| Major Zebulon Montgomery Pike — An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, and through the Western Parts of Louisiana to the Sources of the Arkansaw, Kans, La Platte, and Pierre Jaun Rivers; Performed by order of the Government of the United States During the Years 185 |
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An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, and through the Western Parts of Louisiana to the Sources of the Arkansaw, Kans, La Platte, and Pierre Jaun Rivers; Performed by order of the Government of the United States During the Years 185 |
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8vo (9 x 6 inches). Frontispiece portrait (browned), three folding tables, six engraved maps at the end including five fine folding, of which two are charts of the "Internal Part of Louisiana," one map and one sketch of the "Internal Provinces of New Spain," and a "Map of the Mississippi River from its Source to the Mouth of the Missouri" (only very lightly browned with some minor offsetting, small marginal tear to A2 just crossing the text, first page of Appendix I torn with an early repair). ORIGINAL BLUE PAPER BOARDS, remains of printed paper label on the spine, uncut (spine worn with some loss); modern cloth clamshell box. Provenance: One contemporary marginal annotation to the second appendix of part one. AN EXCEPTIONAL COPY IN ORIGINAL BOARDS OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST GOVERNMENT EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTHWEST. The Louisiana Purchase was one of Thomas Jefferson's crowning achievements, and in the following four years he commissioned a number of expeditions to explore the largely unknown territory. In 1804 Lewis and Clark ventured westward from St. Louis; Sibley, Dunbar and Freeman explored the Spanish border region in Texas; and in 1806 Pike went to explore the southernmost border region north of New Spain. His orders were to explore the Arkansas and Red Rivers, but by February of 1807 he had reached the upper reaches of the Rio Grande having missed the Red River entirely: "Spanish authorities learned of his presence and sent a force to arrest him and his men. They were taken to Santa Fe and then sent on to Chihuahua. Pike's maps and papers were confiscated, but he managed to retain his diary and journals by secreting them in the gun barrels of his men. Apparently he was able to convince the Spaniards that he had entered New Spain by accident, as he was escorted by armed guard through Texas via San Antonio to the Sabine, where he was released. He arrived at Natchioches in June, 1807, having thus had the opportunity to examine New Mexico and Texas in some detail, at the expense of the Spanish government." (Jenkins). The publication of Pike's reports of the area now occupied by Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico encountered similar difficulties to those of Lewis and Clark of their expedition, and did not appear in print until three years after Pike's return. However, they were well received and the favorable reports of Texas as "one of the richest, most prolific, and best watered countries in North America" did much to encourage further exploration and expansion. Field 1217; Graff 3290; Howes P-373; Jenkins "Basic Texas Books" 163; Sabin 62836; Streeter "Texas" 1047; Wagner-Camp-Becker 9:1; Wheat "Mapping the Transmississippi West" 297-299. |
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