Pike. I will address you a letter on the subject.[I'-10]
Governor. You will dine with me to-day, and march afterward to a village about six miles distant, escorted by Captain Anthony D'Almansa, with a detachment of dragoons, who will accompany you to where the remainder of your escort is now waiting for you, under the command of the officer [Don Facundo Malgares] who commanded the expedition to the Pawnees.
Pike. I would not wish to be impertinent in my observations to your Excellency; but pray, sir! do you not think it was a greater infringement of our territory to send 600 miles in the Pawnees', than for me with our small party to come on the frontiers of yours with an intent to descend Red river?
Governor. I do not understand you.
Pike. No, sir! any further explanation is unnecessary.
I then returned to the house of my friend Bartholomew and wrote my letter to his Excellency, which I had not finished before we were hurried to dinner.
In the morning I received from the governor, by the hands of his private secretary, $21, notifying to me that it was the amount of the king's allowance for my party to Chihuahua, and that it would be charged to me on account of my subsistence. From this I clearly understood that it was calculated that the expenses of the party to Chihuahua would be defrayed by the United States. I also received by the same hands, from his Excellency, a shirt and neck-cloth, with his compliments, wishing me to accept of them, "as they had been made in Spain by his sister and never worn by any person." For this I returned him my sincere acknowledgments; and it may not be deemed irrelevant if I explain at this period the miserable appearance we made, and the situation we were in, with the causes of it.
When we left our interpreter and one man [Vasquez and Smith] on the Arkansaw, we were obliged to carry all our baggage on our backs; consequently, that which was the most useful was preferred to the few ornamental parts of dress we possessed. The ammunition claimed our first care; tools were secondary; leather, leggings, boots, and mockinsons were the next in consideration. Consequently, I left all my uniform, clothing, trunks, etc., as did the men, except what they had on their backs; conceiving that which would secure the feet and legs from the cold to be preferable to any less indispensable portion of our dress. Thus, when we presented ourselves at Santa Fe, I was dressed in a pair of blue trousers, mockinsons, blanket coat, and a cap made of scarlet cloth lined with fox-skin; my poor fellows were in leggings, breech cloths and leather coats, and there was not a hat in the whole party. This appearance was extremely mortifying to us all, especially as soldiers; although some of the officers used frequently to observe to me, that "worth made the man," etc., with a variety of adages to the same amount. Yet the first impression made on the ignorant is hard to eradicate; and a greater proof cannot be given of the ignorance of the common people, than their asking if we lived in houses, or in camps like the Indians, and if we wore hats in our country. Those observations are sufficient to show the impression our uncouth appearance made amongst them.
The dinner at the governor's was rather splendid, having a variety of dishes and wines of the southern provinces; and when his Excellency was a little warmed with the influence of cheering liquor, he became very sociable. He informed me that there existed a serious difficulty between the commandant-general of the internal provinces and the Marquis Caso Calvo, who had given permission to Mr. [William] Dunbar to explore the Ouchata [Washita], contrary to the general principles of their government; in consequence of which the former had made representations against the latter to the court of Madrid. After dinner his Excellency ordered his coach; Captain D'Almansa, Bartholomew, and myself entered with him, and he drove out three miles. He was drawn by six mules and attended by a guard of cavalry. When we parted his adieu was, "remember Allencaster, in peace or war."
I left a note for my sergeant, with instructions to keep up good discipline and not be alarmed or discouraged. As I was about leaving the public square, poor Colly, the American prisoner, came up with tears in his eyes, and hoped I would not forget him when I arrived in the United States.