The boy's story of Zebulon M. Pike

Front matter

THE BOY'S STORY OF

EXPLORER OF THE GREAT SOUTHWEST

EDITED BY

Preface

This story of the explorations of Zebulon M. Pike is based upon his diary and reports; the excellent edition of Dr. Elliott Coues has been freely conisulted, without, however, accepting either his conclusions or inferences.

Wherever the diary deals merely with the day's routine, this has been condensed into connecting paragraphs with explanatory matter. This method has been preferred to footnotes, which, owing to Pike's brevity in statement, would otherwise have been necessary.

Also, in order to present a consecutive narrative, anecdotes, customs and habits of the peoples which he encountered, interesting details of the country through which he passed have been severed from the appendices, where they were placed by the explorer, and added to the diary, wherever, in point of time, they belong.

In reading this modest record of courage, endurance, and of duty faithfully performed, the character of Pike as soldier and man is unconsciously presented. No more admirable figure in the history of this country could be offered to the boys of America for emulation and inspiration than that of this young soldier, who at the early age of thirty-four at last laid down his life for the country he had loved so dearly and served so well. In preparing the biographical sketch, the biographies by General A. W. Greeley and by General Henry Whiting have been consulted.

Mary Gay Humphreys.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Zebulon M. Pike Frontispiece y

FACING PAGE

"Some of Them Even Tried Their Dexterity, to

See How Near the Boat They Could Strike" i8 ^

Sioux Village — ^on St. Peter's River 30 U''

From a painting by Catlin.

Curious Grassy Bluffs — St. Peter's River . . 70 i/* Sioux Village — on Swan Lake 90

From a painting by Catlin.

Falls of St. Anthony — Upper Mississippi . . . no v^

From a painting by Catlin.

Pike's Tent, the Most Elevated Bluff on the

Mississippi — opposite Prairie du Chien . . 120 ^

From a painting by Catlin.

Indian Village 140 1^

From a painting by Catlin.

Fac-simile of Autograph Letter from General Pike to the Hon. Henry Dearborne, Secretary OF War 180 ^

Pike's Peak — from near Manitou Park . . . . 218 *^

"Labored All Day, but Made Only One Mile " . . 234

War-dance of the Apaches » 280

From a painting by Catlin.

ix

X Illustrations

FACING PAGE

Apache Archery 296

From a painting by Catlin.

"When We Arrived at Chihuahua, We Pursued Our Course Through the Town to the House OF the General" 308

Victory of York, U. C. — Death of General Pike . 340

From a contemporaneous print in the N. Y. Public Library.

Monument Over the Grave of General Pike at

Sackett's Harbor, N. Y 368

MAP

PACE

Map of Pike's Explorations 2

The dotted lines show the routes followed on the several expeditions.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

"First: Preserve your honor free from blemish.

"Second: Be always ready to die for your country."

These words were found on the blank page of an unfamiliar work, "Dodsley's Economy of Human Life," which Pike always carried with him. In a memorandum on the same page he desired that they be kept before his young son as "he rises from youth to manhood." That these maxims were illustrated in his own life, and were fulfilled in his death this book will show.

Zebulon Montgomery Pike was born of a race of military men, and at a time when the causes that brought about the Revolution still kindled the hearts of men. An earlier Captain John Pike was a famous Indian fighter. Zebulon Pike, his father, was a captain of infantry in the Revolution, and again in the levies of 179 1, remaining in the army of the United States until 1815, when as lieutenant-colonel he was honorably discharged.

Zebulon Montgomery Pike, was born at Lamberton, New Jersey, a suburb of Trenton, January 5, 1779. While a child his family removed to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, near the Delaware River, and from thence to Easton. Zebulon Pike is described as a boy of slender form, very fair, gentle and retiring in disposition, but of resolute spirit. He had only a common-school education. One of his teachers was a Mr. Wall, with whom he studied latin and mathematics. But as his xii Biographical Sketch

diary shows, and as his comrades in arms testify, Pike was a student in camp and on the trail to the end of his days.

At fifteen he entered as a cadet, as it was then termed, his father's regiment, then stationed in the territory of Indiana, and received his first promotion as Ensign, March 3rd, 1799, at the age of twenty. He is described by a brother officer at Camp Allegheny at this time as about five feet, eight inches tall and sturdy and robust for his age. His appearance was military, yet he generally held his head so much on one side that when on parade the tip of his chapeau touched his right shoulder. He was agreeable in manner, even polished, but reserved in conversation, unless on some topic in which he was specially interested. He was a strict disciplinarian, and his rapid decision in emergencies frequently forestalled what otherwise would have resulted in the more tedious process of a court-martial.

It was during this period that as the troops were transferred in flat boats down the Ohio River from Camp Allegheny to Fort Massac, at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, he obtained a furlough at Cincinnati. Here on what one of his brother oflScers termed Pike's "matrimonial expedition" he was married to Clarissa Brown, the daughter of General John Brown, of Kentucky. To the young couple were given three daughters and one son — the latter, to whom the maxims were dedicated, died while a child. Only one of the daughters lived to womanhood, Clarissa Harlowe Pike, who married John Cleve Symmes Harrison, the son of President William Henry Harrison. She died still young, but her mother, Mrs. Pike, is remembered as a tall, dignified, rather austere woman, very accomplished, keeping her diary in French, and always wearing a black Canton crape shawl, and a black crape turban.

It was as first lieutenant of the ist Infantry that Pike was

Biographical Sketch xiii

detailed for detached service, and reported to the head-quarters of the commanding general at St. Louis, in 1805. This selection of a young man of twenty-six, for the exploration of the Mississippi River is evidence that his qualities must have attracted attention. At this time there v^^as no definite knowledge of the Louisiana territory, in its northwestern part. President Jefferson had asked of Napoleon the city of New Orleans, and he had received an empire. The area of the United States by the stroke of a pen had been doubled. But instead of spending two millions, Jefferson had spent fifteen millions. Having invested the people's money in this vast territory, it now became necessary to find out what sort of bargain he had made with Napoleon. Lewis and Clark were sent to the Far West, and a second expedition was now organized by the commander-inchief of the army, General Wilkinson, which was to be strictly military in purpose and method, and to assert the authority of the United States, not only over the unknown Indian tribes of that region, but over the adventurous traders of the Hudson Bay and Northwest Companies.

"In the execution of this voyage," he afterward wrote, *T had no gentleman to aid me, and I literally performed the duties (as far as my limited abilities permitted) of astronomer, surveyor, commanding officer, clerk, spy, hunter, and guide; frequently preceding the party for miles, in order to reconnoiter, and returning in the evening, to sit down in the open air, by firelight to copy the notes, and plot the courses of the day." Concerning the details of this expedition and that of the Southwest the diaries tell their own story, and on these we need not dwell.

When Pike returned from his second expedition he found that his relations with General Wilkinson, who had become involved in the conspiracy of Aaron Burr, had come unpleasantly before xiv Biographical Sketch

Congress. Hastening to Washington he addressed an impassioned letter to the Secretary of War, asking for a testimonial "which may shut the mouth of Calumny — and strike dumb the mouth of Slander." General Dearborn responded handsomely, stating that his conduct in both expeditions had the approbation of the President; that his services were held in high esteem, and that the public should be much indebted for the enterprising, persevering, and judicious manner in which they had been performed. This view was also taken by the Congressional Committee of the Exploration of Western Waters, which advised that compensation be made by law to Captain Pike and his companions. Inscrutable are the Acts of Congress. This was never done, although from time to time Pike pleaded for his faithful Baroney and "the poor fellows who have become cripples from their limbs being frozen." He writes to the Secretary of War : " I who was late their Companion in difficulties and dangers, cannot so soon forget our forlorne situation, and the obligations I am under for the promptitude with which they encountered danger, and fortitude they exhibited, and the fidelity and attachment they evinced to their military commander and leader through these scenes, as not to exert myself to call forth the attention of the Government in their favor."

One year after his return from Mexico, Pike was made Major of the 6th Infantry, and occupied himself editing his diary and preparing his reports for publication. This done he was transferred to the camp at Bellefontaine, at St. Louis, and before the year closed was again at Washington. Now he is on military duty at Fort McHenry, Maryland, and shortly after acting as deputy quartermaster-general at New Orleans. On July 6, 1812, he was made colonel of the 15th Infantry, and was busy at Washington, " in drilling the compleatest body of Infan-

Biographical Sketch xv

try in the U. S.," and begging the Secretary of War to permit him to introduce "Modern Discipline in the Corps." He was permitted to do as he liked, and the Fifteenth was subjected to many innovations and experiments. One was the French method of dividing men into three ranks, the third being armed with short guns to which were fitted long pikes. This enabled the wags of the period to allude to "Pike's regiment of pikes."

During his voyage in the Southwest, Pike's premonition that active service was not long distant was confirmed during his intimacy with the Spanish officers, now restive under the restrictions of the mother country, and prepared for revolt. In that event they would seek the Americans as allies. The British ships, moreover, were hovering about the mouth of the Mississippi, and in the kaleidoscopic changes among nations anything was likely to happen. In his letters both to his commanding officer and to the Secretary of War, Pike expressed his convictions, and urged his knowledge of French and Spanish, and of the topography of the country as part of his equipment for future service.

It was to come, but not in the manner he anticipated. Of him, at this time. General Whiting says: "Probably no officer in the army was held in higher esteem." Pike had never been in the presence of the enemy, but his character and his boldness and resource, as well as his fitness to direct and to control men, had been demonstrated in the West. The complications with England, which resulted in the war of 1812, becoming acute, the 15th Regiment was sent into camp near Plattsburg, during the winter of 1812-13, and Brigr.dier-General Pike, as he was then styled, although his rank had not yet been confirmed by Congress, was placed in command of the military district of west Lake Chaplain, with 2,500 men.

xvi Biographical Sketch

After various futile efforts on our part, a campaign under General Henry Dearborn was organized for the capture of the British forts on Lake Ontario. The first attack was to be on Fort York, as the present city of Toronto was then called. Before embarking on Commodore Chauncy's Fleet, Pike wrote a military order and a letter, both illustrating his character as an officer and a man. After giving his instructions for the conduct of the troops, he adds:

"Courage and bravery in the field do not more distinguish the soldier than humanity after victory; and whatever examples the savage allies of our enemies may have given us, the general confidently hopes that the blood of an unresisting or yielding enemy will never stain the weapons of the soldiers of his column,

"The unoffending citizens of Canada are many of them our own countrymen, and the poor Canadians have been forced into the war. Their property must therefore he held sacred, and any soldier who shall so far neglect the honor of his profession as to be guilty of plundering the inhabitants, shall, if convicted, be punished with death."

To his father the son writes:

"I embark to-morrow in the fleet at Sackett's Harbor, at the head of a column of 1,500 choice troops, on a secret expedition. If success attends my steps, honor, and glory await my name — if defeat, still shall it be said we died like brave men, and conferred honor, even in death, on the American name.

"Should I be the happy mortal destined to turn the scale of war, will you not rejoice, O my father ? May Heaven be propitious, and smile on the cause of my country. But if we are destined to fall, may my fall be like Wolfe's — to sleep in the arms of victory."

Before Fort York, General Dearborn remained on the Madison, his flagship, and the command was given to Pike. As the

Biographical Sketch xvii

troops were being transferred to the shore, a wind blew them below the landing-place, to a point where they were under fire.

"My God I can stay here no longer," Pike cried to his staff. "Come jump into the boat," and the coxswain steered directly into the path of the bullets, where Pike joined his command. The outer battery was taken by assault, and the guns of the main battery being silenced. Pike sat down on a log to question a British prisoner, while waiting for the surrender. Instead of the white flag the British general, Sheaffe, caused the powder magazine to be blown up while his own troops were in retreat. Fifty-two Americans were killed and one hundred and eighty wounded. A huge stone from the magazine fell on Pike and crushed his back. The dying general was carried to a boat and taken to the flagship. When the hurrahs of the troops were heard, he asked:

"What does it mean.?"

"Victory," was the reply. "The Union Jack is coming down and the Stars and Stripes are going up."

His face lighted up with joy. At this moment the captured flag was brought on board. He made a sign to place it under his head, and his biographer writes:

"His aspiration was answered, for he turned the scale of war; his dream of glory came true, for he fell asleep, like Wolfe, in the arms of victory!" and like Wolfe with his head pillowed on the flag of his foe.

The body of Pike was taken to Sackett's Harbor, and buried at Fort Tomkins with that of his aid-de-camp, Nicholson, who fell at his side. Subsequently it was removed to Madison Barracks in Fort Pike, at Sackett's Harbor, where a stone seven feet high, topped by an urn, was erected by Colonel Hugh Grady and the oflScers of the Fort. Beneath this crumbling stone Pike now lies.

xviii Biographical Sketch

The death of Pike was on every tongue, and the manner of his death sent a cry of horror through the country, and tempered the joy of victory. "It was not," says General Whiting, "until after the capture of Fort George that this explosion ceased to haunt, like a dreadful spectre, the American army." That explosions were to be the ordinary means of warfare with the British was the common belief. Public ceremonies were held in church, hall, and theatre. Newspapers vied in eulogy and comment. The 15th Regiment held a solemn celebration, at Burlington, "in honor of the immortal father of our regiment, our beloved Pike," and the 27th of April, the day of his death, was set apart in succeeding years, when the flag was to be draped and the officers wear crape on their arms.

The country was soon to mourn another loss — that of Lawrence, of the frigate Chesapeake, whose last words "Don't give up the ship" is the watchword of the American navy. Following this the House of Representatives conferred public honors on the two, and ordered that the children of each should be regarded as wards of the republic. In every part of the country the name of Pike was commemorated and perpetuated. Ten States gave his name to counties. Twenty townships were christened Pike. Forts, ships, villages, creeks are known by his name. Pike's Island, at the mouth of the Minnesota River, is historic, for here the United States first made known its intentions with regard to the Indians of the Northwest. The range of blufi^s opposite Prairie du Chien, which he describes in his diary, is known as Pike's Mountain. Greatest of all, enduring while the world revolves, is Pike's Peak, the lofty sentinel of the Rocky Mountains, discovered by him and later named in grateful recollection of his life and death.

THE BOY'S STORY OF ZEBULON M. PIKE

MAP OF PIKE'S EXPLORATIONS The dotted lines show the routes followed on the several expeditions

CHAPTER I August 9— September 21, 1805

[military order of general JAMES WILKINSON]

"Headquarters, St. Louis, July 30, 1805. "Sir:

"Having completed your equipments, you are to proceed up the Mississippi with all possible diligence, taking the following instructions for your general government, which are to yield to your discretion in all cases of exigency.

"You will please to take the course of the river, and calculate distances by time, noting rivers, creeks, highlands, prairies, islands, rapids, shoals, mines, quarries, timber, water, soil, Indian villages and settlements, in a diary, to comprehend reflections on the winds and weather.

"It is interesting to government to be informed of the population and residence of the several Indian nations, of the quantity and species of skins and furs they barter per annum, and their relative price to goods;

of the tracts of country on which they generally make their hunts, and the people with whom they trade.

"You will be pleased to examine strictly for an intermediate point, between this place and the Prairie des Chiens, suitable for a mihtary post, and also on the Ouiscousing, near its mouth, for a similar establishment; and will obtain the consent of the Indians for their erection, informing them that they are intended to increase their trade and ameliorate their condition.

"You will proceed to ascend the main branch of the river until you reach the source of it, or the season may forbid your further progress without endangering your return before the waters are frozen up.

"You will endeavor to ascertain the latitude of the most remarkable places in your route, with the extent of the navigation and the direction of the different rivers which fall into the Mississippi, and you will not fail to procure specimens of whatever you may find curious, in the mineral, vegetable, or animal kingdoms, to be rendered at this place.

"In your course you are to spare no pains to conciliate the Indians and to attach them to the United States, and you may invite the great chiefs of such distant nations as have not been at this place, to pay me a visit.

"Your own good sense will regulate the consumption of your provisions, and direct the distribution of the trifling presents which you may carry with you, particularly your flags.

"I wish you a speedy, pleasant and safe tour, and am. Sir, with sentiments of respect and esteem, "Your obedient servant,

"James Wilkinson.

"P. S. — In addition to the preceding orders, you will be pleased to obtain from the Indians who claim the ground, permissions for the erection of military posts and trading houses at the mouth of the river St. Pierre, the falls of St. Anthony, and every other critical point which falls under your observation; these permissions to be granted in formal conferences, and the ground

marked off.

J.W.

"Lieutenant Z. M. Pike, "ij-f Regt. Infantry.

"Sailed from my encampment, near St. Louis, at 4 P. M., the 9th of August, 1805, with one sergeant, two corporals, and seventeen privates, in a keel boat seventy feet long, provisioned for four months. Water very rapid. Encamped on the east side of the river at the head of an island."

Such is the brief record of the beginning of this important work in which Pike responds with the prompt obedience of a military man, and transcribes with the simphcity of a soldier. The roster of his party just as he includes it in his diary may well be given, that their descendants may share in the pride of its accomplishment. "Non-commissioned officers: Sergeant Henry Kennerman, Corporal Henry Bradley, Corporal William E. Meek; Privates: John Boley, Peter Branden, John Brown, Jacob Carter, Thomas Dougherty, Wilham Gorden, Solomon Huddleston, Hugh Menaugh, Theodore Miller, John Mountjoy, David Owings, Alexander Roy, Patrick Smith, Freegift Stoute, David Whelpley."

St. Louis at this time was the principal French trading-post on the Mississippi. The early part of his journey was uneventful beyond the weathering of storms and encounters with sand-bars, which frequently obliged the men to get into the water and haul the boat over and around these obstructions. On the third day the boat reached the Portage des Sioux. This was the crossing place of the Sioux between the Mississippi and the Ilhnois Rivers, where in the early days was an old French settlement. At a cave, just beyond, the party camped in order to dry their baggage, look after their guns, and "scale their blunderbusses," as, in the language of the day, their small cannon were called.

Slowly they made their way among the heavily wooded islands of this part of the river until they reached the "Riviere du Boeuf,*' or Buffalo River, where Pike notes a "beautiful silver cliff*' and four islands which he calls the "Four Brothers." This cliff is now known as Cap au Gres, and the larger of the four islands has been christened "Sarah Ann," its sex being changed, while the others are merely numbered. A week after setting sail, still struggling with wind and weather, they passed several encampments of Indians, and among these a camp of Sioux who were "spearing a singular fish, about three feet in length, with a long flat snout." This fish is variously known as the paddlefish, spoon-billed duck, and long-billed duck. Hennepin, who discovered the Illinois River, called it "the long-beaked sturgeon"; but while it resembles a sturgeon it is without scales, like a catfish.

The Indians were friendly and advised them about the channel. In return. Pike gave them a small quantity of whiskey; the Indians responding again by an offering of fish. Fishing, indeed, was almost the only amusement of the soldiers, in the intervals of finding their way among the islands. On one day Pike records catching nearly fourteen hundred small fish. In the meantime he encountered a young man named Robedoux, to whom he gave letters for St. Louis, and again in the neighborhood of Salt River he met Mr. Keteltas, of New York, who gave him a letter to Mr. Baker, of "Prarie des Cheins," as Pike, whose spelling of French names is phonetic rather than correct, invariably gives it.

The weather was still intolerable and the men had become galled and sore from straining and pulling in their wet clothes, but more misfortunes were to come. On the morning of August i6th, when they had been journeying just a week, the boat got fast on a log which had to be sawed off under the water and cost them some hours of travel. It was afternoon when they arrived at "the houses of a Frenchman situated on the W. side of the river opposite Hurricane Island. His cattle appeared to be in fine order, but his corn in a bad state of cultivation. About one mile above his house on the W. shore is a very handsome hill, v^hich he informed me v^as level on the top, w^ith a gradual descent on either side, and a fountain of fine water."

This Frenchman's house was the early beginning of what is now Hannibal, Missouri. This classical name was given to the settlement by one Anthony Soulard, Surveyor-General, who called the neighboring river Fabius, after the Roman cunctator, and the Big Bay, now Bay St. Charles, he named Scipio. Hurricane Island has now disappeared. But near here, at the upper end of St. Charles bayou, was later the site of a town on paper, called Marion City, which has the unhappy distinction of being celebrated in Martin Chuzzlewit under the name of "Eden." Following Pike's trail in this manner, one discovers the changes and vicissitudes of the settlements on the Mississippi, now almost lost in the growth and prosperity of the great highway.

For two days the boat made good progress under sail, while the men varied their duties by fishing and exchanging salutes with passing bateaux and Indians until August 19, when the commander writes:

"Embarked early and made fine way; but at nine o'clock, in turning the point of a sand-bar our boat struck a sawyer. At the moment we did not know it had injured her; but, in a short time after, discovered her to be sinking; however, by thrusting oakum into the leak and bailing, we got her to shore on a bar, where, after entirely unloading, we with great difficulty keeled her sufficiently to cut out the plank and put in a new one. This at the time I conceived to be a great misfortune; but upon examination we discovered that the injury resulting from it was greater than we were at first induced to beheve; for upon inspection we found our provisions and clothing considerably damaged. The day was usefully and necessarily employed in assorting, sunning, and airing those articles. One of my hunters. Sparks, having gone on shore to hunt, swam the river about seven miles above and killed a deer; but finding we did not come, he returned down the river, and joined us by swimming. Whilst we were at work at our boat on the sand-beach, three canoes with Indians passed on the opposite shore. They cried, 'How-do-you-do.?' wishing us to give them an invitation to come over; but receiving no answer they passed on. We then put our baggage on board and put off, designing to go where the young man had killed the deer; but after dark we became entangled among the sand-bars, and were obliged to stop and encamp on the point of a beach. Caught two fish.

^'Jug. 20th. Arrived at the foot of the rapids De Moyen at seven o'clock. Although no soul on board had passed them, we commenced ascending them immediately. Our boat being large and moderately loaded, we found great difficulty. The river all the way through is from three-quarters to a mile wide. The rapids are 1 1 miles long, with successive ridges extending from shore to shore. The first has the greatest fall and is the most difficult to ascend. The channel on the east side is a bad one in passing the first two bars; then passes under the edge of the third; crosses to the west, and ascends on that side all the way to the Sac village. The shoals continued the whole distance. We had passed the first and most difficult shoal when we were met by Mr. William Ewing, who I understand is an agent appointed by the Government to reside with the Sacs to teach them the science of agriculture, with a French interpreter, four chiefs and fifteen men of the Sac nation, in their canoes, bearing a flag of the United States. They came down to assist me up the rapids; took out fourteen of my heaviest barrels, and put two of their men in the barge to pilot it up. Arrived at the house of Mr. Ewing about dusk. The land on both sides of the rapids is hilly, but a rich soil. Distance i6 miles."

Pike had now reached the present limits of the city of Keokuk, named after the famous Sac chief, at the mouth of the Des Moines River, which Pike elsewhere calls Means River. This house was later known as Fort Madison, doubtless on the recommendation of the explorer, since part of his errand was to select proper sites for forts.

On the next day Pike called all the chief men of the village to his camp and held a parley. He told them:

"That their great father, the president of the United States, wishing to be more intimately acquainted with the situation, wants, &c., of the different nations of

St. Louis to St. Paul ii

the red people, in our newly acquired territory of Louisiana, had ordered the general to send a number of his young warriors in different directions, to take them by dhe hand, and make such inquiries as might afford the satisfaction required.

"That I was authorized to choose situations for their trading establishments; and wished them to inform me if that place would be considered by them as central.

"That I was sorry to hear of the murder which had been committed on the river below; but, in consideration of their assurances that it was none of their nation, and the anxiety exhibited by them on the occasion, I had written to the jjeneral and informed him of what they had said on the subject.