James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 3James, Edwin
History
James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 3
James, Edwin
Indians of North America; Rocky Mountains; United States -- Discovery and exploration; West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
[12] Giovanni Ignazio Molina was born in Chili, of Italian parents, in
1740. When the Jesuits were expelled from that country (1767) he joined
their order and went to Italy, where he became a priest and teacher.
His _Compendio di Storia geografica naturale e civile del Chili_
(Bologna, 1776) was translated into the principal European languages,
and an American edition was published under the title _Geographical,
Natural, and Civil History of Chili_ (Middletown, Connecticut, 2 vols.,
1808).
Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot was a French zoölogist and author of
voluminous works on ornithology. Among his writings was _Histoire
naturelle des oiseaux de l'Amérique septentrionale, depuis
Saint-Dominigue jusqu' à la baie d'Hudson_ (Paris, 1807 and annually
thereafter).--ED.
[13] Pike wrote in his journal: "Nov. 24th [1806]. Early in the
morning we cut down 14 logs, and put up a breast work, five feet high
on three sides and the other thrown on the river" (see Coues, _Pike's
Expeditions_, p. 452). The structure stood on the south side of the
Arkansas, a little above where the mouth of Fountain River was at
that time; but the exact spot cannot be identified, as the course of
the river has since changed considerably. Long's party looked for it,
however, in an entirely wrong place. Their course southwest from the
camp on Fountain River brought them to the Arkansas several miles above
its mouth (near Turkey Creek); besides which, they were on the wrong
side for Pike's old redoubt.--ED.
[14] The point here reached by Bell's party is the site of Cañon
City, Fremont County, at the lower end of the Grand Cañon of the
Arkansas, better known as the Royal Gorge, through which now passes
the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. The railroad engineers triumphed
over the obstacles which to our party seemed to render the cañon almost
impassable, by lowering tools, materials, provisions, mules, and men
into the chasm by ropes attached to the overhanging cliffs. In one
place it was found necessary, for want of a road-bed in the narrow
gorge, to suspend the track by bridgework anchored to the mountain side.
Pike's route from Cañon City to the upper Arkansas and back has been
much discussed; however, he did not go through the Royal Gorge. Dr.
Coues thinks that he went north from Cañon City, up Oil Creek, crossing
the dividing ridge at its source and passing into South Park, to the
South Platte River. Thence he crossed South Park to the westward, and
penetrated the Park Range to the upper Arkansas, which he explored,
mistaking it for Red River. Descending the river, the party scattered
near the upper end of Royal Gorge, and passed around it by various
routes through the mountains. Pike himself essayed the passage of the
cañon on the frozen river, but was compelled to abandon the channel
when about half-way through it. The party reached the site of Cañon
City, which it had left December 10, 1806, on January 5, 1807. See
Coues, _Pike's Expeditions_, pp. 464-478.--ED.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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