Lt. Zebulon Pike's Southwestern Expedition

Lt. Zebulon Pike's Southwestern Expedition. , Travel the route of these explorers and read Lt. Pike’s own words from his journal., U.S. Army Expedition to explore the United States new southwest boundary with New Spain., The men: , Lt. Zebulon M. Pike , Dr. John H. Robinson , Sgt. William Meek , Corp. Jeremiah Jackson , privates: , John Brown , Jacob Carter , William Gordon , Theodore Miller , John Mountjoy , Alexander Roy , Freegift Stout, From the careful logbooks by early explorers like Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike, the mapmakers of Washington were kept busy creating new images of the mostly unknown Rocky Mountains. This original map was published in 1807., November 27th: , “The unbounded prairie was overhung with clouds, which appeared like the ocean in a storm ... the thermometer ... here fell to 4° below 0.” , 1806 (Pike), December 25th: , “800 miles from the frontiers of our country, in the most inclement season of the year, not one person clothed for the winter, many without blankets, ...” , 1806 (Pike) , , The Expedition: , 28th January: 1807 (Pike) , “We discovered through the lengthy vista..., another chain of mountains... the prairie between the two mountains bore nearly north to south. I returned to camp with the news of my discovery. The sand hills extending up and down the White mountains, about fifteen miles, and appeared to be about five miles in width." , (Actual size is approximately 6x5 miles, or 30 square miles), Site of this sign: , Facing east, one can see the deep notch in the mountains above the Great Sand Dunes. This is the likely route of Pike and his men as they crossed this majestic mountain range. As the valley was settled, agriculture became the leading industry and still is today. One can see the center pivot sprinklers irrigating crops such as potatoes, barley, hay and alfalfa., [Bottom center map caption reads] , The route Pike followed to Medano Pass was not a frequently used pathway. However, it joined another from the Huerfano Valley which was doubtlessly the main track from the upper Arkansas to Taos via the San Luis Valley, [Bottom right Great Sand Dunes photo caption reads] , "Like the sea in a storm". 1807 (Pike), For further reading: , "The Southwest Journals of Zebulon Pike - 1806-1807" , Hart, Hulbert, and Gardner , U of New Mexico Press 2006