped at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Eange, at a point nearly
due west of the present town of Eositi. Here their troubles began in
earnest. Pike tells that "when we halted at the woods at eight o'clock
for encampment, we discovered that the feet of nine of our men were
frozen, and to add to the misfortune, of both, of those whom we called
hunters among the number. This night we had no provision. . . .
Eeaumer's thermometer stood at 18| below 0". Pike and Dr. Eobinson put
forth in the next morning in search of game, but had a day of failure.
Eather than go back to the others empty-handed, they "went among some
rocks, where we encamped and sat up all night, as from the intense -cold it
was impossible to sleep; also, hungry and without cover". Late in the
afternoon of the following daj-, they killed a bufEalo — a stroke of good
fortune that saved the life of ever}- man who had come with the leader into
this death-trap. "By this time", says Pike, "I was becoming extremely
weak and faint, it being the fourth day since we had received sustenance.
We were . . . determined to remain absent and die by ourselves rather
than return to our camp and behold the misery of our poor companions".
Cutting as much of the buffalo meat as they could carry in their weakened
condition, the two set out in the dusk of the evening for the camp. "We
arrived there about twelve o'clock [midnight], and when I threw my load
down, it was with difficulty I prevented myself from falling : 1 was attacked
with a giddiness which lasted for some minutes. On the countenances o*
the men was not a frown, nor was there a desponding eye; all seemed happy
to hail their officer and companions, yet not a mouthful had they eaten
for four days". The lemainder of the buffalo's carcass was brought to the
camp the next morning.
Undismayed, Pike resolved to push on. As the feet of two oi me
men now were found to be so badly frozen that it was "impossible for them
to proceed" — those of one "presenting every probability of his losing
them" — "and two others only without loads with the help of a stick", the
leader decided to leave the totally disabled pair (Dougherty and Sparks)
where they were, and later to send some of his men back for them. The
onward march was resumed on January 22d. Pike says he "furnished the
two poor fellows who were to remain with ammunition, and made use of
every argument in my power to encourage them to have fortitude to resist
their fate, and gave them assurances of my sending relief as soon as pos-
sible. We parted, but not without tears". Why at least one able man —
why the Doctor, who, as Wilkinson had said, was "bound to attend to your
sick" — was not left with them is hard to understand. "Taking merely
sufficient provision for one meal, in order to leave as much as possiljle for
the two poor fellows who remained", the overburdened, more than half-
HISTOKY OF COLOEADO 63
starved and less than half-clad nie.i staggered their way on up the valley
along the base of the Sangre de Cristo Jlountains. The hun^ei- and other
hardships of the preceding days again were endured, and on the 23d a
furious snow-storm beset the party, continuing to rage until the next
morning. Pike, "for the first time in the voyage", found himself -'dis-
couraged". Before noon of the •24th, exhaustion compelled the wanderers,
now upon the eastward side of the narrowed valley, to halt and ?o into
camp. No game had been seen since they left the disabled men, but in the
afternoon of this day Pike and Eobinson killed a buffalo, and on the next
three more were slain. This camp, which was near the southern border of
Custer County, was occupied until the mornino- of January 27th.
Pike had "determined to attempt the traverse of the mountains" (the
Sangre de Cristo), and also "never again to march with so little provision
in hand ; for had the storm continued one day longer, the animals [the
buffalos] would have continued in the mountains, and we should have
become so weak as not to be able to hunt, and of course have perished".
So he "got in all the meat and dried it on a scaffold; intending to take
as much as possible along and leave one of my frozen lads with the remain-
der, as a deposit for the parties who might return for them with the
baggage, &c., on their way to Baroney's camp". Setting out in the morn-
ing of the STth, leaving the solitary and frozen lad, Menaugh, "encamped
with our deposit", the party, "determining to cross the mountains", floun-
dered through the deep snow, passed the summit of the Sangre de Cristo
Eange, and before nightfall "struck on" two small creeks running west-
ward. These were "hailed with fervency, as the waters of the Eed Eiver".
On the next day, as the encouraged toilers marched down the western
slope, they "discovered after some time that there had been a road cut out,
and on many trees were various hieroglyphics [Indian picture-w'riting]
painted". Camp was made that evening among the sand dunes at the
western base of the range. "When we encamped", says Pike, "I ascended
one of the largest hills of sand, and with my glass could discover a large
river, flowing nearly north by west and south by east through the plain".
He was witlrin sight of the Eio Grande, flowing through the San Luis
Park.
There is, and perhaps always will be, some uncertainty as to Pike's
route across the Sangre de Cristo Eange, as there are three passes in the
vicinity of the course laid down upon his chart. All that Pike says in his
Journal about his crossing of the divide is that "after a bad day's march",
on January 27th, "we struck on a brook which led west". It is supposed
that the party had wandered into the upper border of our Huerfano County;
and from the most thorough examination that has been made of the nuitter,
it appears highly probable that the heroic little band went through the
Medafio or Sandhill Pass, which opens from near the northwestern corner
of that county into the southeastern corner of Saguache County, at an
elevation of about 9,800 feet.
Instead of going directly to the Eio Grande from his camp among the
sand-dunes. Pike took a course south by west, and in the evening of the
30th reached the river, at a point probably that of the site of our town of
Alamosa. "As there was no timber here, w^e determined", says he, "on
descending until we found some, in order to make transports to descend the
river with: where we might estalilish a position that four or five might
64 HISTOEY OF COLORADO
defend against the insolence, cupidity or barbarity of the savages; whilst
the others returned to assist on the poor fellows who were left behind at
different points. We descended eighteen miles, when we met a large west
branch, emptying into the main stream; up which, about five miles, we
took our station". That this "large west branch" was the Eio Conejos is
beyond doubt, though Pike's "distance advanced" during these three days
would have put him some miles farther south. But here, as usual, he had
overestimated the length of his marches.
The next two weeks mainly were occupied by Pike in hunting — deer
being plentiful and luck rather good — and by most of the men in building
the fortified station, which was erected at this camping-place, "about five
miles" up the Conejos, upon its northward bank, opposite the warm springs
that flow out of a hill upon the southward side of the stream. Recent
investigators believed that they had identified the spot by their discovery
of traces of the moat or ditch that surrounded the structure, and which, as
expressed by them in terms used by the land surveyor, "is on the middle
of the W. line of the N". W. i of the N. E. i of Sect! 7, T. 35, R. 11". Of
the location and character of his fort. Pike says :
"The stockade was situated on the north bank of the western branch, the west
fork of the Bio del Norte, about five miles from its junction with the main river,
in a small prairie. The south flank joinina; the edge of the rivpv (wliieh at thai
place was not fordable), the east and west curtains were flanked by bastions in the
N. E. and N. W. angles, which likewise flanltcd the curtain on the north side of the
work. The stockade from the center of the angles of the bastions was thirty-six feet
square. There were heavy cottonwood logs about two feet diameter, laid up all
around about six feet, after which lighter ones until we made it twelve feet in
height; these logs were joined togetlier by a lap of about two feet at each end. We
then dug a small ditch on the inside all round, making it perpendicular on the internal
side, and sloping next the work: m this ditch we planted small stakes of about six
inches diameter, sharpened at the upper end to a nice point, slanting them over the
top of the work, giving them about two and a half feet projection. We then
secured them below and above in that position, which formed a small pointed frieze,
which must have been remo^â– ed before the works could have been scaled. Lastly, we
dug a ditch round the whole, four feet wide, and let the water into it ; the earth
taken out being thrown against the work, forming an excellent rampart against small
arms, three or four feet high. Our mode of getting in was to crawl over the ditch
on a plank, and into a small hole sunk below the level of the work near the river for
that purpose. Our port-holes we pierced about eight feet from the ground, and a
platform prepared to shoot from.
"Thus fortified, I should not have had the least hesitation in putting the
hundred Spanish horse at defiance until the first or second night, and then to have
made our escape under cover of the darkness; or made a sally and dispersed them,
when resting under a full confidence of our being panic struck by their numbers and
force. ' '
Pike ran up the American flag over his fort — the first known appear-
ance of the stars and stripes in what is now the State of Colorado.
Under date of Februaiy 6th, Pike notes that "the Doctor having some
pecuniary demands on the Province of New Mexico, conceived this to be
the most eligible point for him to set out from, in order to return pre-
viously to all my party having joined me from the Arkansaw, and before I
could be prepared to descend to Natchitoches". Of the origin and nature
of these "demands" the leader tells :
' ' The demands which Dr. Robinson had on persons in New Mexico, although
originally legitimate, were in some degi-ee spurious in his hands: the circumstances
UU\EK.\Ui; WILLIAM GILPIN
HISTOEY OF COLOEADO 65
(vere as follows: In the year 1S04, William Morrison, Esq., an enterprising mer-
chant of Kaskaskias [Kaskaskia. Illinois], sent a man by the name of Babtiste
Lalande, a Creole of the country of Missouri and of La Plate, directing him if pos-
sible to push into Santa Fe. He sent in Indians, and the Spaniards came out with
horses and carried him and his goods into the province. Finding that he sold the
goods high, had land offered him, and that the women were kind, he concluded to
expatriate himself, and convert the property of Morrison to his own benefit. "When
I was about to sail, Morrison conceiving that it was possible I might meet some
Spanish factors on the Red river, intrusted me with the claim, in order if they
were acquainted with Laiande, I might negotiate the affair with some ot them.
When on the frontiers, the idea suggested itself to us of making this claim a pretext
for Robinson to visit Santa Fe. We therefore gave it the proper appearance, and
he marched for that place. Our views were to gain a knowledge of the country, the
prospect of trade, force, &c., whilst at the same time our treaties with Spain guaa'-
anteed to him, as a citizen of the United States, the right of seeking the recovery
of all just debts, dues, or demands, before the legal and authorized tribunals of the
country, as a franchised inhabitant of the same, as specified in the 22d article of
the treaty. ' '
In the morning of February 7th, "the Doctor marched alone for Santa
Fe, and in the evening Pike "•'despatched Corporal Jackson with four men
to recross the mountains, in order to bring in the baggage left with the
frozen men, and to see if they were 3'et able to proceed."' The Corporal and
three of the men returned on the ITth, and reported that '"two more would
arrive the next day, one of whom was Menaugh, who had been left alone on
the 27th of January ; but the other two, Dougherty and Sparks, were unable
to come." Pike then continues :
"They [the Corporal and his men] said that they had hailed them with tears
oS joy, and were in despair when they again left them With 'the chance of never
seeing them more. They sent on to me some of the boncS' taken out of their feet,
and conjured me by all that was sacred not to leave them to perish far from the
civilized world. Oh ! little did they know my heart, if they_ cotild' stispect me of con-
duct so ungenerous! No, before they should be lef {, . I wenM "f (fi: months have carried
the end of a litter, in order to sec-ure them the happiness of once more seeing their
native homes, and being received in the bosom of a grateful country. Thus, these
poor fellows are to be invalids for life, made infirm at the commencement of man-
hood, and in the prime of their course; doomed to pass the remainder of their days
in misery and want. For what is the pension? What man would even lose the
smallest of his joints for such a pittance! "
However, this grandiose declamation is far from comporting with the
circumstances. Although Pike and his men had been well supplied with
venison from the day they halted on the Conejos, a full week had elapsed
before any movement was made to rescue the disabled men, the more remote
and more helpless of whom were distant five days' journey. Heartlessness
seems to have had the advantage of sympathy in this matter.
On the 18th, Sergeant Meek and Private Miller started "for the Arkan-
saw, where we had left our interpreter, horses, &c., to conduct them to us,
and on his return to bring the two invalids, who were still on the mountains".
As to the courage of his soldiers and their devotion to duty, Pike interjects
the following :
"I must here remark the effect of habit, discipline, and example, in two
soldiers soliciting a command of more than one hundred and eighty miles, over two
great ridges of mountains covered with snow, inhabited by bands of unknown sav-
ages in the interest of a nation with whom we are not on the best understanding:
and to perform this journey each had about ten pounds of venison! Only let me
ask, what would our soldiers generally , think of being ordered on such a tour, thus
Vol. I—
66 HISTORY OF COLOEADO
equipped? Yet those men volunteered with others, and were chosen, for which
they thought themselves highly honored. ' '
Sergeant Meek returned to the post on the Conejos in due course of
time, with Interpreter Yasquez, Private Patrick Smith, the two "frozen
lads", and the horses and baggage. But he found the fort in the possession
of a squadron of Spanish cavalry, and learned that his commander was in
Spanish custody at Santa Fe.
Sometliing had happened in the meantime, and which had been fore-
shadowed before the Sergeant set out upon his relief expedition. On the
16th of February, Pike and one of the soldiers had gone out to hunt, and at
a place about six miles from the fort wounded a deer. Of what next
occurred I quote the leader's account :
"Immediately afterwards I discovered two horsemen rising the summit of a
hill, about half a mile to our right. As my orders were to avoid giving alarm or
offence to the Spanish government of Xew Mexico, I endeavored to shun them at
first, but when we attempted to retreat, they pursued us at full charge, flourishing
their lances, and when we advanced they would retire as fast as their horses could
carry them. Seeing this, we got into a small ravine, in hopes to decoy them near
enough to oblige them to come to a parley, which happened agreeably to our desires.
As they came on, hunting us with great caution, we suffered them to get within
forty yards, where we had allured them, but were about running off again, when
I ordered the soldier to lay down his arms and walk towards them, at the same time
standing ready with my rifle to kill either who should lift an arm in a hostile man-
ner. X then hallooed to them, that we were Americans and friends, which were almost
the only two words I knew in the Spanish language: after which, with great signs
of fear, they came up, and proved to be a Spanish dragoon and a civilized Indian;
armed after their manner. . . . We were jealous of our arms on both sides,
and acted with great precaution. They informed me that that was the fourth day
since they had left Santa I'e; that Eobinson had arrived there, and had been re-
ceived with great kindness by the Governor. As I knew them to be spies, 1 thought
it proper merely to inform them that I was about to descend the river to Natchi-
toches. We sat here on the ground a long time, and finding they were determined
not to leave me, we arose and bade them adieu; but they demanded where our camp
was, and finding that they were not about to depart, I thought it most proper to
take them with me, thinking we were on Ked river, and of course in the territory
claimed by the United States.
' ' We took the road to my fort, and as they were on horseback, they travelled
rather faster than myself. They were halted by the sentinel, and immediately re-
treated much surprised. When I came up I took them in and then explained to
them as well as I was able, my intentions of descending the river to Natchitoches;
but at the same time told them that if Governor Allencaster would send out an
officer with an interpreter, who spoke French or English, I would do myself the
pleasure to give his Excellency every reasonable satisfaction as to my intentions
in coming on his frontiers. They informed me that on the second day they would
be in Santa Fe, but were careful never to suggest ail idea of my being on the Rio