This valuable and long-out-of-print edition of Pike's Southwestern journals is being reissued on the bicentennial of the journey with a new Introduction by historian Mark L. Gardner.

"The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike" is an account of the two expeditions of the American explorer Zebulon Montgomery Pike to headwaters of the Mississippi River, through Louisiana territory and in New Spain, written from his memory after the Spanish authorities had confiscated his journals. In the summer of 1805 general James Wilkinson, appointed Governor of the Upper Louisiana Territory, ordered Pike to locate the source of the Mississippi River, explore the northern portion of the newly created Louisiana Territory, and expel Canadian fur traders illegally trading in the borders of the United States. After he returned from this first expedition, Wilkinson almost immediately ordered him to mount a second expedition, this time to explore, map, and find the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers. Additional objectives of this exploratory expedition into the southwestern part of the Louisiana Territory were to evaluate natural resources and establish friendly relations with Native Americans. Pike's second expedition crossed the Rocky Mountains into what is now southern Colorado, which led to his capture by the Spanish colonial authorities near Santa Fe, who sent Pike and his men to Chihuahua (present-day Mexico), for interrogation. Later in 1807, Pike and some of his men were escorted by the Spanish through Texas and released near American territory in Louisiana. This carefully crafted DigiCat ebook is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.

Pike commanded two expeditions in the Louisiana Purchase. In 1805, he was sent to find the headwaters of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota. In 1806, he was sent to the Southwest, and, after exploring Kansas and Colorado, was captured by the Spanish in New Mexico and sent to Mexico. He met in his travels the Sioux, the Ojibway, the Osage, and the Pawnee Indians. His assistant, Lieutenant James Wilkinson, explored the Arkansas River in northwestern Oklahoma.