[II-41] To a point on the river, in Pueblo Co., between Nepesta and the Huerfano, short of which river Pike's camp-mark is set. Pike charts the Huerfano as his "2nd Fork." We also notice that he marks two Spanish camps, o o, for the day's march, as called for by the text, though they are by no means set down "within three miles of each other." Nepesta is only a hamlet and station, but serves to mark a well-known crossing of the Arkansaw. The A., T., and S. F. R. R. now crosses here, meeting the Mo. Pac. R. R., and the two tracks run together into Pueblo. The Huerfano is a great river, which heads in the Sangre de Cristo range, among the mountains of the Sierra Blanca range, and by various other affluents, as Muddy cr. and others, heading in the very passes of the Sangre range which we shall have to discuss when Pike's forlorn and frostbitten party reaches them. Some other tributaries drain from the W. side of the Wet mts. The union of these in Huerfano Park starts the river out of the mountains by Huerfano pass; in the plains it receives Cucharas r., a tributary of nearly equal size, from further S., and their united stream seeks the Arkansaw on a N. E. course. A place called Jackson is on the river near its mouth; opposite, across the Arkansaw, is Booneville.

The place above mentioned by the name Nepesta reminds me to say that Rio Napeste was a Spanish name of the Arkansaw r. itself, at least in its upper or Colorado reaches. One of Pike's own maps letters "Rio de Napesi," a phrase reappearing as "Rio de Nanesi" on Lewis and Clark's map of 1814; and yet other forms of the name occur. The phrase is obviously Spanish, but the word itself I do not recognize as such—very likely it is derived from the Ute Indian language. Humboldt's map letters "Rio de Napestle."

[II-42] The "front only," a phrase italicized in the original, means that only the vanguard of the army met the insolent Pawnees. This probably consisted of Pike, Robinson, and Vasquez; the rest of the invading forces, being 13 rank and file, main column and rearguard combined, having not yet come up to engage the enemy.

[II-43] The Huerfano (Orphan) r., marked "2nd Fork" on Pike's map, is passed to-day without remark—no doubt Pike was thinking more of Pawnees than of geography. In consequence of the fracas, little progress was made; probably less than 17 m., as we see by the mileage assigned to the 23d. Camp can be set little if any beyond the site of old Fort Reynolds, which stood on the S. bank of the river, about opposite the mouth of Black Squirrel or Chico cr. This falls in from the N., on a course parallel with that of Fountain r.; it arises by several heads in the Arkansaw divide, N. E. of Colorado Springs, opposite heads of Kiowa and Bijou creeks (branches of the South Platte); at its mouth is Chico sta. (Nyburg), on the N. side of the Arkansaw, 12 m. E. of Pueblo. Nearly opposite the mouth of the Huerfano is Booneville; this locality used to be a regular camping-ground on the old Cherokee trail, and here was a ford across the Arkansaw, opposite Charles Audebee's (or Autobee's) house.

[II-44] Pike's Third Fork, charted "3d Fork," is the San Carlos or St. Charles r. His Grand Forks is the confluence of Fountain r. with the Arkansaw, at present city of Pueblo—perhaps the best known place where we have found him since the Expedition started. The Charles arises in the Wet mts., where also heads its main branch, called Greenhorn r., as in fact the Charles itself often used to be. Their streams unite in the prairie 8 m. S. of Pueblo, and fall into the Arkansaw 7 m. E. of that city, or about halfway to Fort Reynolds. It was in this vicinity that the old Cherokee trail forked, the right-hand road taking up toward the gold diggings, while the other kept on to Pueblo. The Greenhorn mt., about which the San Carlos heads, has an ascertained altitude of 12,230 feet. Fountain r. is still called Fontaine r. by those who prefer French to English, and used to be more elaborately styled La Rivière de la Fontaine qui Bouille, River of the Boiling Spring—not that the water is hot, but that it bubbles as it wells out of the rocks, as if it were boiling. "This spring," says Marcy, Pra. Trav. 1859, p. 300, "or, rather, springs, as there are two, both of which boil up out of solid rock, are among the greatest natural curiosities that I have ever seen. The water is strongly impregnated with salts, but is delightful to the taste, and somewhat similar to the Congress water." But before General Marcy's time the springs had become noted. On the 17th of July, 1843, they were visited by Frémont, who describes them at length in his Rep., orig. ed. 1845, p. 117; Mr. Charles Preuss, of his party, thought the water resembled that of the Seltzer Springs in the Grand Duchy of Nassau. About nine-tenths of the solid matters in solution is chalk. When I was at Manitou Springs, a few years ago, it was a common sight to see people in the electric cars with bottles of the water, which had already become an extensively advertised commercial article. Fountain r. has also its Spanish name of Rio Almagre or Almagra, meaning red ocher or other reddish earth. It is formed of two main courses which head about Pike's Peak and other elevations of the same outlying (Front) range of the Rockies, called respectively Fountain and Monument cr.; these unite at Colorado Springs. Monument cr., coming southward in the foothills, is composed of various others, called Beaver, Dead Man's, West Monument, Crystal, etc. Fountain cr., which comes eastward from Pike's Peak itself and that vicinity, seeks the plains by the villages of Manitou Springs and Colorado City, and the city of Colorado Springs (seat of El Paso Co.)—for such are the respective designations of these places, now well known to tourists and especially valetudinarians. At Manitou Springs it receives Ruxton cr., through Ingleman cañon, now traversed by the cogwheel Manitou and Pike's Peak R. R.; item, it receives Glen "Erie" (Eyrie) cr., which runs through the little mountain park called Garden of the Gods—a spot not favorable to agriculture and one whose alleged proprietors maintain their wonted alibi. Visitors who now inspect the natural curiosities hereabouts, including a cave of very respectable dimensions and disagreeable atmosphere, go up a carriage road which follows for some distance what was an old Indian trail between South Park and the plains. Fountain r., thus composed, runs S. along the E. base of the R. mts., receiving small affluents all along on either hand, as Bear, N. Cheyenne, S. Cheyenne, Sand, Jimmy's Camp, and Little Fountain creeks, and falls into the Arkansaw at Pueblo, as already said. It is Pike's "North Fork" of the Arkansaw, and this is the stream nearly parallel with which he proceeds via Turkey cr. toward the "high point of the blue mountain," i. e., Pike's Peak. His breastwork was built on the S. side of the Arkansaw, slightly above the confluence of Fountain r., and thus within present city limits of Pueblo—though the built-up portions of South Pueblo are mostly a mile or so from the confluence. A suburb of South Pueblo is called Bessemer, where stand the great smelters and other evidences of that commercial energy which has caused Pueblo to be sometimes styled "the Pittsburg of the West," though the pure air is not to be compared with the smutty gas one breathes at the old site of Fort Duquesne. A mile from Bessemer is Lake Minnequa, a resort of the Pueblonians for boating, beer, and music. Pueblo has retained for more than half a century a name that was originally not a proper but a common noun. Thus we read in Frémont, Rep. 1845, p. 116: "Continuing down the [Fountain] river, we encamped at noon on the 14th [of July, 1843] at its mouth, on the Arkansas river. A short distance above our encampment, on the left bank of the Arkansas, is a pueblo, (as the Mexicans call their civilized Indian villages,) where a number of mountaineers, who had married Spanish women in the vicinity of Taos, had collected together, and occupied themselves in farming, carrying on at the same time a desultory Indian trade. They were principally Americans, and treated us with all the rude hospitality their situation admitted." Frémont calls the river "Fontaine-qui-bouit" (not Bouille). I understand that Pueblo was known at one time, during the '40's, as Hardscrabble—a name now given to another place, for which see a note beyond. I am told by Mr. Maguire that "Jimmy's Camp"—now the name of a creek above said—was a traditionally well-known place where one "Jimmy" had a small trading outfit, mainly for the Utes; he was killed by the Plains Indians. Present Jimmy Camp is a hamlet about Corral Bluffs, 9 m. due E. of Colorado Springs.

[II-45] This was a slight structure, occupied only for a few days, and soon disappeared. But it is notable as the first wooden building of an American in present Colorado, and very probably our flag first flew in that State over these logs. There was no trace of it to be found in 1819, according to Long. It was built on the S. side of the Arkansaw, a little above the then confluence of Fountain r., within the present city of Pueblo (South Pueblo). The precise spot has never been recovered, and probably never will be. Changes in the river may have soon washed it away, or left it at some unrecognizable point on the prairie. The Arkansaw here has suffered great changes in details of its course, and is liable to inundation: witness the disastrous flood this year (1894), which almost drowned the city itself. In this connection I may cite part of an interesting letter with which I am favored by Mr. C. H. Small of the Board of Trade of Pueblo, whose knowledge of real estate in that city is probably unsurpassed. It refers to the discovery by excavation of an old fort which cannot by any possibility be Pike's, yet in the course of human nature is liable to become so considered by some, and in due time to enter history as such. Mr. Small says: "A fort was once built on the south side of the Arkansas just north of the Farris Hotel—between this hotel and the Santa Fé R. R. tracks at Union Avenue. The channel of the river changed in the seventies to a more southerly and straighter course. The occupants of the fort were all massacred by Indians on one occasion. In laying a pipe on Union Avenue two years ago [1892], one or more skeletons were exhumed, doubtless the remains of those massacred. This was at the depth of ten feet below the present level of the street, and directly in front of the Farris Hotel; the logs of the old fort were come upon at the same time. The grade of the street had been raised five feet, about 1885." Mr. Small's letter is dated Feb. 23d, 1894. In further correspondence on this subject I am given to understand that this fort was an adobe structure built by the American Fur Co., on what is now Union Avenue. On Christmas Day, 1854, a drunken spree ended in a free fight, in which all the whites were killed by the Indians but one, who fled to a smaller post on the Arkansaw at the mouth of the St. Charles, 7 or 8 m. off, whence a burying-party came next day. For a long time there was also an adobe tower or lookout on top of the hill, about present intersection of Second and Summit streets; but it has entirely disappeared.

[II-46] Pike starts up the W. bank of Fountain r., but soon bears N. W., directly through the present city, in the direction of Turkey cr. This is a stream which runs (when it runs anywhere) parallel with Fountain r., 10 to 15 m. further W.; it heads about Cheyenne Peak, the foremost though not the highest of the Front range in the vicinity of Pike's Peak. The air-line distance of Pike's Peak from Pueblo is about 50 m.; the distance over any ground by which the summit could be reached would be as far again. In making this side-trip our hero proceeds with the determination expressed in the modern slang phrase, "Pike's Peak or bust!" We must remember that he knew nothing of mountains, so to speak, from personal experience, and had never in his life been higher than some pass in the Alleghanies, perhaps about the elevation of the ground on which he built his breastwork (say 4,700 feet). In the prairie close by Colorado Springs there stands a little knob, up which a man could run in a few minutes, and which has been dubbed in derision, "Mt. Washington," because it is exactly as high as that celebrated peak in the White mts. of New Hampshire—6,288 feet. Though Pike never surmounted his eternal monument, he overcame all those dangers, difficulties, and hardships which did "bust" many a later, less hardy, and less resolute adventurer who "bucked against the Rockies." Tourists and invalids have now the option of ascending to the summit of his peak from Colorado Springs by stage, or from Manitou Springs by the cogwheel railroad, which has been in operation since July, 1891. By the latter mode of conveyance I have ascended the Rigi in Switzerland, as well as Mt. Washington in my native State; but neither of these afforded the sensation I experienced upon the summit of Pike's Peak, looking far down upon the greatest elevation he attained on the present excursion. His 12 m. N. W. to-day sets him on the prairie between Fountain r. and Turkey cr., nearer the latter. The present road from Pueblo to Turkey cr. strikes the usually dry bed of the latter at about 17 miles' distance, follows up the E. bank to the foot of the mountain, crosses there, keeps on past East Turkey cr. through Dead Man's cañon, crosses the heads of Little Fountain cr., and continues to skirt the E. base of the range, past Cheyenne Peak to Colorado Springs. Up to the cañon, at least, this is exactly the route Pike took to reach Mt. Cheyenne.

[II-47] In the hilly country along the E. side of Turkey cr., and then on that creek, heading straight for Cheyenne Peak; camp on the creek when he came to water, probably about where West Turkey cr. falls in; altitude perhaps 6,000 feet. The situation is now in the ravine of the creek, with elevations of 6,500 feet on the right, and others 7,000 to 8,000 feet on the left and ahead. The creek receives small tributaries from the left all along, each gulch having its little stream, or bed of one. One of the largest of these is West Turkey cr., running S. E. from altitudes of about 9,500 feet. Further along comes down the parallel stream of East Turkey cr., heading S. from Mt. Rosa from altitudes of about 10,500 feet, and falling in by Dead Man's cañon. The summit of the Cheyenne mt. is due N. of Pike's present position, at an air-line distance of 10 or 12 m.; Mt. Rosa bears N. by W., somewhat further off. The situation is such that, if Pike should keep straight ahead, through Dead Man's cañon, he would run across Little Fountain cr., and proceed to climb Cheyenne mt. from the S.; but if he should bear to the left, up some one of the Turkey Creek affluents I have mentioned or alluded to, he would much sooner reach what he would be likely to call "the summit of the chain" (see text of the 27th)—that is, an altitude of about 9,000 feet, with Mt. Rosa bearing N. and the summit of Cheyenne mt. N. N. E., each at an air-line distance of 6 or 8 m. I think this was most probably his route; but do not see that we have the data to establish the fact.

[II-48] Pike's expectation of climbing his peak and getting back to his camp on Turkey cr. in one day may serve to console some who have thought they would like to take a stroll before breakfast to the same peak from the Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs. Though Pike's actual footsteps in these mountains be not recoverable with exactitude, there is no uncertainty as to about where he was on the 26th and 27th, when he climbed S. of Mts. Cheyenne and Rosa to an altitude of about 9,000 feet, and then returned. Mt. Cheyenne is the foremost of the group of peaks in this part of the Front range; it stands out in such bold relief that uninformed visitors to Colorado Springs often mistake it for Pike's Peak. But its altitude is only 9,407 or 9,948 feet, as estimated by different authorities, and thus considerably less than that of various other peaks in the vicinity. Some of these are: Cameron Cone, 10,685 or 11,560 feet; Mt. Rosa, 11,427 or 11,572 feet; Mt. Pisgah, given as 10,487 feet; Pilate Peak, given as 12,420 feet. The two last named are further W. and S.; Cheyenne, Cameron, and Rosa form angles of a triangle, E. of Pike's Peak, that "grim sentinel of the Rockies," as it is styled by some, or the "Grand Peak," as Pike calls it, which towers over all the rest to the generally accepted altitude of 14,147 feet. These figures can easily be recalled to mind if one remembers that twice seven is 14. This peak is due W. of Colorado Springs, at an air-line distance of 12 m. Visitors are driven to the summit by way of the Cascade carriage road, running up Cascade cañon from a point in the Ute Pass 11 m. from Colorado Springs. This stage route is a trifle over 17 m. from Cascade, or a total of about 28 m. from the Antlers Hotel, Colorado Springs. During the season when the crop of pink-toed tender-foots is harvested, wagons make the round trip in one day, 9 a. m.-6 p. m., spending an hour at the Halfway House and another at the Peak. This is said to be the highest stage-line in the United States. There is also a road up Bear Creek cañon to the Seven Lakes, but not to the Peak, and no line of stages is regularly run on it. The Cheyenne Mountain road also goes to these lakes, and has been run through to the mining camp on Cripple cr., which lately made such a noise in Colorado. This is S. W. of the peak, about 18 air-line miles from Colorado Springs. The Pike's Peak Cog Railway takes a much shorter, steeper, and straighter course than the stage road, by way of Ingleman cañon and Ruxton cr. The cog line starts from Manitou, 6¼ m. from Colorado Springs, and is 8¾ m. long. The round trip is made in about five hours, two hours each way, with one hour between, on the summit. This is ample time; for tourists find Pike's Peak a convenient place to leave as soon as they have paid twenty-five cents for a cup of the worst coffee in the world, and tried in vain to stand up against a wind of 50 or 60 m. an hour. Those who may be more interested in Pike's Peak at a distance are referred to a dainty booklet entitled Legends of the Pike's Peak Region, 8vo, Denver, 1892; it is full of quaint local lore, especially of the traditions of the only mountain Pike climbed part way up. Among all the myths that cling to the Peak, obscuring the facts in the case like the clouds that mantle the mountain, the very basic one—that one on which the mountain rests, so to speak—is the universal tradition that the brave young officer discovered and ascended the Peak which upholds his name. One wishes that such laurels as he earned and well deserved had been plucked from an eminence unknown and unattained before. But Pike's Peak had been long and well known to the Spaniards; it was the Ultima Thule of their possessions; and for that matter, was not Pike at the very time in pursuit of the Spanish troops under Malgares, who had gone along just before him? It is true that Pike, Robinson, Brown, and Miller—the four whose names are thus linked should be upheld together—are the first white men known to have come within "the distance of 15 or 16 miles" of the peak, as it seemed to them, when the "Grand Peak" appeared "as high again as what we ascended and would have taken a whole day's march to arrive at its base." This is the testimony of the hero of the occasion; his evidence is alike incisive and decisive. So far as we are informed by authentic history, Pike's Peak was first surmounted by Dr. Edwin James, Mr. Wilson, and two other men, July 13th and 14th, 1820, during Major S. H. Long's expedition to the Rocky mts., when it was named James' Peak. When, where, and by whom the mountain was first called Pike's Peak is unknown, to me at least; but its earliest appearance in print should be discoverable. The date is probably somewhere in the '40's, or still earlier. The name was certainly in verbal use in the '30's. Mr. Oliver P. Wiggins, now of Denver, who was on the plains in 1838, heard only "Pike's Peak," as a phrase already in common speech. Gregg's map of 1844 legends "Pikes Peak (or James')." Beckwith's Report of 1853, pub. 1855, p. 30, has only "James'." The alternative names ran parallel for some years. G. K. Warren states, Pac. R. R. Rep. XI., 1855, p. 24: "Captain Frémont, in his report and map of explorations in 1843 and 1844, calls it Pike's Peak, probably because it was so called by the white people in the country at the time": see also George Frederick Ruxton's Adventures, etc., London, Murray, 1861, but written much earlier. Governor Alva Adams, in the address already cited, p. 13, discusses the point as "one of the historical mysteries," and adds: "The name of Pike's Peak begins to appear in the literature of the prairies and mountains about the middle of the century, but it was not irrevocably christened until the Pike's Peak gold excitement, when the name was fixed to remain as long as men love to listen to stories of valor." Whether it originated spontaneously or was formally introduced, it will probably never die; the alliteration of the words would be enough to keep the phrase in the mouths of the people, let alone its justice and propriety. As for any Spanish claim which may hereafter be established respecting prior discovery or ascent of the peak, the following extract from the Legends already cited is pertinent: "From Pike's Peak to Popocatepetl the land is a palimpsest, dotted with ruins of remotest antiquity, the relics of a people whose records are replete with poetry and strange romance. Their manuscripts enrich the archives of Mexico and Madrid, and yet we learn but little of them. They moulder in the missions of the suspicious Spanish priests, or among the mystic treasures of the Pueblos, and are decaying unread."

[II-49] The trail of this excursus, as dotted on Pike's map, would be enough to show how far he was from reaching the summit of the "Highest Peak" there delineated, in the absence of any other data. Such an affair as this would never have been understated or underdrawn intentionally. Yet the dot-line leaves him further from the peak than I am inclined to think he actually was; but it is obviously incorrect in detail, and thus no offset to the explicit text. The wide looping of the trail merely indicates a "round trip" from Pueblo and return. The only considerable difference in Pike's going and coming was, that in the latter case he "kept straight down the creek to avoid the hills," over which he had before trudged. The map exaggerates the size of Turkey cr., as well as of Fountain r. It is possible that someone thoroughly familiar with the topography of the mountains at the heads of Turkey and Little Fountain creeks may yet work out Pike's trail in exact detail.

[II-50] Up S. bank of the Arkansaw, past places called Goodnight, Rock Cañon, Vegas, and Meadows; also past Rock and Peck's or Willow Springs creeks, both S., to a point near but short of the mouth of Turkey cr., N.

[III-1] Crossing the river from S. to N. above the mouth of Turkey cr., somewhere about the place now called Swallows, below the mouth of Rush cr., and where the bluffs come down to the Arkansaw. The D. and R. G. R. R. now makes a crossing a little higher up. Passing up the N. bank, opp. Red cr., S., the party continued to Carlisle Springs and camped in that vicinity, just over the border of Frémont Co. Red cr. is lettered "Bed" on the G. L. O. map of 1892.

[III-2] The excessive estimate of the height of Pike's Peak, 18,581 instead of 14,147, was in part due to a misapprehension of the elevation of the prairie whence the observation was taken. This was assumed to be 8,000, but is really little, if any, over 5,000. The altitude of Pico de Teyde, the volcanic Peak of Teneriffe, in the Canary isls., is given on good authority as 12,200; and that of Mt. Chimborazo, one of the highest peaks in the Ecuadorean Andes, is placed at 20,498 feet by Whymper, who ascended it in 1880.

[III-3] Passing Beaver cr., N., with places called Beaver Depot and Beaver at and near its mouth; passing opp. Hardscrabble cr., S., with a place called Adobe at its mouth, where one of the two railroads now makes a crossing; continuing up N. bank, past Ute or Brush Hollow cr., N., and Eight Mile cr., N., to camp below Six Mile cr., N., about opposite the mouth of Coal cr., S., where is now the town of Florence.

[III-4] Passing opposite mouth of Oak cr., S., Six Mile cr., N., and Chandler cr., S., then coming to the "bad place of falling rocks," which is where a bluff point comes down to the river—all these places within 2 or 3 m. of camp; and continuing past Oil cr., N., to camp within the present limits of Cañon City, Frémont Co. This is already a considerable village, and is growing. It nestles directly at the foot of the mountains, under the shadow of Noonan's and Frémont's Peaks, and derives its name from the remarkable formation which the text presently describes. This is the Grand Cañon of the Arkansaw, a part of which is well known to tourists as the "Royal Gorge," because it has been exploited so much on the folders of the D. and R. G. R. R. But it is worthy of exploitation, and does not disappoint the expectations raised by the advertisements of the "scenic line of the world." Cañon City is almost in the very jaws of this vast chasm, through which the Arkansaw has forced its way to issuance on the plains. It was practically impassable, even afoot, until a way was hewn and blasted for the railroad which now traverses its whole length. Both trails which lead west from Cañon City get around the terrible place; one on the north starts up Sand cr., past Noonan's and Frémont's Peaks, and swings around to Parkdale at the head of the cañon; and the other, on the south, crosses Grape cr., traverses Webster Park, and comes down Copper cr. to Parkdale. Next after Pueblo, the basis of the Pike's Peak trip, as we have seen, Cañon City is the most notable place on Pike's Arkansaw route. The party stops here awhile to scout about, before starting for South Park; and to this place they return afterward, build a blockhouse, leave two men, and start on their perilous adventures by way of Grape cr. to the Sangre de Cristo range and so to the Rio Grande.

[III-5] One of these is, of course, the main Arkansaw, in the Royal Gorge; the other, on the left, or S., is Grape cr., which runs through the Wet mts. to its confluence with the Arkansaw a mile or so above Cañon City, under Noonan's Peak. Grape cr. used to be called Pike's fork of the Arkansaw, as by Gregg, 1844; but this name lapsed. Bringing it in for a moment, we find the "forks" of the Arkansaw to be: 1st fork of Pike, Purgatory r.; 2d fork of Pike, Huerfano r.; 3d fork of Pike, St. Charles r.; Grand forks of Pike, confluence of Fountain r. with the Arkansaw; Pike's fork of some books, Grape cr. From his present position at Cañon City, Pike explores the Royal Gorge and Grape cr. to some little extent, and abandons them both; he scouts about for the Spanish trail, and having found it, as he supposes, starts N., up Oil cr., very likely by the present road from the town to that stream.

[III-6] A mountain trail with no course or distance given is not encouraging to follow. In earlier studies of Pike, I had supposed he reached South Park by way of Currant cr., as he might have done. But no doubt remains in my mind that he took the Oil Creek route. If we regard his map attentively, we see that he went up along a large creek which he fetches into the Arkansaw below the blockhouse he built on his return to Cañon City, and which is certainly Oil cr. Camp of Dec. 10th is therefore in a "dry ravine" within "one mile" of Oil cr.—perhaps at the first ravine above where Wilson cr. falls in from the left, or on Wilson cr. itself. Oil cr. is a very well known stream, on the banks of which oil works have been established, and at whose mouth is a place called Reno, about 4 m. below Cañon City. It heads by two main branches and many small tributaries in the mountains S. of Ute Pass, W. of Pike's Peak, and about Saddle and Thirty-nine Mile mt., and runs S. about 50 m. into the Arkansaw. Pike goes up Oil cr. and takes the western one of its two main branches, crosses a divide, and strikes the South Platte r. in South Park.

[III-7] Pike has gone N. from Cañon City some 30 or 35 m., having Oil cr. on his right, and having crossed certain of its tributaries from the west known as Wilson, South Oil, and High creeks. He is now camped on West Oil cr. (the western one of the two main branches), at or near a place called Truro. This is a sufficiently well known locality, in a nest of mountains whence Oil cr. gathers several affluents from various directions. On another branch of the creek is the place called Alnwick, near where Riggs used to have his ranch, or in the same place. West Oil cr. is also called Ten Mile cr.; another small stream is Martin's or Slate cr. Some of the surrounding points are: Mt. Pisgah, 10,322 or 10,487 feet high; Rhyolite Peak, 10,860; Dome Rock or the Needle, 9,463 feet—these on Pike's right as he faces N., and S. W. to W. of his peak; while on his left are in succession: Iron Knoll or Trachyte Knob (lettered "Trackite" on G. L. O. map, 1892); Saddle mt.; Thirty-nine Mile mt., 11,000 feet; Chalcedony Buttes, 10,400 and 10,200 feet. Now the usual way out of this place is N. by Alnwick or Rigg's ranch, between Dome Rock and Saddle mt., over a divide about 9,200 feet high, known as Two Creek or Twin Creek Pass, which fetches out on S. Platte waters at Florissant, on the W. border of El Paso Co.; but Pike takes a route to the left, up West Oil or Ten Mile cr.

[III-8] Between Arkansan and Missourian waters, in a broad sense; between the Oil Creek branch of the Arkansaw and the South Platte r., in a stricter sense; more exactly still, between West Oil or Ten Mile cr. and one of several small spring runs that make into the S. Platte. Pike makes the pass between Ten Mile mt. (right) and Thirty-nine Mile mt. (left), at an elevation of something over 9,000 feet. The difference between this Oil Creek way into South Park and the way by Currant cr. is that, had he come up the latter, he would have made Currant Creek Pass, 9,550 feet, between Thirty-Nine Mile mt. (right) and Chalcedony Buttes (left); it is simply a matter of "cotoying" (flanking) Thirty-nine Mile mt. E. or W. By the way he came, he strikes the South Platte r., in South Park, Park Co., at the very nearest approach it makes to the point he left on the Arkansaw—that is to say, at the elbow it makes where, after flowing S. E. through South Park, it turns sharp N. E. and enters what is called the Upper or Eleven Mile cañon. These particulars are assured: for Pike finds that the river "ran northeast." Camp of Dec. 13th is set in the hills 2 m. south of the river, near the head of the cañon just said.

Pike's route from Cañon City and back to that place has been a subject of much doubt and discussion, in which some very wild notions have been indulged by those who had any opinion whatever as to where he went on this round trip. It has even been mooted whether he was ever on the South Platte, or even in South Park at all. A cautious and tentative statement is ventured in the 1889 Denver reprint of the London ed. of the Travels, where my friend Mr. Maguire says in his new Preface: "The exact line of march of the party from the time it reached the foot of the Grand Cañon ["Royal Gorge"] of the Arkansas is not easy to trace. It is likely that it reached the Platte in the South Park, and quite possible that it penetrated to the headwaters of the Gunnison." I do not profess to be able to trail a mosquito over a granite bowlder, but I think we shall be able to discover precisely where Pike went on this trip, where he entered South Park, his course through it, the place where he left it, and how, after ascending the Arkansaw for two days, he descended this river to Cañon City. Every one of Pike's camps can be fixed within 2 or 3 m., and some of them with absolute precision. He was never on the Gunnison, or any other Pacific waters. One who wishes to satisfy himself on all these points needs only to study Pike's text with Sheet vii. of Hayden's Atlas of Colorado.

[III-9] At or near the place now called Howbert, on the N. bank of the S. Platte. This great river has its uttermost source in that section of the Continental Divide which bounds South Park on the N. W., above the sources of the Arkansaw, and in the southward continuation of the same mountains. The latter, bounding South Park on the W., and known as the Park range, are not the Continental Divide, because the Arkansaw r. here intervenes, and the Divide separates the Arkansan water-shed from that of Gunnison r. Having gathered its numerous tributaries from these mountains, the South Platte sweeps southeastward across South Park, and then turns abruptly northeastward to leave the Park by the Eleven Mile Cañon already mentioned, finds its way through the Front range south of Denver, and runs in the prairie till it joins the North Platte in Lincoln Co., Nebraska. The Col. Mid. R. R. now runs from Colorado Springs, past Florissant, through Eleven Mile cañon, and skirts the South Platte across South Park, on its way to the already notable mining camp Leadville, which no doubt has a future as well as a past; the Denv., S. P., and Pac. R. R. traverses South Park from N. to S.; and each of these roads leaves the park on the S. through Trout Creek Pass, where Pike did also when he struck over for the Arkansaw. These points will appear more clearly as we proceed to trail the Expedition through South Park.

[III-10] Further up the N. bank of the S. Platte, to vicinity of the C. M. R. R. station, Sulphur Springs.

[III-11] Which could never be struck on any such course as this. To go hence S. W. would take the Expedition over the Park range to the Arkansaw, thence over the Continental Divide to the headwaters of the Gunnison, and so on.

[III-12] Hartsell's or Hartzell's ranch was located in the crotch of the forks Pike passed, and the town or railroad station by this name is now 2 m. above, on the N. bank of the S. fork, or Little Platte r. The two forks are of approximately equal size; but the N. or right-hand fork is the main one. The other, left-hand one, which Pike goes up a very short distance, and finds it does not suit him, is formed by the confluence of various creeks, among which may be named High, Herring's (Agate cr. of Hayden), Buffalo, and Long Gulch. Camp is set about 2 m. west of Hartsell's, near where High cr. falls into this branch of the S. Platte.

[III-13] Pike has actually got on the old San Juan road, which he follows more or less nearly out of South Park, as does also a branch of the Col. Midl. R. R. He enters those outliers of the Park range called the Trout Creek Pass hills, gets over the range itself by this pass, supposed to be 9,800 feet high, and goes down Trout cr. Some named places near or on his route are Salt Works, Mill Top, Higgins', and McGee's. Camp on Trout cr., in the vicinity of the last named place.

[III-14] Merely shifting camp a little distance down Trout cr. from the gorge to the open country, about the mouth of the creek, through which the Arkansaw here flows. It is a very well known place. The D. and R. G., the Col. Midl., and the D., S. P., and P. R. R. come together here; in the immediate vicinity are places called Charcoal (about where, I suppose, camp was set), Midway, and Schwanders; a little below is Nathrop, where the D., S. P. and P. R. R. starts over the Continental Divide for Gunnison; and a little above is Buena Vista, seat of Chaffee Co., which Pike entered when he made the Trout Creek Pass. The Arkansaw is here flowing about S. S. E. The Continental Divide is directly W., 15 to 20 m.; the mountains that make it are the Sawatch range, some of whose peaks along here are: Mt. Princeton, 14,190 feet, nearest Pike's camp; Mt. Antero, 14,245; Mt. Shavano, 14,230; Mt. Keyes, 13,700. Arnold's cr. falls in a little below Trout cr., on the same side; while from the Sawatch mts. come Chalk and Cottonwood creeks, respectively below and above camp. Pike is going to descend the Arkansaw from this station to Cañon City; but he first starts his people in that direction, while with two men he makes a little reconnaissance up river, in the narrow valley between the Sawatch and Park ranges.

[III-15] Pike stepped off the ties of the Col. Midl. R. R., if he went up the N. side of the river, and those of the Denver and Rio Grande, if he passed on the other side. His camp was between the station Fisher of the former railroad, and Riverside of the latter, below the mouth of Pine cr., which comes down from Mt. Harvard. To reach this point, he passed Buena Vista and the stations Dornick and Americus; also, the place where one Leonard had his ranch, and there used to be a toll-gate—for an old mail route passed by here. Two streams he passed were Cottonwood cr., on the left, coming down from between Mts. Princeton and Yale, latter 14,187 feet; and next Seven Mile or Sweetwater cr., on the right, down a branch of which came the old California road. He is under the shadow of Mt. Harvard, of the Sawatch range, 14,375 feet high, and Marmot Peak in the Park range.

[III-16] The highest point on the Arkansaw ever reached by the Expedition, and that only by three of its members. This is the nearest Pike ever came to Pacific waters; and it is close enough to have easily started the erroneous tradition. This has been given currency in General A. W. Greely's sketch, and very lately also supported by Governor Alva Adams, in his address, July 12th, 1894, p. 13, where we read: "He wandered west over routes we cannot identify until he must have found the Tomichi, a tributary of the Gunnison, and the only time Pike touched Pacific waters." But let us see about this. Assuming the substantial accuracy of Pike's mileages for the 21st and 22d, or at any rate, that they were not understated, and taking the Trout Creek camp to have been 6 m. below Buena Vista, his uttermost point may be fixed within a mile or two of Twin Lakes station on the D. and R. G. R. R. This place takes name from the two beautiful lakes which lie from 2 to 5 m. westward. This determination would be more particularly acceptable, as the point indicated falls almost exactly on the boundary between Chaffee and Lake cos. I think, very probably, that the "large point of the mountain," on turning which Pike viewed the further course of the Arkansaw, was that sharp spur which projects to the river on the left, 3 m. above Granite station and Cache cr., and at the foot of which falls in the discharge stream from the lakes. Pike could have seen up river a good way from any elevation in this vicinity, though by no means "at least 35 miles." I doubt that the course of any river in these parts is continuously visible for this distance; besides, there is no 35 m. of the Arkansaw above Twin Lakes. The Arkansaw is composed from three branches which unite west of Leadville—the middle, Tennessee fork, heading in the Continental Divide, in and near Tennessee Pass, in relation with heads of Eagle r., a tributary of the Grand; the east fork, heading about Frémont Pass with Ten Mile cr., a tributary of Blue r. and so of the Grand; which two, having joined, are joined by the west or Lake fork. There is little to choose between the middle and east forks, as to which is the ultimate "source" of the Arkansaw. Both are now meandered by the D. and R. G. R. R., the east one also by the Denver, Leadville and Gunnison division of the U. P.; while the Col. Midl. goes along the west fork. Below the junction of this fork the Arkansaw receives various small tributaries, chiefly from the Park range on the east, as those from the gulches known as Iowa, Thompson, Empire, Union, Weston, and Granite; the corresponding streams on the other side, from the Sawatch range, mostly fall into the west fork, as Half Moon cr. and others; but one which gathers from Mt. Elbert falls into the main river 2 m. above the discharge of Twin Lakes. The lesser of these two is fed by Lake and other small streams, and discharges into the greater one, which in turn discharges into the Arkansaw. The lakes are about 1½ and 2½ m. in their respective diameters. Between the two is a place called Interlaken, reminding one of the fact that Colorado is often styled the Switzerland of America.

[III-17] We must guess as well as we can where this was. Pike, Miller, and Mountjoy started early from their camp below Pine cr., about Riverside station, and made a forced march well into the night. We may credit them with 25 m., and suppose them to be below Nathrop (which is on Chalk cr.), and somewhere in the vicinity of Brown's cr., which falls in from the left.

[III-18] It is specially desirable to fix this Christmas camp, if not for the sentiment of the thing, then because it is our initial point for the whole journey hence down the Arkansaw to Cañon City. From anything that has preceded we do not know where it was, within 10 m. But on the 26th Pike notes a "large stream" from the south, at 7½ m. This is the South Arkansaw, which falls in very near the well-known town of Salida. Salida is 7 m. by rail below a station called Brown Cañon, which latter is a little above Squaw cr. Between Salida and Brown Cañon the country is open and park-like among the mountains—just the sort of a place where buffalo would herd in the winter. The seasonable supply of eight beeves was got in consequence, and I have no doubt that Christmas was spent in the immediate vicinity of Brown Cañon. The mountain fastnesses about the headwaters of the Arkansaw long continued to be wintering-grounds for the buffalo. Thus we find one of the most experienced officers of our army making the following remark: "Although generally regarded as migratory in their habits, yet the buffalo often winter in the snows of a high northern latitude. Early in the spring of 1858 I found them in the Rocky mountains, at the head of the Arkansas and South Platte rivers, and there was every indication that this was a permanent abiding place for them," says Marcy, Pra. Trav. 1859, p. 234, half a century after Pike's fortunate find. The herd now preserved in Yellowstone Park has no trouble with the deepest snows and coldest weather of that region.

[III-19] Down the Arkansaw, past Squaw cr., right, and some runs in the park he traversed, also past the stations Bellevue and Salida, to the mouth of the South Arkansaw r., where the so-called Arkansaw hills on the north close in against the Sangre de Cristo range on the south, thus straitening the valley. The S. Arkansaw heads about Mts. Shavano and Keyes; its principal branch is Poncho or Puncho cr. There was a good road up both these streams, which are now meandered by railroads. Had Pike known it, he could have struck up the S. Arkansaw to Poncho cr., and up this by Poncho Pass into Homan's Park. This is west of the great Sangre de Cristo range, and is in fact the upper part of the San Luis valley or basin of the Upper Rio Grande, which Pike only reaches by a roundabout way, after subjecting himself and his men to almost incredible sufferings. But it is easy to be wise after the event.

[III-20] To a point on the Arkansaw about the mouth of Badger cr., from the N.; vicinity of station Wellsville or Badger.

[III-21] Camp in vicinity of that elbow which the river makes, nearly from S. E. to E. N. E., and near where there is a way up a creek from the S. over the S. de C. range by Hayden's Pass. The position is short of Bernard and even of Oak Grove cr.

[III-22] Only to the vicinity of Bernard cr. (past Cotopaxi). Pike's mileages appear excessive for the actual advance made, in comparison with modern schedules; but he has to step over much ground for comparatively little progress. All his distances to Jan. 5th require adjustment, or we should fetch him out a long way below Cañon City.

[III-23] Camp about the mouth of Texas cr., a considerable stream from the S., which falls in three or four miles below the mouth of Corral or Carroll cr., another large one from the N.; Texas Creek station and a place called Ford in the vicinity.

[III-24] Camp in the vicinity of the station Spikebuck. The river here bears noticeably to the N. E. A little further along there is a sharp turn to the S. E., at Parkdale. This place is at the head of the Grand Cañon proper, or Royal Gorge, by rail 10 m. above Cañon City, 22 below Cotopaxi, and 46 below Salida; total, 56 m. from what is practically the same as Pike's camp of Dec. 26th to that of Jan. 5th, when he reaches Cañon City. These figures may be here compared with his mileages, which are: 12½ + 16 + 5 + 8 + 10¾ + 1 + 6 + 8 + 7 = 74¼. Details aside, the routes are identical; and a discrepancy of 17 or 18 m. is not more than would be expected under the circumstances.

[III-25] For the past three days the party has been struggling with cumulative difficulties that threaten to become insurmountable, and are already strung along miles apart in the mountains. Yet Pike is only at the head of the Royal Gorge—that Grand Cañon of the Arkansaw which he had before noted from its lower end and regarded as impassable for horses. Parkdale is the place where Currant cr. falls in on the N. or left. This is the large creek which heads in the mountains about South Park, and which we have heard of before, when the Oil Creek route to that park was in question: see back, note⁶, p. 464. Now we see more clearly than before that Pike never went up Currant cr. This has two principal branches, both from the W., one called Cottonwood and the other Tallahassee (Hayden), Tallahassa (Wheeler), or Talahsee (G. L. O., 1892, brought into the Arkansaw as a separate tributary).

[III-26] It should be noted here that not one of the eight straggling parties managed to get through the cañon itself. Some came over the mountains on the N., and the rest over those on the S. Pike alone essayed the gorge, but only got halfway through. Next morning he escaped by scrambling up a small side cañon which occurs on the N. side, and came down on the N. of Noonan's Peak. This is the mountain that overhangs Cañon City, standing guard at the throat of the gorge. Dr. Robinson and his man came that way too. Vasquez and his men brought the horses the other way, across Webster Park, and had an easier time of it. It was three days before all the party got in.

[III-27] Pike's map shows "Yellow Stone River Branch of the Missouri," with his trail looped up to it. This of course is an egregious error, as the Yellowstone is much further off, beyond anything that Pike sighted when he was highest on the Arkansaw, Dec. 22d. Next N. of him there, and on the W. of the Continental Divide, was Grand r., which unites with the Green to form the Colorado of the West. This arises in Middle Park. North of this again, in North Park, are the headwaters of the North Platte; and the southernmost heads of the Yellowstone are still beyond these. The mountains which Pike legends "White Snow" are the Sawatch range, continued southward by the Sangre de Cristo range. All this part of Pike's map is too defective to be of any use in tracing the trip just ended, and I have not had occasion to adduce it in support of the text since we started up Oil cr. The dotted trail loops up the Arkansaw far beyond the point Pike reached, and a number of the camps he made are omitted. The best delineation of Pike's route in South Park and about the headwaters of the Arkansaw is that traced on Josiah Gregg's map of the Indian Territory, etc., in his Commerce of the Prairie, 1844. This loops Pike around the Park, thence almost to the source of the Arkansaw, and back down this river—which is quite right. This case must be more accentuated, because tradition will have it that Pike got over on Pacific waters—not a drop of which he ever saw.

[III-28] Marked "□ Block house" on Pike's map. Lewis and Clark's map of 1814 letters "□ Block House U. S. Factory in 1806" on the same spot on the "Rio de Nanesi," i. e., the Arkansaw. The building stood on the N. bank of the Arkansaw, doubtless within present limits of Cañon City. All trace of the structure seems to be gone, and I doubt that the precise spot will ever be recovered. My correspondence with several persons in Cañon City and vicinity has availed nothing. But the location at Cañon City is unquestionable.

The terrible trip Pike now ventures to make should not have been attempted in the dead of winter, with his miserable outfit. Pike was brave to excess, as we know; that and the mysterious crux of the orders he had from Wilkinson about the Spanish business must excuse this particular piece of foolhardihood. A more experienced mountaineer, with any concern for his own life, to say nothing of the lives of his men, would not have bucked up against those mountains under such circumstances. If he had had to hunt for the unknown sources of a river which came eastward from there, he would have backed out of the mountains, gone down the Arkansaw a piece, struck south at his convenience till he found his river, and then considered the chances of being able to follow it up to its source. That Red r. of which Pike is supposed to have gone in search was never found, for the simple reason that there is no such river in that part of the world—as probably Pike himself knew. He had a chip on each shoulder for some Spaniard to please knock off; his coat-tails were dragging all over the R. mts. for some Spaniard to please step on; and he would rather have broken some Spanish heads than have discovered the head of any river.

[III-29] This "18" is a misprint for 12. There were but 16 persons all told, of whom 2 are left when Pike, Robinson, and 12 soldiers proceed to tempt fate. The 12 were: Sergeant Meek, Corporal Jackson, Privates Brown, Carter, Dougherty, Gorden, Menaugh, Miller, Mountjoy, Roy, Sparks, Stoute.

[III-30] The "South fork" of the Arkansaw, afterward sometimes called Pike's fork, as for example on Gregg's map, 1844, and which he now proceeds to ascend, is Grape cr. This considerable stream arises on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo range, waters the Wet Mountain valley, receives various tributaries from the western slope of the Wet mts., and traverses a gorge in the latter to fall into the Arkansaw from the S. W., about a mile above Cañon City. The general course is about N. from its uttermost head in the S. de C. range, in the vicinity of Music Pass. Here its watershed is separated, on the E. side of the range, by a divide, on the other side of which are certain sources of the Huerfano r.; while on the west of the S. de C. range the connection is with "Meadow" (qu. Medano?) cr., a tributary of San Luis cr., in the valley of the latter name, and consequently in the basin of the Rio Grande—that "Red river" which Pike seeks in vain. To-day he strikes Grape cr. at or near present site of Williamsburg, a station on the railroad which once meandered Grape cr. to Silver Cliff, but was washed out and abandoned. This is a good way below the entrance of Pine cr., a branch which falls into Grape cr. from the W. This may seem short for the "13" m. of the text; but if anyone should think so, he has only to start from Cañon City to change his mind by the time he finds himself on Grape cr. by the present best trail. Besides, we shall soon see that we have to shorten up all of Pike's mileages in this rough country.

[III-31] Past Pine cr., to some point on Grape cr. short of the boundary between Frémont and Custer cos., probably in the vicinity of Soda Springs or the station Grape. Pike is flanking a mountain as well as meandering a crooked creek; and, aside from any question of typographical error, we have to adjust his whole set of ostensible mileages by the topography of the country. If we should apply the figures he gives to the flat face of the map, we should run him clear over into New Mexico before he reaches his camp on the Conejos in Colorado.

[III-32] Over the line from Frémont into Custer Co., past Grape and Blackburn, to camp about the mouth of Silver cr. This heads about Mt. Tyndall and Mt. Herring, and by another branch N. of these; it runs N. W. and then N. to fall into Grape cr., between Blackburn and Gove. Camp is 6 or 8 m. (air-line) due N. of Round mt. and town of Silver Cliff; but much further by the meanders of the creek or either of the roads through the mountains.

[III-33] "White" and "Snow" are Pike's names for what he regarded as a continuous chain from as far N. as he knew anything about it, to the Sierra Blanca of New Mexico. That is to say, the names cover the whole Sawatch range, along the Continental Divide, and the Sangre de Cristo range; which latter separates the Arkansaw from the Rio Grande basin, and ends on the S. with the bold elevations of the Sierra Blanca, or White mts. of modern geography. In saying that the "great White mountain presented itself," Pike means that he has reached a point in the Wet Mountain valley where he has the Sangre de Cristo range immediately before him, on the W. In this direction are the heads of the Texas cr., already mentioned (p. 475), and of Swift or Dutch cr., draining eastern slopes of the mountains, two of the nearest points of which are Electric Peak and Monte Rito Alto, the latter 12,863 or 12,989 feet high, according to whether Lieut. Wheeler or Dr. Hayden made the most accurate determination.

[III-34] This is the most difficult itinerary of the whole trip, and much depends upon its correct recovery. It is out of the question to take "28 miles" at its face value; the difficulty must be adjusted. Pike's trail shows with substantial accuracy his three camps of the 14th, 15th, and 16th, along Grape cr.; then a long loop S. E. and back S. W. to a point on Grape cr. again, above two creeks coming down from the Sangre range. I think these creeks can be identified; this would fix to-day's camp with sufficient precision. I base my conclusions on Pike's whole set of mileages for this trip, as applied to the topography of the route. Thus we have, going up Grape cr., 13 + 19 + 18 = 50 m.; with 4 more miles on the 17th, making 54 to the point where this creek is left. Further on come (28 - 4 =) 24 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 8 + 9 + 0 + 0 + 14 = 63 m., which puts Pike over the Sand Hill Pass on the 27th. Finally, we have 15 + 17 + 24 + 18 = 74 m., in the San Luis valley to the stockade on the Rio Conejos; total, 191 m. The three sections of this route—the Grape Creek course, the Wet Mountain Valley course, the San Luis Valley course—are practically, therefore, in the ratio of 5 : 6 : 7; and such figures must be made to fit the known geography of the route. I make the journey of the 17th as follows: Pike proceeds up Grape cr. a short distance, leaves it, flanks Round mt., and passes by or near the present site of Silver Cliff, seat of Custer Co.; continues S. E. across the valley or prairie to the base of the Wet mts., in the vicinity, not immediate, of Mt. Robinson, Mt. Brinley, and Rosita, where the mines of the latter name were or are; where, not liking the place, as there was no fuel, he turns about S. W. and repasses the valley at a right angle to his other course through it, recrosses Grape cr. a little below the confluence of Rosita cr., and camps under the Sangre de Cristo range, somewhere about Spring cr. or Horse cr. This day was disastrous, as a culmination of misery already endured by the handful of half-naked and more than half-starved adventurers, for whom still more acute suffering was in store. The wonder is not at any error in distances, but that any intelligible itinerary of such a journey has reached us from the splendidly brave young fellow, who so rashly led his companions into a death-trap. But for the buffalo which were wintering in the Wet Mountain valley, not a man would have escaped with his life. Whatever the exact spot, this is the place where poor Sparks and Dougherty were abandoned with frozen feet. What they endured may be imagined from the mute messages Pike afterward received from them—a present of some of the bones which came away from their gangrenous feet after sphacelus had set in.

[III-35] By Pike's map, this should be the next to the last creek before Grape cr. is headed—the first one above Horse cr. If so, the party are in the vicinity of the place now called Blumenau.

[III-36] About to the ultimate forks of Grape cr. The S. end of the Wet Mountain valley is a sort of pocket where the Wet mts. connect with the Sangre range by intermediate elevations (as Promontory Bluffs, etc.). Creeks come into the valley from the E., S., and W., converging to compose Grape cr., the ultimate tributary of which is now known as Cottonwood cr. The border of this pocket, on the S., is the boundary between Custer and Huerfano cos.—an irregular line continuing on the W. along the main ridge of the Sangre range, and on the E. along that ridge of the Wet mts. which divides sources of Hardscrabble cr. and St. Charles and Greenhorn rivers from those of the Huerfano.

[III-37] Taking the party over the low divide mentioned in the last note, from Custer into Huerfano Co., and from the Grape Creek watershed to that of the Huerfano. The exact spot is perhaps not determinable, but it was not far from Bradford, a place on Muddy cr., one of the first two forks of the Huerfano. The map shows that Pike has headed Grape cr. and got into another basin, from which he starts a river running out on the prairie to the Arkansaw. This is by mistake made out to be his "3d Fork," i. e., the St. Charles and Greenhorn; it is really his "2d Fork," i. e., the Huerfano.

[III-38] If we call the roll to-day we find: Vasquez and Smith left at Cañon City on the 14th; Sparks and Dougherty left at camp of the 22d; Menaugh left at camp of the 26th; present on the 27th, Pike, Robinson, Meek, Jackson, Brown, Carter, Gorden, Miller, Mountjoy, Roy, Stoute = 11.

[III-39] The Expedition crosses the Sangre de Cristo range to the basin of the Rio Grande, and is about to enter the San Luis valley. The matter of the pass by which they came has been much mooted and left in doubt. Thus we find Maguire saying in the preface to the Denver ed. of Pike, p. xi: "Whether this pass was the Mosca or the Medano (known also as 'Sandhill') or whether it was one still farther to the north as thought by some, cannot be definitely established." Governor Adams in his Address, p. 17, says "Medano or Music Pass." I think it is certain that the Expedition made the Sand Hill Pass, and I hope to be able to settle the question. The three passes to which Maguire refers, and the only ones to be considered for a moment, are the following, in order from N. to S.

1. A pass from Antelope cr., one of the heads of Grape cr., in Custer Co., over to a tributary of San Luis r. in Saguache Co., not traversing any portion of Huerfano Co., or barely touching the extreme N. W. corner of this county—in fact, Custer, Huerfano, and Saguache cos. meet in this pass, and Muddy as well as Antelope cr. heads there. This is the "one still farther to the north" to which Maguire alludes. It is the one marked "Music Pass" on the G. L. O. and U. S. G. S. maps of 1892 (but not the Music Pass of Hayden's map). This seems to me so far N. as to be out of the question, if any reliance is to be placed on either Pike's mileages or his map. Even after the utmost reduction of his distances that can be made with any regard to the topography of the region, we fetch him out of the Grape Creek basin, into that of the Huerfano, and thus well along in Huerfano Co. His map bears this out completely. Observe that on the 24th he has crossed the head of Grape cr., left it a good way behind him, and marked his camp near the head of the other stream—the Huerfano. Notice also that from this camp of the 24th-26th the trail makes a sharp elbow west, and goes through the Sangre range in a gap next below that one in which he makes Grape cr. head. Again, if he had made this northernmost pass he would have come out N. of the Sand Dunes, and had these on his left as he went S. in the San Luis valley; whereas, we find them on his right as he comes down from the mountains to the S. of them. Finally, the mileages of the San Luis Valley route do not fit so well from this pass as from the next one. These facts seem to me to prove that Pike made no pass N. of the sand-hills.

2. The Sand Hill Pass, also rightly Medano and wrongly Modenos Pass, called Music Pass by Hayden, and Williams' Pass by Gunnison and Beckwith, is that which connects Navajo or Greaser cr. (br. of Muddy cr.) with a certain tributary (Medano or Sand cr.) of the San Luis r. This is on the boundary between Huerfano and Saguache cos., about 5 m. (air-line) S. of Music Pass. The Huerfano gathers its waters in the valley called Huerfano Park. The three principal tributaries, from the N. to N. W., are Turkey, Wilson's, and Muddy creeks. The place Bradford, already named as that to the vicinity of which we traced the Expedition, without reference to any question of a pass, is on Muddy cr., and a road goes direct from this place through this pass. That branch of Muddy cr. by some called Navajo cr. drains from this pass, and Greaser cr. also heads in its immediate vicinity. Across the divide, which sinks to an altitude of about 9,800 feet at the pass, Medano or Sand cr. drains S. W. and then S. between the Sand Dunes and the mountains, in the San Luis basin (Saguache Co.). That Pike took this route I have no question. There seems also to have been no doubt in the minds of Captain Gunnison and Lieutenant Beckwith, who quote Pike on their approach to this pass, Aug. 25th, 1853, and add: "The course of Williams' Pass as we entered it [from the sand-hills] is N. 58° E., but it soon bends to the left to N. 27° E. We passed up it only about three-fourths of a mile. Its width is about 250 yards, rising gradually as far as we could see. Its walls of rock rise on either side to a height of some hundreds of feet, and are nearly vertical. Our guides represent it as continuing for 14 miles, both in character and direction as here described; beyond that it is more abrupt, terminating at its summit less favorably for a road than Roubideau's Pass. It is followed by a large Indian trail." (P. R. R. Rep. II., 1855, p. 43.)

3. Mosca or Musca Pass, also called Fly Pass by some, translating the Spanish, and by others Robideau's Pass, 6 or 8 m. in an air-line S. of the Sand Hill Pass, is a lower and better one. It connects the Bear Creek branch of May cr. (the latter a tributary to the Huerfano) with the branch of Mosca cr. on the other side of the divide. There is a place called Sharpsdale on Bear or May cr., whence a road goes W. up to the pass, and others N. to Bradford, E. through Poison cañon to Gardner on the Huerfano at the mouth of Muddy cr., and also E. down May cr. and along the Huerfano to Point of Rocks and Malachite, and so on to Gardner. On the subject of Mosca Pass Maguire's remarks seem to me judicious, and I transcribe them to express my concurrence in his decision: "In the early days of the settlement of the country the Mosca was well travelled by the Southern Utes on their journeys to the Plains, and their 'hieroglyphics,' of which Pike speaks, were to be seen cut in the bark of the aspen trees; but from the fact that on reaching San Luis valley on January 28th, 1807, the party marched some considerable distance on a course lying between the sand dunes and the mountains, the evidence would seem to warrant the belief that the pass used was north of the Mosca."

There are other passes of this range, as the one called Sangre de Cristo, and the Veta Pass (which latter is now utilized by the D. and R. G. R. R.). But these are altogether too far S., and have never been brought in question. There seems to be no named or used pass from the head of the Huerfano itself. The ultimate heads of this river drain N. from Cerro Blanco and Baldy Peak, with collateral sources thence along the line between Huerfano and Costello cos. to Grayback and Iron mts., etc., besides those from the W. on the line between Huerfano and Saguache cos. in the direction of Mosca Pass.

In view of the above considerations, we will proceed with Pike through Medano or Sand Hill Pass into San Luis valley (or Park). This is a plain between the Sangre de Cristo range on the E. and N. E., and on the W. and N. W. the San Juan and Sawatch ranges. It has a total length of about 110 m. from Poncho Pass on the N. to Taos valley on the S., with a maximum breadth of about 45 m., and an area of upward of 3,000 square miles. The general elevation is between 7,500 and 8,000 feet. The Rio Grande enters this valley at about the middle of its W. side, running E. and then sweeping in a long curve S.

[III-40] The billows of sand which Pike has on his right as he comes down Sand cr. from Sand Hill (Music, Medano) Pass are very remarkable formations, which alone would fix his position in the lack of any other data. West of these Dunes are several streams of the San Luis system, flowing southward to form sinks called the San Luis lakes, though Pike's map runs them into the Rio Grande. His camp is on or near Sand cr., at about the point where this and Mosca cr. join, or perhaps a little further along. Mosca cr. is the one that comes down from Mosca Pass, and if Pike had made this pass he would have fetched out in the valley at about the same spot—at or near Montville.

[III-41] About S., along the W. base of the Sierra Blanca, which is simply the continuation of the Sangre de Cristo range. Some of the summits Pike has on his left are: Grayback Peak, 12,387 feet; Bald, Baldy, or Old Baldy mt., 14,125 feet; and Cerro Blanco itself, 14,431 feet, giving name to the group. Pike goes from the vicinity of Montville past Zapato cr., probably on the present road through the town of the latter name on the creek, and camps in the valley at the place where timber reaches furthest from the mountains. A present road curves S. E. from this point, around to the S. of the range, where was built Fort Garland, probably 12 or 15 m. S. E. of to-night's camp. This was a sort of focal point to which roads converged from various points, and especially was it on the most direct route from any place in the lower part of the San Luis valley through Sangre de Cristo Pass to the Huerfano, and so on. Garland was on Ute cr., a branch of Trinchera cr., which latter falls into the Rio Grande about 3 m. above the Rio Conejos.

[III-42] Pike reaches the Rio Grande on a S. W. course, about the present position of the town of Alamosa, whence railroads now radiate in or converge from four directions. These branches of the Denver and Rio Grande system come from the E. through the Veta Pass, from the N. directly down the San Luis valley, from the N. W. down the Rio Grande, and from the S. up the same river. A few miles S. of Alamosa, Alamosa and La Jara creeks fall in close together, from the W. These are both indicated by a single unlettered trace on Pike's map. Next below Trinchera cr. falls in on the E. This is the one called Rio de la Culebra on Pike's map, which correctly brings it in above the one from the W. (Rio Conejos) on which he established himself. The Rio Culebra is the next one, from the E., below Trinchera and Conejos, and above Rio Costilla. Pike lays down the Costilla by its proper name, omits the Culebra, and calls the Trinchera by the name of the latter. In English, Rio Conejos would be Rabbit r.; Culebra, Snake r.; Costilla, Rib r.; and Trinchera, Cut-bank r. Alamosa should imply that the river so called were shaded with elms, though cottonwood (Populus angustifolia) is the actual growth. La Jara is properly the rock-rose (Cistus creticus), but as a name of this creek it refers to willow-brush.

[III-43] Of which about 13 (misprinted "18") was down the Rio Grande, the rest up the Rio Conejos; Trinchera cr. (the one from the E., which Pike's map letters "Rio de la Culebra") was passed a short distance above the Conejos. The latter is a large stream from the W. which arises in the San Juan range, in the vicinity of Conejos Peak (13,183 feet), leaves the mountains by the foot of Prospect Peak (6,837 feet), is joined in the San Luis hills by San Antonio cr. (its principal branch), and then seeks the Rio Grande by winding about the northern ends of the hills just named. The data already given, with those details which the text presently offers, serve to fix the present station with precision—about 5 m. up the Conejos, on its N. bank, at a point where it was not fordable, and directly S. of which was a high hill. A sufficiently large map, such as Sheet X of the Hayden survey, shows exactly these topographical details, and also marks two ranches in the immediate vicinity: see also Pike's own map. Under these circumstances it seems to me wasted ingenuity to find Pike's blockhouse in some other place; yet its locality has been disputed. Maguire puts the case well: "The exact locality of the site (a notable spot in Western history) is in dispute, owing to the discovery many years ago of the remains of an ancient log structure further W. on the Conejos, which some suppose to have been Pike's fortress; but everything in the narrative, as well as in the Spanish records, indicates the prairie opposite the mineral springs and high hill on the S. bank of the Conejos as the spot where the flag of the United States is first recorded as floating above the soil of Colorado." Gregg's map locates the place approximately, with the legend "□ Pike's Stockade Whence taken to Santa Fé. Feb. 1807".