[II-34] From his camp of the 12th Pike passes the village and station Carlton, opposite which the small Cottonwood cr. falls in from the N., and proceeds to his own "large creek" and "point of rocks." This stream is Big Sandy cr., from the N.; Pike lays it down very well. It is quite a river or river-bed, which when it runs drains from the high country known as the Arkansaw Divide, sc. between Arkansan and Missourian waters, in El Paso, Elbert, and Lincoln cos. The stream further traverses Cheyenne and Kiowa cos., and seeks the Arkansaw in Prowers Co., 2 or 3 m. below the point of rocks Pike notices. This is a place where a bold headland abuts against the river on the south, rising rapidly from 3,575 to more than 3,800—that is, some 300 feet above the general level of the river bottom. A run known as Clay cr. comes around the bluff on the W. The next above is Willow cr., S., on which Lamar stands between irrigating ditches derived from the Arkansaw, and the next above is Dry cr., S., halfway between Lamar and Prowers station. Here is camp of the 14th, just over the border of Prowers, in Bent Co. Pike's map legends "Broken with small Ravines & Creeks" on the country passed over.
[II-35] This statement conflicts with Pike's map, which lays down only one stream between the two camp-marks that stand for the 14th and 15th. But the text is right, and both these camp-marks are misplaced. One belongs just below Mud cr., and the other at Purgatory r., where there is no sign of one, though this is the most exactly locatable station since we left Great Bend. Pike's "two deep creeks" are Mud and Caddoa; his "many points of rocks" appear on any good topographical map. There is a series of such between Prowers and Mud cr., on the S., opposite which Graveyard cr. falls in, N. Two very notable points of rocks, a mile apart, are separated by Caddoa cr.; and Limestone cr. falls in from the N., 2 or 3 m. below these. These bluffs extend to the village of Caddoa, 2 m. up, in a bottom left by their recession from the river, before they again close in on the river in two bold headlands, 1 or 2 m. above Caddoa. The country on the N., across the river, is also bluffy for several miles along here. The elevations close to the river are 3,800 to 3,900 feet, and higher further back on both sides. Above the Caddoan bluffs a creek which Pike charts falls on the S. This is lettered Blue cr. on late G. L. O. maps, and Rule cr. on those of Hayden and Powell. Caddoa cr. heads about the N. W. corner of Baca Co., and takes a northerly course to the Arkansaw; Blue or Rule cr. is the larger one of the two; some of its affluents are near those of Caddoa and upper reaches of Two Butte cr., about Shell Rock cañon in Baca Co., but its real source is further south in Las Animas Co., where Johnny cr. and others head. Its course is northerly, but with an eastward trend, about parallel with Purgatory r. About an hour before Pike reached this large river he passed opposite the place where Fort Lyon was later built, on the bluff around which the Arkansaw there sweeps closely. In 1864 Lyon was the first inhabited place on the Arkansaw west of Larned, though there had been trading-posts or certain other temporary dwellings at various points, especially at the upper end of the Big Timbers, say 12 m. E. of Fort Lyon. These were a large body of cottonwoods extending thence several miles down the river on its N. side, and formed a noted resort of various Indian tribes. Hence the woods became well known to travelers along the Arkansaw, whose itineraries almost always speak of the "Big Timbers" as they approach the Purgatory on their way to Bent's fort. Pike's text of the 13th is no doubt the earliest indication of these woods.
Gregg's map lays down three large creeks from the S. between his Big Sand cr. and Purgatory r. The first of these is called Mulberry; the other two are nameless. The three appear to correspond to the Mud, Caddoa, and Blue creeks just described.
[II-36] The main chain of the Rocky mts., with Pike's Peak towering to the right: see L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 328. Pike has before him the Front range of the Rockies, northward, or to the right; and southward, or to the left, the Sangre de Cristo range. The sources of Arkansan waters are between these; while on the other side of the last named range are those of the Rio Grande. The "cheers to the Mexican mountains" were given at an alt. of 3,900 feet.
[II-37] Purgatory r., also called in English Picket-wire, in French Rivière Purgatoire, and in Spanish Rio Purgatorio and Rio de Las Animas, is charted by Pike as the "1st Fork," with the legend "Here the Mountains are first seen." This very large branch or fork of the Arkansaw heads in that southward continuation of the Sangre de Cristo range which is known as the Culebra range, about Trinchera, Culebra, and other peaks, where it connects with sources of the Rio Culebra, a tributary of the upper Rio Grande. Its own tributaries are very numerous and extensive. The main river runs N. E. from Las Animas Co., through the S. E. corner of Otero Co., and joins the Arkansaw in Bent Co., between the site of Fort Lyon and that of Las Animas, present county seat of Bent. Pike camped where the railroad now crosses; and his journey since the 12th has been practically along the present railroad line.
[II-38] It is certain that Pike was on Purgatory r. on the 15th, and certain that he did not reach his "Grand Forks" (present site of Pueblo, at junction of Fountain r.) till evening of the 23d. The distance between these points, along the river, is between 90 and 100 m. Pike's ostensible mileages are: for the 16th, 11½; 17th, 23½; 18th and 19th, none; 20th, 18; 21st, 21; 22d, 17; and 23d, 19; total, 110 m. We have, therefore, to reduce these mileages by about one day's journey. Observe, also, that only four camps are marked for the 16th-22d; there should be five, and with that for the 23d, six. Thus the text and map do not agree, and some error is evident, though what it is we have no means of deciding with confidence. I am inclined to think that the difficulty lies at the start from the "1st Fork" (Purgatory r.), when so much of the day was occupied in searching for the Spanish trail, and the "11½" m. assigned may have been little if any actual advance. If we proceed upon this supposition, there will be no trouble in adjusting mileages to bring in the missing camp by the 20th; after which all possible error is removed by the identifiable points. I shall, therefore, set camp of the 16th scarcely above the mouths of Adobe and Horse (formerly Dry) creeks, which fall in close together on the north, 7 and 8 m. above Purgatory r. Neither of these is noticed by Pike, though each is larger than some of the streams he charts. But they were across the river, and Pike had a bad case of Spanish trail on the brain, aggravated by anxiety about Indian sign.
[II-39] The mileage hardly requires any adjustment, from the position I have assigned for the 16th, to set camp of the 17th in the close vicinity of Rocky Ford, a village and station on the railroad, where Pike remains on the 18th and 19th. Rocky Ford is 5 m. above Timpas cr. (which he charts as the first stream from the left above his "1st Fork"). Timpas or Timpa is a large creek which heads in Las Animas Co. and runs N. N. E. into the Arkansaw at the upper point of that very large island above La Junta.
The most notable point passed to-day is the historic site of Bent's old fort, on the N. bank of the Arkansaw, 7 or 8 m. E. of the Timpas. It was a position of great consequence in the days of staging from Fort Leavenworth and other points on the Missouri to Taos, Santa Fé, and other New Mexican places. Most of the early itineraries, both commercial and military, speak of Bent's fort, and the advantages of this location for a post were more than once urged upon the attention of the War Department. It was on an emigrant road, in the heart of an Indian country overrun with various tribes; was a sort of focus for several widely divergent termini; was in the vicinity of good building material, and had plenty of fuel, grass, and water. Mr. Bent himself destroyed it in 1849, when he abandoned it for sufficient reasons; but some of the chimneys and adobe walls long stood to mark the spot. Thus it was Bent's "old" fort when I passed by, about 30 years ago. Gregg's, Wislizenus', and in fact most maps of the period mark the fort, some of them giving also a certain Fort William alongside it. The structure is described as "quite complete" by Lieut. J. W. Abert, who was here in August, 1846, at which time he met such noted plainsmen as Capt. Walker of California renown, Marcellus St. Vrain, and "Bill" Garey. Col. Price's regiment was here about the same time. The several columns of Gen. S. W. Kearny's Army of the West, which invaded and subjugated New Mexico and California, coming from Fort Leavenworth by the Arkansaw route, concentrated in camp a few miles below the fort, Aug. 1st, 1846. Kit Carson knew the place well, and Frémont found him not far away from here in July, 1843. A view of Bent's fort as it appeared in 1846 is given by John T. Hughes, in his admirable Doniphan's Expedition, 8vo, Cincinnati, 1847, p. 35. The old route into Santa Fé left the Arkansaw close by Bent's fort, went S. W. between Purgatory r. and Timpas cr., struck the latter at a place then as now called Iron Springs, and so on through the Raton mts., not very different from the way the A., T., and S. F. R. R. now takes. A glimpse at the kind of a road this used to be is had from the following extract from my diary: "Tuesday, June 7th, 1864. Bent's old fort. Cold ride in the rain from 3 a. m. to 5 p. m., when we brought up at the fort. Here was our crossing of the Arkansaw. Recent hard rains made the river unfordable; so we had to ferry ourselves over the surging tide in a frail skiff—ticklish business. However, we got safe across, with all our worldly goods—the latter nothing to speak of, and stood shivering while the ramshackled hack that met us on the other side was loaded and hitched up. This storm and the ferriage began a series of mishaps that reached to Fort Stanton in New Mexico, and made the driver swear that 'the grace of God had petered out on the other side of the Arkansaw.' Kept on to Iron Springs; road miry, pace snaily."
The name of Bent's Fort is preserved as that of a place nearly opposite (a little above) the present station Robinson, which latter is exactly on the boundary between Bent and Otero cos. Above this is La Junta, on the S., seat of the county. Several creeks fall in on the S. along here, the largest one of them named Crooked cr.
[II-40] Taking the Expedition just beyond the mouth of the Apishapa, Apishipa, or Apishpa r., to the present station Rockdale. This stream is charted by Pike; a camp-mark is set just above it, assuring us that the difficulty we had is already adjusted. It is a large river, or rather a long-bedded water-course (like many others which start well, but run out in the thirsty soil), heading about the Spanish Peaks, and reaching the Arkansaw at the foot of Apishapa bluffs (4,675 feet), between Rockdale and Catlin. Three miles off, across the Arkansaw, is the station Olney of the Mo. Pac. R. R., which here comes to the river. In old days a point opposite the mouth of the Apishapa was a good camp on the Cherokee trail to the gold-diggings on Cherry cr., with the Huerfano mountains and Spanish Peaks in sight.