great that it reached from the Mississippi to the Pacific. The two movements were similar in scope and plan; both were in the nature of claiming possession of property; they were alike fruitful of permanent good results; but they differed entirely in the circumstances under which each was devised, and to a marked degree in their respective purposes. Lewis and Clark's enterprise originated with the President of the United States; and though both of the men to whom that most memorable exploration was confided were officers of the regular army, their military organization was entirely subservient to affairs of state, being simply designed to secure the most efficient discipline in the discharge of certain civilian duties. Jefferson had invested heavily in real estate; the Louisiana purchase had been made with the people's money; he naturally wished to know what sort of a bargain he had made with Napoleon; so he sent Lewis and Clark to explore the vast extent of country he had bought. While their faces were still fixed on the setting sun, which for them still dipped behind the shining snow-caps, Pike set forth on his first journey northward; while they were homeward bound from the South Sea by way of the mighty Missouri and the rugged Roche Jaune, he was pressing on his second way toward the Mexican mountains. Both his expeditions originated with the commander-in-chief of the army; both were as strictly military in method as in purpose. Pike was the simon-pure and simple soldier, who had been ordered by his general to carry our flag among British traders and Sioux, Ojibways, and other Indians of the Northwest, in the first instance; in the second place, to display that emblem of authority among the Osages, Pawnees, and Comanches, and plant that standard of the republic on the still disputed boundary of New Spain in the Southwest. All else that he accomplished was incidental to Wilkinson's main aim. How daring were Pike's exploits, these volumes testify. Their moral effect was enormous; their results proved far-reaching; and some of these are still in evidence of intrepid adventure pushed to successful issue.

If the record of Pike's expeditions be overshadowed by the history of still greater and partly prior achievement, we may remember that its luster is dimmed only in comparison with the incomparable story of Lewis and Clark. If this witness of arduous duty ardently done in the service of his country stand dumb before that startling tragedy which set the seal of sacrifice upon a devoted life, we may reflect that such a consummation of noble aspirations but capped the climax of unswerving patriotism and unwavering fidelity to lofty ideals when it transfigured the already celebrated explorer into a national hero and a popular idol. Pike's personality is not less picturesque than is his career unique; our interest in his character becomes vivid as we study its manifestations, and perhaps even outgrows that regard we may bestow upon those of his achievements which have passed into permanent history. The present volumes tell his own story, in his own way; they are autobiographical in all that relates to the principal incidents and most stirring scenes of his life, before that final catastrophe which turned the tide of international warfare. If the narrative never halted at the point of an unaccustomed pen it would not be Pike's, and it would lack a certain quality which not even a Biddle could impart to the more polished and finished history of Lewis and Clark. It now seems probable that both books will endure, side by side, so long as any interest in the beginnings of our Great West finds a place in the hearts of the people.

Pike anticipated Lewis and Clark by about four years in bringing the results of his partly simultaneous explorations before the public. Since the first appearance of his work, there has never been a time when it has not been cited by scholars as an original authority in the many matters of historical, geographical, ethnological, and related interests of which it treats. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that Pike has never been so widely or so well known as he deserves to be in his double character of traveler and author. The soldier could hardly desire greater fame than fell to the happy lot of the hero of York, victorious in death; but what of his life? Who was this General Pike before that? Who was Lieutenant or Captain Pike—where did he go exploring—what did he discover—how should we know? In searching contemporaneous records of the War of 1812 for biographical data in the preparation of the Memoir which introduces these volumes, it was always the great soldier—General Pike—whom I found, with scant recognition, if anything more than mere mention, of the still greater explorer—the youthful, the dashing and winning, the ardent and enthusiastic lieutenant, who dreamed of glory till his dream came true. The fact would seem to be that Pike's death on the field of battle, under exceptionally thrilling circumstances, obscured rather than accentuated those earlier exploits which set his title to fame in the clearest and truest light. Probably no good general would have failed in what Pike accomplished on the day of his death; but how many subalterns in their twenties have won imperishable renown by achievements in the field of exploration? One purpose I had in view in preparing a new edition of this work will have been subserved if I have succeeded in eliminating a certain popular aberration, in calculating aright the parallax of Pike as viewed from different standpoints, and in thus placing his name in proper historical perspective.

Nearly or quite all that an editor might be expected to say in his preface concerning the subject-matter of his author will be found to have been said already in one place or another in the course of the extensive and minute commentary which appears upon almost every page of the present edition. Nevertheless, so few are the persons who have any clear or coherent ideas on the subject of Pike's performances, that it will be to consult the convenience of most readers who may take up this book to give here a brief statement of his journeyings.

Pike conducted two entirely separate and distinct expeditions. One of them, in 1805-6, was from St. Louis by way of the Mississippi to the headwaters of this river, and return—for the most part by the same way he went. This round trip, which I have called the "Mississippi Voyage," forms Pt. 1 of his book. The other expedition was taken westward from St. Louis into the interior parts of the then Louisiana, to the sources of the Arkansaw river, and among the Rocky mountains of present Colorado. In so far as Pike protracted this exploration of his own volition, it forms Pt. 2 of his book, which I have designated the "Arkansaw Journey." But at one point in the course of this journey Pike was captured by the Spaniards, and conducted against his will by a roundabout way through Mexico to the then Spanish-American boundary between Texas and Louisiana. This episode, unflattering to Pike's sensibilities, if not wholly unforeseen by him, he saw fit to make the subject of Pt. 3 of his book; I have entitled it the "Mexican Tour."

I. In July, 1805, Pike was ordered by General Wilkinson to explore and report upon the Mississippi river from St. Louis to its source, select sites for military posts, treat with the Indians, make peace if possible between the Sioux and Ojibways, and find out what he could about the British traders who still occupied posts in our newly acquired territory. Excepting these establishments of the Northwest Company, there were then no white settlements on or near the river beyond the village of Prairie du Chien, and our flag had never flown in that quarter. Pike navigated his boats to the vicinity of present Little Falls, but could get them no further. He there built a stockade,