Pike’s poor feet

Detail of map of Zebulon Pike's 1806 expedition, showing his route along the Neosho and Cottonwood rivers.

By many accounts, Zebulon Pike had a strange habit of tilting his head to one side, so the brim of his hat touched his shoulder. Some have also noted he was pompous and a stickler for rules. Pike may also have been an unwitting pawn in a larger scheme devised by his commanding officer. He certainly lacked the scientific training necessary for his expedition to America’s southwest.

So what would we think today if we met this young army lieutenant? And more importantly, why are we taking the time to write about Pike in a blog about the Kansas Flint Hills?

The answer to the second question is fairly easy. On this day in 1806, 202 years ago — also a Wednesday, September 10 —  Zebulon Pike led his expedition into the eastern edge of the Kansas Flint Hills, somewhere just west of the present-day town of Olpe. During the next four days, Pike and his party would cross what is now Chase and Marion Counties, traversing the Flint Hills from east to west. While spending time in the tallgrass prairie of the hills, he described the region as “very ruff (sic) flint hills,” thereby giving the region its present name, but more on that later.

Before describing the details of Pike’s trip across the Flint Hills, we should explain how he got involved in the trip in the first place. His ultimate goal was not to explore Kansas, but officially it was to make peace between the Osage and Kaw tribes, return some Pawnee prisoners, and explore the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers in Colorado.

Pike in Southeast Kansas, from the Zebulon Pike Bicentennial Page

A year prior to this voyage, Pike explored the headwaters of the Mississippi, but incorrectly identified the source of the river. He lacked the scientific training of Lewis and Clark, who were on their own, more famous, voyage to the source of the Missouri River and the great Northwest. Pike was an army lieutenant, sent on this trip by his commanding officer, General James Wilkinson, without the approval from Washington.

Wilkinson had other motives for Pike’s expedition than scientific exploration. He was actually sending Pike to spy on the Spanish, whose Santa Fe border came up to the Rocky Mountains and the Louisiana Territory recently purchased by the Americans from the French. Wilkinson told Pike to be careful and avoid contact with the Spanish in the west.

What Pike didn’t know, however, was Wilkinson was actually a double-agent and was passing information to the Spanish. Some suspect Wilkinson, who was at the time the governor of the northern Louisiana Territory, was in cahoots with Aaron Burr and together they were planning a western coup against the United States.

In any event, scientific exploration was far from the top priority of all involved. So when Pike called the high plains of Kansas the “Great American Desert,” he really didn’t have the expertise to make that judgment. To be fair, however, many people at the time thought the prairie was made up of poor, infertile soil. How else could you explain the lack of trees growing in the prairie?

Overall, Pike’s voyage did not go well. He did identify a famous peak in Colorado that now bears his name, but he failed in his attempt to reach the summit. He also got his party lost in the mountains as they attempted to find the source of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. Apparently, he hadn’t improved in the skill of finding river sources since his time in Minnesota, where he looked for the headwaters of the Mississippi.

He was also captured by the Spanish and taken to Santa Fe, which did allow him to gather some important information about the region. Wilkinson’s and Burr’s plot also failed, and for a time Pike was suspected as having a role in the plot, although it was later shown he did not. He died a hero in the War of 1812.

So now we return to September, 1806, when Pike and his party entered the Flint Hills. They had been traveling since July, when they departed St. Louis. After spending time at an Osage Indian village in Western Missouri, the group entered Kansas on the Little Osage River near Ft. Scott on September 3.

Pike's entry for September 10 & 11 from his printed journal.

The party ascended the Neosho River before spending the night of Sept. 9 on Eagle Creek, a few miles east of modern Olpe. On Sept. 10, the party continued westward and entered the upper branches of the Verdigris River. The party likely camped near present day Interstate 35, where it crosses from Chase to Lyon Counties, about 8-10 miles east of Bazaar.

On Sept. 11, the party made it into the heart of the hills and encamped on the South Fork of the Cottonwood River somewhere around Bazaar. Pike’s journal entry for the 11th says the group passed over “high hilly prairies.” They also killed an antelope and a deer.

The entry for the 11th is painfully short. There is no other real description of the landscape for the day. Pike is in the heart of the Flint Hills, hiking through the eastern half of Chase County. For those who love the Flint Hills and the prairie, this would be a dream hike, with the opportunity to see the landscape as it had been for centuries. Pike, however, is on another mission and won’t be bothered by our desire to know more.

The entry for Sept. 12 is more satisfying. This is the celebrated entry to which everyone refers when they say Pike named the Flint Hills. Here is what he does say:

Sept. 12th. Commenced our march at seven o’clock. Passed very ruff [rough] flint hills. My feet blistered and very sore. I stood on a hill, and in one view below me saw buffalo, elk, deer, cabrie, and panthers. Encamped on the main [Cottonwood] branch of Grand [Neosho] river, which had very steep banks and was deep. Dr. Robinson, Bradley, and Baroney arrived after dusk, having killed three buffalo, which, with one I killed, and two by the Indians, made six; the Indians alleging it was the Kans’ hunting ground, therefore they would destroy all the game they possibly could. Distance 18 miles.

Here we have a description of the landscape and a list of the wildlife at the time, including buffalo, elk, deer, cabrie (antelope), and panthers!

During the day of the 12th, Pike’s party left the South Fork of the Cottonwood and headed west over the “flint hills” before they camped on the Cottonwood River itself around Cedar Point.

Pike’s poor feet, however, were blistered and sore. So let’s not think Pike is praising the landscape, as much as we want him to. We know what kind of hills we hike upon when we enter the Flint Hills and we enjoy it. For Pike, however, who just wants to make 20 miles a day before reaching the Pawnee village in Nebraska, the hills are rocky and tiring.

But Pike was right about one thing. They are flint hills and we are glad for it. Without that flint, modern ranchers never would have been motivated to find a use for the tall grasses of the prairie.

If we met Pike today, to return to my first question, we might think he was a bit of a complainer. I can’t say for sure if he was a pompous young lieutenant or not, but I would encourage him to look around some more. Maybe his expedition wasn’t exactly a scientific one, but it should have been. And the first order of scientific exploration is curiosity and observation. So we would say to Zeb Pike that he should take the time to hike the hills again, this time with some appreciation for the stones that blister his poor feet.

(We’ll do more on Zeb later in the month as our celebration of Zeb Pike Month continues)