[12] Giovanni Ignazio Molina was born in Chili, of Italian parents, in 1740. When the Jesuits were expelled from that country (1767) he joined their order and went to Italy, where he became a priest and teacher. His Compendio di Storia geografica naturale e civile del Chili (Bologna, 1776) was translated into the principal European languages, and an American edition was published under the title Geographical, Natural, and Civil History of Chili (Middletown, Connecticut, 2 vols., 1808).
Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot was a French zoölogist and author of voluminous works on ornithology. Among his writings was Histoire naturelle des oiseaux de l'Amérique septentrionale, depuis Saint-Dominigue jusqu' à la baie d'Hudson (Paris, 1807 and annually thereafter).—Ed.
[13] Pike wrote in his journal: "Nov. 24th [1806]. Early in the morning we cut down 14 logs, and put up a breast work, five feet high on three sides and the other thrown on the river" (see Coues, Pike's Expeditions, p. 452). The structure stood on the south side of the Arkansas, a little above where the mouth of Fountain River was at that time; but the exact spot cannot be identified, as the course of the river has since changed considerably. Long's party looked for it, however, in an entirely wrong place. Their course southwest from the camp on Fountain River brought them to the Arkansas several miles above its mouth (near Turkey Creek); besides which, they were on the wrong side for Pike's old redoubt.—Ed.
[14] The point here reached by Bell's party is the site of Cañon City, Fremont County, at the lower end of the Grand Cañon of the Arkansas, better known as the Royal Gorge, through which now passes the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. The railroad engineers triumphed over the obstacles which to our party seemed to render the cañon almost impassable, by lowering tools, materials, provisions, mules, and men into the chasm by ropes attached to the overhanging cliffs. In one place it was found necessary, for want of a road-bed in the narrow gorge, to suspend the track by bridgework anchored to the mountain side.
Pike's route from Cañon City to the upper Arkansas and back has been much discussed; however, he did not go through the Royal Gorge. Dr. Coues thinks that he went north from Cañon City, up Oil Creek, crossing the dividing ridge at its source and passing into South Park, to the South Platte River. Thence he crossed South Park to the westward, and penetrated the Park Range to the upper Arkansas, which he explored, mistaking it for Red River. Descending the river, the party scattered near the upper end of Royal Gorge, and passed around it by various routes through the mountains. Pike himself essayed the passage of the cañon on the frozen river, but was compelled to abandon the channel when about half-way through it. The party reached the site of Cañon City, which it had left December 10, 1806, on January 5, 1807. See Coues, Pike's Expeditions, pp. 464-478.—Ed.
[15] "From information derived from the Indians and hunters who have frequently visited this part of the country, as also from the account given by Pike, relative to this peak, it appears that no person, either civilized or savage, has ever ascended to its summit, and that the ascent was deemed utterly impracticable. Dr. James having accomplished this difficult and laborious task, I have thought proper to call the peak after his name, as a compliment to which his zeal and perseverance, together with the skilful attention with which he has examined its character and productions, give him the fairest claim. Pike has indeed given us notice that there is such a peak, but he only saw it at a distance; the unfavourable circumstances under which he came into its neighbourhood preventing his arrival even at its base. He attempted to ascertain its altitude, but it is believed his estimate is very erroneous." Ext. from Maj. Long's MS. Notes of July 15th, 1820.—James.
Comment by Ed. Height of Pike's Peak generally accepted as correct, 14,147 feet; Pike's estimate, 18,581. See ante, [note 11]. Pike wrote in his journal: "I believe no human being could have ascended to its pinical;" but it must be borne in mind that he reached the region late in November, when the difficulty of the ascent is immensely greater than at the season (July) when James's party made their successful attempt. The claim of Dr. James to the honor of being the first to reach the summit remains undisputed; but the peak has long since ceased to bear his name. When Frémont visited Colorado in 1843 he adopted the present appellation, which he found in local use among the traders, and the rival name soon fell into disuse by cartographers.
[16] Jean Louis Leclerc Buffon (1707-88), was keeper of the Royal Gardens and Museum in Paris, and compiler of a large portion of the forty-volume work entitled Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière (Paris, 1749-1804), which was completed, after his death, by Lacépède (see post, [note 26]). Buffon is noteworthy for having anticipated the theory of evolution.—Ed.
[17] Genus Sciurus, L.—S. quadrivittatus, Say.—Head brownish intermixed with fulvous, and with four white lines, of which the superior one on each side passes from the tip of the nose immediately over the eye to the superior base of the ear; and the inferior one passes immediately beneath the eye to the inferior base of the ear; ears moderate, semi-oval, incisores reddish-yellow; back with four broad lines, and alternate mixed black and ferruginous ones; sides fulvous, beneath whitish; tail moderate, hair black at base, then fulvous black in the middle, and paler fulvous at tip; beneath fulvous with a submarginal black line; thumb of the anterior feet a prominent tubercle.
| Length from the nose to the base of the tail | 4¼ | inches. |
| ——— of the tail | 3 | |
| ——— of the hair at the tip of the tail | 1 | nearly. |