Note II-38 — Chapter II · ITINERARY, CONTINUED: FROM THE PAWNEE VILLAGE THROUGH KANSAS AND COLORADO TO PIKE'S PEAK, OCT. 1ST-NOV. 30TH, 1806.

It is certain that Pike was on Purgatory r. on the 15th, and certain that he did not reach his "Grand Forks" (present site of Pueblo, at junction of Fountain r.) till evening of the 23d. The distance between these points, along the river, is between 90 and 100 m. Pike's ostensible mileages are: for the 16th, 11½; 17th, 23½; 18th and 19th, none; 20th, 18; 21st, 21; 22d, 17; and 23d, 19; total, 110 m. We have, therefore, to reduce these mileages by about one day's journey. Observe, also, that only four camps are marked for the 16th-22d; there should be five, and with that for the 23d, six. Thus the text and map do not agree, and some error is evident, though what it is we have no means of deciding with confidence. I am inclined to think that the difficulty lies at the start from the "1st Fork" (Purgatory r.), when so much of the day was occupied in searching for the Spanish trail, and the "11½" m. assigned may have been little if any actual advance. If we proceed upon this supposition, there will be no trouble in adjusting mileages to bring in the missing camp by the 20th; after which all possible error is removed by the identifiable points. I shall, therefore, set camp of the 16th scarcely above the mouths of Adobe and Horse (formerly Dry) creeks, which fall in close together on the north, 7 and 8 m. above Purgatory r. Neither of these is noticed by Pike, though each is larger than some of the streams he charts. But they were across the river, and Pike had a bad case of Spanish trail on the brain, aggravated by anxiety about Indian sign.