[VI-6] The above is such an important paragraph that I reproduce it verbatim from the original, though it is so badly constructed as to be very obscure. The obscurity, however, is simply bad grammar, not intentional veiling of anything; and as the sentences cannot be conveniently reconstructed in the text, I would read as follows:
"With respect to the Ietans, the general may rest assured that I shall be very cautious about trusting them. I feel more at a loss how to conduct myself with the Spaniards, for my instructions send me to the Comanche country, part of which is no doubt claimed by Spain, though the boundaries between Louisiana and New Spain have never been settled. Consequently, should I meet a Spanish party from the villages near Santa Fé, I think it would be good policy to give them to understand (1) that my party was going to join our troops near Natchitoches, but had mistaken the Rio Grande for Red river; (2) that if it would be agreeable to the Spanish commandant, some or all of us would pay him a polite visit; and (3) that if he did not wish us to do this, we would go direct to Natchitoches. In any event, I flatter myself that I shall get out of the scrape somehow. But if Spanish jealousy of Americans, and the Aaron Burr conspiracy, cause us to be made prisoners of war (in time of peace), I trust that you will see that we are released, and they are punished for the insult. Moreover, if I do not feel assured they will treat us well in Mexico, I will fight them, no matter how many there are, before I will let them take us there."
This sort of talk is not that mixture of youthful enthusiasm with prudence for which Pike begs Wilkinson's pardon in the next paragraph; but the determination of a resolute young fellow to obey orders to the best of his ability, and accomplish if possible the purpose of the secret instructions given him by General Wilkinson. It is also what boys call a "dead give away"; for here, at the outset of his Expedition, Pike is talking about going to New Mexico, intending to deceive the Spaniards he expected to meet there, and weighing the chances of their good or bad treatment of himself and party. I forbear to characterize the ethics of the situation; the discerning reader will be able to look through this hole in a grindstone, and form his own conclusions: see also [note46 p. 504].
[VI-7] A sort of ornamental neck-band, such as used to be worn by some officers with insignia of rank, and somewhat like those still affected by Free Masons and other ecclesiastical or civic orders on occasions of ceremony.
[VI-8] To this Art. 15 belongs the following [table] headed Statistical Abstract of the Indians, etc., which in the orig. ed. was directed to be bound facing p. 53. This page was followed by blank p. 54, the leaf of the book thus represented being simply an overrunning of the matter of the original folder. All that Recapitulation which was on p. 53 is embodied in the table which now forms pp. 590, 591.
[VI-9] An itemized account of the Congressional appropriation for, and estimated expenses of, Lewis and Clark's Expedition, is given on p. xxi of the 1893 ed. of L. and C. So far as I have been able to inform myself, we lack the data which would enable us to make the comparison which Pike modestly conceives might be favorable to his own expeditions. To whatever sum may have been expended on the part of the United States for the Mississippian voyage and the Arkansaw journey, as performed under the orders of General Wilkinson, is to be added the cost of the enforced Mexican tour, in so far as this was paid by the United States on the strength of claims for reimbursement presented by the Spanish authorities. On this latter score I have found some curious unpublished documents in the archives of the War Department at Washington. Certain of these items will be found [beyond] in proper connection with the official correspondence on the subject.
[VI-10] Pike's expected promotion to a captaincy occurred Aug. 12th, 1806.
[I'-1] The Mexican Tour trips at the start with misstatements which must have puzzled many a reader, as they did the present editor. Reference to [p. 510] will show that yesterday, Feb. 26th, Pike "went up the river about 12 miles." He does not say what river; but as he was on the Conejos, we naturally take that to be the one he ascended that day—and we are right. But to-day he speaks of "ascending the Rio del Norte five miles more," implying that yesterday's march was up this river, as to-day's is said to be. Then we are confronted by the statement that to-day's course is "S. 60° W."—a direction in which it is impossible to ascend the Rio del Norte to any distance. The difficulty vanishes at once, if for "Rio del Norte" we read Rio Conejos. This emendation is confirmed by Pike's map, which contradicts the above text, showing no détour up the Rio Grande; the dotted trail goes from the stockade directly up Rio Conejos, to a point on its N. or left bank marked "1st. Camp"—i. e., the "place of deposit" to which the Spaniards took him on the 26th. This place, where the Spaniards had established themselves when they sent for Pike, was on the direct road by which they had come from Santa Fé, and not far from the present town of Conejos, though probably somewhat further down the river of that name. The road which now crosses the river at the town holds the course of a trail which ran N. to the Saguache mts. and through Cochetope Pass to the Gunnison and Grand rivers, and so on. This was formerly much used by the Utes en route to Santa Fé, and was no doubt in existence in 1807. Conejos, seat of the county so named, is a very well-known place on the river, in the plain between the San Luis hills on the E. and the foothills of the San Juan range on the W.; it is directly under Prospect Peak (9,900 feet; air-line 8 m.). Roads concenter here from various directions; that hence to Fort Garland, 35¼ m. N. E., crosses the place where Pike had his stockade; that S. W. to old Fort Lowell is 49½ m. Some small places in the vicinity of Conejos are called Guadalupe, Servilleta, San Rafael, San José, and Brazos. The route pursued hence is the old main road S. down the Rio Grande, but at a considerable distance W. of that river for the present (along long. 106° W. nearly).
[I'-2] Soon after leaving Conejos the party crossed Rio San Antonio, or San Antonio cr. (the main branch of Rio Conejos), below the confluence of Los Pinos cr., past places of both these names, and at lat. 37° N. went from the present State of Colorado into the present Territory of New Mexico. This river heads E. of the Tierra Amarilla, in the mountain range of which Brazos Peak, over 11,000 feet, is a conspicuous elevation. The most notable feature of the day is Cerro San Antonio, nearly 11,000 feet high, standing out from the range. They skirted its E. base, among the hills of which Pike speaks, between it and the Buffalo buttes, as the D. and R. G. R. R. now does, and where is the station Volcano. S. W. of the peak are the Ortiz hills. Camp was set at or near the present station Tres Piedras (Three Rocks).
[I'-3] Or Rio Caliente, as the name of the stream is now usually rendered. This is formed by various tributaries from the N. and N. W. (Rita Servilleta, Vallecita, etc.), and joins the Rio Chama from the W., about 5 m. above their common entrance into the Rio Grande opp. San Juan. There are various other hot or warm springs than the one at which Pike stopped, and this one is 10 m. or so W. of the railroad station called Ojo Caliente. At various points near the Rio Grande, at a considerable distance to Pike's left, are numerous isolated elevations, some of which are Cerros Olla, Chifle, Montoso, Cristobal, Taoses, and Orejas. Since Pike entered New Mexico, on crossing lat. 37° on the 28th, his route has been practically along the W. border of Taos Co., so named from the well-known Tañoan pueblo or town of Taos, frequently mentioned by him as Tons, Tous, Toas, etc., as his printer happened to fancy, while his engraver made it "Yaos" on the map of New Spain. This is on a branch of Taos cr.; when Pike passes its latitude to-day, he is about 20 m. W. of it. Some places passed along Caliente cr., to his right, are Petaca, Servilleta, and Cueva Springs. The name Taos has several different implications: for a river, Rio de Taos; for the country through which this river flows; for a town at the junction of its principal forks, otherwise San Fernandez; for a place 3 m. S. E. of this, Rancho de Taos; and for another place about the same distance N. E., Pueblo de Taos. San Fernandez de Taos was a Mexican adobe town, which had some 600-800 pop. in 1846, and was the capital of the Department of Taos. The old Indian pueblo of Taos, to which the insurgents had retreated Jan. 7th, 1847, after the skirmishes of Cañada and Embuda, became noted during the war as the scene of a bloody siege and capture: see Ex. Doc. No. 41, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., pub. 1848, p. 457.