THE BOY'S STORY OF ZEBULON M.PIKE EXPLORER OF THE GREAT SOUTHWEST EDITED BY M.G.HUMPHREYS «™J Copyright ]^"_ COPYRIGHT DEPOSm IN THE SAME SERIES Published by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS The Boy's Catlin. My Life Among the Indians, by George Catlin. Edited by Mary Gay Hum- phreys. Illustrated, izmo .... nrt $1.50 The Boy's Hakluyt. English Voyages of Adventure and Discovery, retold from Hakluyt by Eijwin M. Bacon. Illustrated. i2mo . ... net $1.50 The Boy's Drake. By Edwin M. Bacon. Illus- trated. i2mo net $1.50 Trails of the Pathfinders. By Georce Bird Grinnell. Illustrated. i2mo . net $1.50 Zebulon M. Pike. Edited by Mary Gay Hum- phreys. Illustrated. i2mo . ... net $1.50 THE BOY'S STORY OF ZEBULON M. PIKE 1 Copyright, 1911, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Published August, 191 ©CI.A293923 PREFACE This story of the explorations of Zebulon M. Pike is based upon his diary and reports; the excellent edition of Dr. El- liott 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 explana- tory 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, in- teresting 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 fig- ure 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. — . v^ Falls of St. Anthony Upper Mississippi . no 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, Secre- ^ tary 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 al- ways 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 Cap- tain 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 re- tiring in disposition, but of resolute spirit. He had only a com- mon-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 mili- tary, yet he generally held his head so much on one side that when on parade the tip of his chapeau touched his right shoul- der. He was agreeable in manner, even polished, but re- served 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 other- wise 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 selec- tion of a young man of twenty-six, for the exploration of the Mississippi River is evidence that his qualities must have at- tracted 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 in- vested 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-in- chief 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, sur- veyor, commanding officer, clerk, spy, hunter, and guide; fre- quently 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 South- west 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 im- passioned letter to the Secretary of War, asking for a testi- monial "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.