Columbus and Other Heroes of American Discovery

by N. D'Anvers

Here a halt was made, and it was resolved to follow the southern branch to its source in the Rocky Mountains. On the 30th June, the first buttresses of that now well known chain came in sight; and on the 6th of the ensuing month, the camp was pitched opposite the chasm from which the Platte issues from its mountain home on its way to its junction, first with its northern branch, and then with the Missouri.

At this point, situated in N. lat. 39°, W. long. 105°, the Rocky Mountains presented an almost impassable barrier, a perpendicular wall of sandstone, some 200 feet high, running along on either side as far as the eye could reach, with granite masses towering beyond it to the sky. Several attempts were made to scale this wall, and from one height gained a view was obtained of both branches of the Platte, one coming from the north-west and the other from the south, but it was found impossible to reach the actual source of either.

A different route was now attempted, and, advancing in single file, the explorers had succeeded in reaching a great height, when their progress was again arrested by huge frowning precipices, along which no foothold could be obtained. With the aid of ropes, brought in readiness for some such emergency, several of the bravest of the party were lowered down a ravine, and reached the southern side of the wall, where they halted and refreshed themselves with what they took to be some bunches of wild currants. They had better have continued to endure the thirst from which they had been suffering, as this simple refreshment brought on violent headaches; and a little later, when one of the men paused to drink at what looked like a pure mountain spring, sickness immediately succeeded. The poor fellow had to be sent back, and only recovered after much suffering.

These two incidents determined the leader of the party to make no further halt until the descent of the western slope of the mountain was achieved, and his men were pressing on as best they could, when they were again stopped, this time by meeting a large bear in a narrow defile. In a moment a dozen rifles were pointed at the intruder, but before a shot could be fired, the huge brute turned aside, and climbed an almost perpendicular precipice some thirty feet high, leaving his enemies to gaze after him with almost envious wonder.

On the morning of the 13th July, the courage and perseverance of the advanced guard were amply rewarded by their coming in sight of the loftiest peak yet noticed, which, on examination, turned out to be the one already marked in Major Pike’s map, bearing his name, and situated in N. lat. 38° 53′, W. long. 105° 52′.

The main object of the expedition was now accomplished, the almost precise situation of the sources of the Nebraska having been determined. Pike’s Peak was ascended by a few adventurous spirits, and from its summit a magnificent view was obtained of masses of snow and ice, succeeded by fertile valleys and vast plains stretching away to the east. Careful notes having been taken of the main features of the scene, the explorers returned to camp, where they were in due course joined by their comrades, and an earnest consultation was held as to the next steps to be taken.

It was finally resolved that the head-waters of the Arkansas, the largest affluent of the Mississippi after the Missouri, and of several of its minor tributaries, should now be sought; and, with this end in view, a south-westerly course was pursued along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountain Chain. A weary march across the low, bare, sandy plains of the present state of Wyoming, strewn with broken sandstone, brought our heroes to the brink of the precipice dividing these lofty table-lands from the valley of the Arkansas, where they were alike cheered and tantalized by the sight of the river they were seeking, flowing through a rich and fertile country.

It was now decided to divide forces; [♦]Major Long and most of the men, with all the heavy baggage, to go down the Arkansas to the Mississippi and await the rest of the party at Fort Smith, while Captain James and a few picked men should continue the explorations among the mountains. The first part of the programme was duly carried out, the chief discovery made being the existence of a number of chalybeate springs; but much disappointment and delay attended Captain James and his party in their wanderings among the then unknown tracts inhabited by the Yutas and other wild tribes bordering on the Salt Lake territory, a region about which a weird mystery clings even now.

[♦] ‘Captain’ replaced with ‘Major’

Provisions and water alike ran short; the beds of streams, to which the travelers hastened to quench their thirst, turned out to be full of nothing but salt, and all efforts to find the source of the Arkansas failed. At last a broad tributary, supposed to be the Red River of the South, was discovered and followed, but it turned out to be the Canadian, which joins the Arkansas before the confluence of the latter with the Mississippi. The second half of the journey of exploration may therefore be said to have practically failed, though the way was paved by it for the colonists who, a few years later, migrated to the districts traversed.