this trip was intended by Pike to throw light on the exact nature of the Spanish boundary claims.  In all probability he also intended to try to find out all he could of the military and civil situation in the northern provinces of Mexico.  Such information could be gathered but for one purpose; and it seems probable that Wilkinson had hinted to him that part of his plan which included an assault of some kind or other on Spanish rule in Mexico; but Pike was an ardent patriot, and there is not the slightest ground for any belief that Wilkinson dared to hint to him his own disloyalty to the Union.

    He Ascends the Mississippi.

In August, 1805, Pike turned his face towards the head-waters of the Mississippi, his purpose being both to explore the sources of that river, and to show to the Indians, and to the British fur traders among them, that the United States was sovereign over the country in fact as well as in theory.  He started in a large keel boat, with twenty soldiers of the regular army.  The voyage up-stream was uneventful.  The party lived largely on game they shot, Pike himself doing rather more hunting than anyone else and evidently taking much pride in his exploits; though in his journal he modestly disclaimed any pretensions to special skill.  Unlike the later explorers, but like Lewis and Clark, Pike could not avail himself of the services of hunters having knowledge of the country.  He and his regulars were forced to be their own pioneers and to do their own hunting, until, by dint of hard knocks and hard work, they grew experts, both as riflemen and as woodsmen.

    Encounters with Indians.

The expedition occasionally encountered parties of Indians.  The savages were nominally at peace with the whites, and although even at this time they occasionally murdered some solitary trapper or trader, they did not dare meddle with Pike’s well armed and well prepared soldiers, confining themselves to provocation that just fell short of causing conflict.  Pike handled them well, and speedily brought those with whom he came into contact to a proper frame of mind, showing good temper and at the same time prompt vigor in putting down any attempt at bullying.  On the journey up stream only one misadventure befell the party.  A couple of the men got lost while hunting and did not find the boat for six days, by which time they were nearly starved, having used up all their ammunition, so that they could not shoot game.

    Winters on the Headwaters of the Mississippi.

The winter was spent in what is now Minnesota.  Pike made a permanent camp where he kept most of his men, while he himself travelled hither and thither, using dog sleds after the snow fell.  They lived almost purely on game, and Pike, after the first enthusiasm of the sport had palled a little, commented on the hard slavery of a hunter’s life and its vicissitudes; for on one day he might kill enough meat to last the whole party for a week and when that was exhausted they might go three or four days without anything at all. [Footnote:  Pike’s Journal, entry of November 16, 1805.] Deer and bear were the common game, though they saw both buffalo and elk, and killed several of the latter.  Pike found his small-bore rifle too light for the chase of the buffalo.