General Salcedo was as polite as Allencaster, and, though he considered the invasion "an offence of magnitude," on full consideration it was decided to return the Americans to their own country. Accordingly, they were sent back by way of San Antonio and Nachitoches. Geographically, Pike's expedition added little to American knowledge of the Wilderness, yet it served to make clearer the conditions existing between the Missouri and the foot of the mountains. Politically it emphasised the claims of the United States in that direction, but much remained to be adjusted before anything definite could come out of the chaos. FOOTNOTES: [68] Pike was later captain, then major, then general. He was killed at York, Upper Canada, in the War of 1812. He was about the age of Meriwether Lewis. [69] Charles Joseph Latrobe, a companion of Washington Irving on the plains. He wrote _The Rambler in North America_. [70] About this time the Marquis Casa Calvo had given an American, Dunbar, permission to explore the Red River and Wichita country. [71] Coues suggests that Pike was really bound for Santa Fé and fully intended to allow himself to be captured. It is possible that he had some secret compact with General Wilkinson and Aaron Burr. [72] I find that the majority of men object to having an over-abundance of provisions, even of the staple sort. It seems often to be considered a sort of cowardice to provide for unforeseen food emergencies, yet these are the very ones which wreck expeditions. Some one compact staple should always be carried in extravagant quantity, and there are ways of doing it. [73] See the frontispiece. They came down into the valley behind the left-hand peak. The exact route from Wet Mountain valley to the Rio Grande is uncertain, also the pass. See Coues on these points. [74] Coues pertinently asks, if Pike thought himself on Red River, why did he cross it into acknowledged Spanish territory and there build his fort. Robinson also knew he was near Santa Fé. [Illustration] CHAPTER XI A Race for Life—Colter Wins—The Missouri Fur Company—The American Fur Company—The Pacific Fur Company—A Great Project Foredoomed—Disaster at the Columbia Bar—The Destruction of the _Tonquin_—Hunt Starts for the Columbia Overland—The _Voyageurs_ Baulked—The Caldron Linn—Dog Steak at a Premium—Misery and Danger—Success at Last.