Pike expedition
US Army Captain Zebulon Pike led the Pike Expedition (July 15, 1806 to July 1, 1807), which was to explore south and west Louisiana. Approximately simultaneously with the Lewis and Clark Expedition was Pikes excursion the first American attempt the western Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado to investigate.
expedition
Pike left Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis , Missouri on July 15 with a detachment of 20 soldiers and 50 liberated Indians. They moved along the Missouri and Osage Rivers to a village of the Osage Indians on what is now the Kansas and Missouri border . There they brought the freed Indians back and stayed for some time in the Indian village. They then moved northwest to the Pawnee area on the Republican River in southern Nebraska . On September 29, 1806, Pike met the Grand Council of the Pawnees in a Pawnee village and told them that the US government had taken over the protection of their area. He told them to lower the Spanish flag and instead hoist the American flag.
After that, the expedition turned south and crossed the prairie to the Arkansas River . They reached the river on October 14th. This is where the group split up. One, under the command of Lieutenant James Biddle Wilkinson, pulled the Arkansas River downriver to its mouth and then up the Mississippi back to St. Louis. Pike led the other group upriver west. Pike was disappointed with the prairie . He called this landscape “The Great American Desert” in his memoir, a term that made colonization of this area difficult for decades. On November 15, Pike saw the misty distance for the first time the mountain he allegedly climbed and named "Grand Peak". The mountain later became known as " Pikes Peak ".
It is now known that Pike did not climb this mountain at all, but the name stuck. In any case, Pike tried the ascent, but was not adequately equipped to climb the 4300 m high mountain. As winter approached, the group set out along the Arkansas River to the spectacular Royal George Canyon at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, which they reached on December 7th. The next destination of the expedition was the upper reaches of the Red River . From there they wanted to move downriver to the Mississippi and reach relatively safe territory. Due to geographical ineptitude and sometimes stupid mistakes, the group failed to find the river. Nor were they equipped to lead an expedition through the mountains or to endure a harsh winter. They headed north and came to the southern arm of the Platte River . They followed this north and finally reached what they believed to be the upper reaches of the Red River. They followed this downstream, but came back to their starting point on the Arkansas River. So they had been walking in circles for weeks.
Hungry, chilled and exhausted, they moved further south over the mountains. Several men had to be left behind due to exhaustion. Still, Pike kept pushing her. On January 30th, they reached another river that they believed must be the Rio Grande near Alamosa , Colorado . This time it was the Red River they were looking for before. Pike built a fort here and collected the men he had to leave behind on the way.
Capture
On February 26, Pike and his men were captured by Spanish soldiers from nearby Santa Fe at the fort . They were accused of espionage, which was not entirely unreasonable. The Spaniards also picked up the men they had left behind and moved south with them. Via Santa Fe, Albuquerque and El Paso they finally reached Chihuahua , the capital of the state. The members of Pike's group were treated with respect by the Spanish and were celebrated by the locals. During the march, Pike kept exact records of the area's military strength and population.
Chihuahua's governor Salcedo found himself unable to detain an officer from another country because he did not want to strain the friendly relations between the countries. He ordered Pike to be released. However, some of his men were held in prison in Mexico for years .
Pike and a few of his men were escorted north via San Antonio to the Louisiana border at Natchitoches , which they reached on July 1, 1807. The Spaniards officially protested to the US government, which insisted that it was exclusively a research expedition.
Ironically, Pike's capture and march through New Mexico , northern Mexico, and Texas provided Pike with more information on Spanish troop strength than his expedition could ever do.