A Prisoner Of Good Fortune

Zebulon Pike used Spanish incarceration to the U.S. advantage.

- Mark Boardman

Lieutenant Zebulon Pike had little time to rest. Around the first of June 1806, he and his expedition returned to St. Louis from a trip to map the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It was a natural follow-up to the Lewis and Clark voyage that was in the process of returning to civilization.

But Gen. James Wilkinson, the governor of the Louisiana Territory, saw a new opportunity—exploration of the southwest part of that region. And he wasn’t willing to wait, so Pike and his men (who he once called a “Dam’d set of Rascals”) headed back out on July 15.

Wilkinson’s instructions were explicit: make contact with various Indian tribes. Arrest any unlicensed traders. Map the areas and collect scientific and geologic information. And avoid the Spanish, whose territory bordered the new U.S. acquisition.