I am, dear General,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. Pike, Lt.
General Wilkinson.
Art. 5. Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. ([Orig. No. 5], pp. 33-35.)
Village De Charette, July 22d, 1806.
Dear General:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your two obliging favors of the 18th and 19th inst. The particular contents of each shall be punctually attended to.
I assure you, Sir, that I am extremely pleased with the idea that Messrs. [Blank] and [Blank] will meet with their merited reward, and I on my part am determined to show them that it is not their sinister movements that can derange the objects of our voyage; the greatest embarrassment they have yet occasioned me has been by the detention of the Panis' baggage, who have been much mortified on the occasion. But I question much if, under similar impressions and circumstances, many white men would have borne their loss with more philosophy than our young savages.
I conceive that I cannot dispose of one of my guns better than to give it to Frank, whose fusee was left at Chouteau's; also, each of them a soldier's coat; this is all the remuneration I will pretend to make them, and I hope it may bring them to a good humor.
You will probably be surprised at the slow progress we have made, but are already informed of the cause of our detention at St. Charles. Since then we have been detained two days on account of the rain; and although we were able to prevent the water from entering immediately on the top of the boat where covered, yet the quantity which she made at both ends occasioned so much dampness under the loading as to injure both my own corn and that of the Indians, with other small articles which they had at various times taken from under the loading and not returned to their proper places; but they appear satisfied that we have paid all possible attention to prevent injury to their baggage—as much as, and indeed more than, to our own.