Art. 15.[VI-8] Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. ([Orig. No. 15], pp. 50-53.)
On the Arkansaw, latitude 37° 44´ 9´´ N., Oct. 24th, 1806.
Dear General:
Our party arrived here on the 15th inst., myself and Dr. Robinson on the 19th [18th by Itinerary, [p. 427]]. We, having been out to seek the trace of the Spanish troops, missed the party, and were not able to join them until the 4th [3d] day.
The river being very regular, Lieut. Wilkinson had calculated to proceed on the day following on the most direct route for the Red [sic] river; but shortly after my joining, considerable rain fell and raised the river, and we have been ever since preparing wooden and skin canoes for that gentleman and party to descend in. The river is between 300 and 400 yards in width, with generally flat low banks, not more than two or three feet high, and the bed a sand-bank from one side to the other. The want of water will present the greatest obstacle to the progress of the party who descend the Arkansaw, as they have no cause to fear a scarcity of provision, having some bushels of corn on hand, and can at their option take as much dried meat as they think proper, hundreds of pounds of which are lying on scaffolds at our camp; and they are likewise accompanied by the choice of our hunters.
Under these circumstances, and those stated in my letter from the Pawnees, I can assert with confidence there are no obstacles I should hesitate to encounter, although those inseparable from a voyage of several hundred leagues through a wilderness inhabited only by savages may appear of the greatest magnitude to minds unaccustomed to such enterprises. Lieut. Wilkinson and party appear in good spirits, and show a disposition which must vanquish every difficulty.
We were eight days traveling from the Pawnee village to the Arkansaw, our general course S. 10° W. Several days we lay by nearly half, owing to various circumstances; my course made it 150 miles, but I could now march it in 120. Lieut. Wilkinson has copied and carries with him a very elegant protracted sketch of the route, noting the streams, hills, etc., that we crossed; their courses, bearings, etc.; and should I live to arrive, I will pledge myself to show their connections and general direction with considerable accuracy, as I have myself spared no pains in reconnoitering or obtaining information from the savages in our route.
From this point we shall ascend the river until we strike the mountains, or find the Tetaus; thence bear more to the S. until we find the head of the Red river, where we shall be detained some time; after which nothing shall cause a halt until my arrival at Natchitoches.
I speak in all those cases in the positive mood, as, so far as lies in the compass of human exertions, we command the power; but I pretend not to surmount impossibilities, and I well know the general will pardon my anticipating a little to him.
The general will probably be surprised to find that the expenses[VI-9] of the expedition will more than double the contemplated sum of our first calculations; but I conceived the Spaniards were making such great exertions to debauch the minds of our savages, economy might be very improperly applied, and I likewise have found the purchase of horses to be attended with much greater expense than was expected at St. Louis. For those reasons, when I advert to the expenses of my two voyages, which I humbly conceive might be compared with the one performed by Captains Lewis and Clark, and the appropriations made for theirs, I feel a consciousness that it is impossible for the most rigid to censure my accounts.