"Paike showed me his instructions from General Wilkinson, his journal, and a rough sketch of a chart of all the rivers and countries he had explored.
"Placing all which papers in a trunk, of which I requested him to retain the key, I delivered the same to the officer [Capitan Antonio D'Almansa: see [p. 611]] commanding his escort—not to be opened save in presence of the aforesaid general commanding.
"From all which circumstances, from what I gathered from Robinson and from the above named officer, I conclude distinctly that the expedition of July [last—1806] was specially designed to conciliate two Indian tribes in behalf of the U. S. Government, to make them liberal presents, and drawing them into friendship, treaty, and commerce, to place them under the Anglo-American protection—all this referring especially to the Comanche tribe, the most powerful of our allies.
"Furthermore, that the Anglo-American government considers as included within the boundaries of Louisiana all the rivers that empty into the Mississippi, and all the territories that extend to the head waters of the Rio Colorado [meaning that Red r. which is the branch of the Arkansaw now called the Canadian r. as Meline explains in a footnote], which rises a few leagues from the pueblo of Taos further to the north in this province; that it is their intention this year or the next to establish forts or settlements on all these rivers, in order to monopolize all the trade and commerce carried on by a large number of tribes in the province.
"The detachment of Anglo-American troops referred to, went to Chihuahua to appear before the commanding general, guarded by an escort, being allowed to carry their arms and ammunition on account of the danger of hostile Apaches on the route.
"All of which is submitted to the general commanding, reminding him of the representation made in my communication of the 4th of January last year, concerning the necessity of placing this province on a respectable footing, and of having frontier posts and positions thrown out to oppose the ambitious views of the aforesaid Anglo-American government, exposing also the wretchedly defenseless condition actually existing, and so found for years past by whomsoever has been in command.
"Santa Fé, April 1st, 1807."
[M-13] The reputation of General Wilkinson for honor and patriotism went under a cloud, from which it has never been cleared, in connection with the Burr conspiracy. He was technically acquitted, from lack of evidence to convict; but the proof that he was a mercenary traitor subsequently appeared. General Winfield Scott is reported to have called him an "unprincipled imbecile." Governor Adams has lately put the case bluntly, but as I believe truthfully, Address, July 12th, 1894, p. 20: "General Wilkinson, then in command of the western army, has been proven by recently discovered documents to have been 'a rascal through and through.' He was in sympathy and perhaps in the confidence of Burr. Wearing the uniform and sword of an American officer, he was in the pay of Spain, and conspired to create out of the colonies west of the mountains a Spanish empire. It was Wilkinson who sent Pike west; but no matter how guilty may have been his superior in command, Pike certainly had no knowledge of his schemes. Pike was innocent of any stain. He was a patriot as pure and sincere as Wilkinson was a traitor base and ungrateful." While there is no question of Pike's perfervid patriotism, we may doubt that his lamb's-wool was as white as all that; in fact, Governor Adams himself goes on to say: "It is not entirely clear that Pike was as innocent as he professed of his whereabouts when captured in the San Luis valley. Some believe he knew he was upon the Rio Grande, and not upon the Red [river], as he pretended to believe. But had it been the Red instead of the Rio Grande, what right had he to be on the south [i. e., west] side of the river, his rude fort being several miles south [west] of the stream and under an abeyance treaty upon forbidden ground? The Spaniards believed that Pike carried secret orders to intrude upon their territory."
This belief of the Spaniards was well founded: compare my notes at [p. 499], [p. 504], [p. 563], and [p. 571]. Colonel Meline corroborates the general tenor and purport of these observations, in the following terms, p. 313 of his work already cited:
"Wilkinson's bulky and diffuse published memoirs may be searched in vain for any information concerning Pike's expedition, and his silence on the subject is, to say the least, suggestive.