Pike, Zebulon, Expeditions of

PIKE, ZEBULON, EXPEDITIONS OF

PIKE, ZEBULON, EXPEDITIONS OF. The acquisition of Louisiana in 1803 and President Thomas Jefferson's interest in asserting control over the region led to a series of expeditions funded by the U.S. government to establish the borders of the nation, negotiate proper relations with Native American tribes and settlers, and acquire pertinent scientific information. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike led two expeditions, one in 1805 and 1806 to search for the headwaters of the Mississippi River and another in 1806 and 1807 to determine the source of the Arkansas and Red Rivers in the southern reaches of the Louisiana Purchase.

On 9 August 1805, Pike left St. Louis with twenty men for a two-thousand-mile trek into present-day Minnesota to locate the source of the Mississippi River. This nine-month expedition provided important geographical data, located and identified the major Indian nations of Minnesota Territory, and asserted U.S. dominion over the region to all settlers, especially some British and French traders who inhabited the area. Pike erroneously concluded that Cass Lake in Minnesota Territory was the source of the Mississippi River and the party returned to St. Louis on 30 April 1806. His error was corrected in 1832 when Lake Itasca was identified as the headwater of the Mississippi River.

Pike's second expedition was directed to explore the Arkansas and Red Rivers, probe the northern boundaries of New Spain, identify the economic potential of the area, and negotiate peaceful terms with the Indian population. Departing St. Louis on 15 July 1806, the expedition traveled up the Arkansas River. The group sighted Grand Peak (labeled Pikes Peak by cartographers), Colorado, in November 1806. After an unsuccessful attempt to reach the top of the mountain, Pike predicted that "no one would ever reach the summit." Turning south in search of the Red River, Pike and his group crossed the Sangre de Cristo Mountains into Spanish territory near Santa Fe and were promptly arrested. Zebulon Pike was closely interrogated by Spanish soldiers who believed that he was mapping the region of northern Mexico to satisfy the expansionist objectives of the United States as expressed in the purchase of Louisiana. Relieved of all maps and journals, Pike and his men were released on 1 July 1807, at Natchitoches, Louisiana, a border town between New Spain and the United States.

---

Pike's explorations between 1805 and 1807 failed to achieve their stated objectives: identification of the headwaters of the Mississippi River in the case of the first expedition, and the location of the source of the Arkansas River in the second expedition. Furthermore, Pike's foray into northern Mexico and his close association with General James Wilkinson, who provided the commission for both expeditions, have raised questions about his role in the Burr Conspiracy.

Despite failed objectives and intrigue, Pike's expeditions provided important geographic information, opened relations with Indian nations, highlighted the challenges of arid regions, and generated national interest in the

American Southwest. Pike's narrative, An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi and through Western Parts of Louisiana (1810), supplements the Journals of Lewis and Clark and provides a sweeping account of government sponsored exploration in the early nineteenth century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pike, Zebulon. The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike. Edited by Elliott Coues. New York: Dover, 1987.

Scheuerman, Richard, and Arthur Ellis, eds. The Expeditions of Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike: North American Journeys of Discovery. Madison, Wisc.: Demco Publishers, 2001.

James T. Carroll

See also Explorations and Expeditions: U.S. ; Western Exploration .