Note III-33 — Chapter III · ITINERARY, CONCLUDED: IN THE MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO ON HEADWATERS OF THE ARKANSAW AND RIO GRANDE, DECEMBER 1ST, 1806-FEBRUARY 26TH, 1807.

"White" and "Snow" are Pike's names for what he regarded as a continuous chain from as far N. as he knew anything about it, to the Sierra Blanca of New Mexico. That is to say, the names cover the whole Sawatch range, along the Continental Divide, and the Sangre de Cristo range; which latter separates the Arkansaw from the Rio Grande basin, and ends on the S. with the bold elevations of the Sierra Blanca, or White mts. of modern geography. In saying that the "great White mountain presented itself," Pike means that he has reached a point in the Wet Mountain valley where he has the Sangre de Cristo range immediately before him, on the W. In this direction are the heads of the Texas cr., already mentioned (p. 475), and of Swift or Dutch cr., draining eastern slopes of the mountains, two of the nearest points of which are Electric Peak and Monte Rito Alto, the latter 12,863 or 12,989 feet high, according to whether Lieut. Wheeler or Dr. Hayden made the most accurate determination.