Pike, Zebulon M. (1779-1813) to Grand Pest
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03594 Author/Creator: Pike, Zebulon M. (1779-1813) Place Written: Osage Towns Type: Letter signed Date: 1 September 1806 Pagination: 2 p. ; 32 x 19.5 cm. Order a Copy
Address to Chief Grand Pest of the Osage Indians residing on the Arkansas River, with a French translation on p. 2. Advises Grand Pest "of the approach of the Son of Your Great Father" (Zebulon Pike) and urges him to "Open Your ears to the good council of the Great Warrior...he will put you in the path of wisdom, & never deceive you." The letter was delivered by General James Wilkinson's son, Pike's second in command. General James Wilkinson, the governor of Louisiana, had sent Lieutenant Pike on this mission to pacify the Indians.
Background: General James Wilkinson, the governor of Louisiana, sent then Lieutenant Pike (in charge of an expedition approved by the westward looking Jefferson administration) along a dangerous route to pacify the Indians of the upper Arkansas River and obtain information about Spanish-held northern New Mexico. On this first U.S. incursion into New Mexico, with undertones of a possible secret Wilkinson motives, Pike was captured by the Spanish and held for a year. Prior to his capture, he sighted the Colorado mountain named for him and completed his assignment with the Indians, of which this paternalistic letter is a testament. Adopting a French and Spanish technique, Wilkinson had purchased captive Osage women and children from a rival tribe that Pike could escort back to ingratiate himself. The Indian name "Grand Pest" is a translation of the name given to the chief by the French, which meant "great plage." The French translation was needed because some of the Osages spoke French and attempts to translate into their Indian language had been ineffectual.
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