Pike’s Southwest Explorations
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History: North American Series
- Categories: Economics, Land Acquisition and Expansion, Territory Redistribution, Discovery, Exploration
- Subcategories: Explorers, Frontier, Pioneers
- Curriculum: 19th Century European History, Latin American History, American Indian History, American Early National History (1789-1815), Spanish/Portuguese History
- Geographical Location: Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Louisiana, Arkansas
- Date: July 15, 1806-July 1, 1807
Article abstract: Opening of the Santa Fe trade and creation of the “Great American Desert” myth.
Summary of Event
On July 15, 1806, Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike of the Western Army of the United States set out from St. Louis with a party of twenty-two men with orders to locate and explore the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. His plan was to ascend the Arkansas River, cross over to the Red River, and then descend that river to its junction with the Mississippi River. The boundary line between the United States and the Spanish Empire...
[The entire page is 1373 words long]