~Zebulon M. Pike in New Mexico~
by Hal Jackson

Zebulon Pike and his small party, escorted by 100 Spanish soldiers and militiamen, left his stockade on the Conejos river on February 27, 1807. The party was being taken to Santa Fe at the direction of Governor Alencaster. Pike’s incursion into Spanish territory was a serious matter to the Spanish authorities because there had been military activity along the disputed Louisiana-Texas border and the Spanish feared American forces might be moving toward New Mexico.

Pike and his escort entered New Mexico a few miles west of the Rio Grande and on February 28th arrived at Ojo Caliente, a small village on the frontier, on March 1, 1807. This village was the first non-Indian community Pike had seen since leaving La Charette, in eastern Missouri, on 18 July, 1806.

On March 2nd Pike reached San Juan Pueblo. Pike was now at the north end of the Camino Real, established by Juan de Oñate in 1598, and will continue south on that old road for several months. The party reaches Santa Fe on March 3rd, and Pike’s description of Santa Fe was that it was about one mile in length along the creek and about three streets in width.

Governor Alencaster interrogated Pike at length and the authorities opened his baggage as well. Alencaster did not keep his unwelcome guest long but sent him south to be interviewed further in Chihuahua. Pike departed Santa Fe on March 4th for Albuquerque and the south by way of La Bajada.

On March 7th Pike was in Albuquerque, “a village on the east side of the Rio del Norte,” as Pike described it. Leaving Albuquerque on the 8th of March, Pike met Facundo Melgares who is to be in charge of Pike from here. Recall that it was Facundo Melgares who led the large contingent of troops to the Pawnee Village in Nebraska, which Pike visited a few weeks after Melgares had departed. Pike and Melgares became close friends as they traveled toward Chihuahua.

The Pike-Melgares party passed through numerous villages on the east side of the Rio Grande before crossing to the west side at about Fra Cristobal. Continuing south on the west side allowed the party to avoid the Jornada del Muerto, the arid stretch used by wagon trains on the east side of the river.

The party arrived at El Paso del Norte on the 21 st of March. Pike’s “passo del Norte,” is presently in the center of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He spent two nights here at El Paso del Norte before proceeding to the presidio town of San Elizario.

As a result of a dramatic shift in the course of the Rio Grande in 1849, geography is confusing in this area. At the time of Pike’s visit, San Elizario was on the east side of the river and on the Camino Real. It, and two other Camino Real communities, are now to the east of the river and in the state of Texas.

After a few days at San Elizario, Pike left for Chihuahua on March 26, 1807.

~Zebulon M. Pike in Mexico~
by Hal Jackson

This section will describe Pike’s journey from El Paso del Norte (Cd. Juarez, Mexico) to the present international boundary at the Rio Grande between Coahuila, Mexico, and Texas. A word here on the political geography of Pike’s journey from St. Louis to Louisiana. The Spanish did not accept the U S claims made for the Louisiana Purchase. While the U S claimed territory to the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers (finding these sources was a major part of Pike’s reasons for coming), the Spanish position was that Pike was trespassing almost from the instant he left St. Louis. The vast area traversed by Zebulon Pike was “disputed territory.”

Now, when we begin with Pike at El Paso del Norte in the province of Nueva Vizcaya this was not a political boundary. Pike had entered Nueva Vizcaya when he crossed the Sangre de Cristo north of Santa Fe. There was no Mexico until 1821 so our divisions are arbitrary. Pike left El Paso del Norte on March 23, 1807 and stayed at the presidial town of San Elizario until the 25th.

Pike and Melgares (Melgares was commander of the escort) traveled on the two hundred-year-old Camino Real (Juan de Oñate had opened the Camino in 1598) toward Chihuahua. Their first stop was at the spring at Samalayuca (Pike’s “Ogo mall Ukap”) and then the presidio at Carrizal.

It was at Carrizal that Pike learned of Burr’s conspiracies in the U S. From Carrizal, Pike continued south on the Camino Real arriving at Chihuahua on the 2nd of April where he remained until the 28th. Commandant General Salcedo interrogated Pike at great length during his stay in Chihuahua. From this point on Pike was fully aware of the military importance given to his trip by the Spaniards. Salcedo needed to know if Pike was sent to reconnoiter for an American invasion.

Pike and Melgares left Chihuahua on the 28th of April staying at several villages along the Camino Real before reaching the presidio town of Guajoquilla on May 2nd. Melgares passed his responsibility for Pike to another officer, Varela, at Guajoquilla (present name is Cd. Jimenez).

From Guajoquilla, Pike and escort went south along the established route through another old presidio town Mapimí. Looking at a map of Pike’s route one notes the wide detour around the Bolsón de Mapimí an extremely arid region in southeast Chihuahua state and western Coahuila state. Even today there are few settlements in this environmentally hostile area.

Pike’s journal, now considerably abbreviated because of restrictions placed on his note taking by General Salcedo, is difficult to follow in this region. We find him at Parras on the 17th of May and Monclova on the 25th. They arrived at the presidio Rio Grande (today Guerrero, Coahuila) on June 1, 1807. At the Rio Grande he crossed the river, still in Coahuila, and heads toward San Antonio. The boundary between Coahuila and Tejas was just west of San Antonio.