[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.