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Show .. . .. ... ~ . . • c ' • • ' . ... .• .• . ...., 't. ( . ". . .. . . . .·. .. ' .. ' ,.. ., .' ' . . , .. · .. ·.. '"• • • ~· ' t' . , DISTRICT OF PENNS'Yl.V.!lNIA, to 'luzt : BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the seventh day of June, ia the thirty-second year of the independence of the United States oi America, A. D. 1808, Z. M. Pike ofthe said district, kllh de[>osited in this office, the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit : " .!In accouut of e.xju·ditious to tile sources qf the JI,Jississijljli, all(l tln·ough tilt westt'1'n jJarts qj' Louisiana, to the sourcl's qf the .lfrkansa• ru, Kans, La Plat{(•, and Pic1Te Jaun, rioc·rs. Pl'1:(ormcd by onlcr qf the government of the United States, during the ycar.rt 1805, 1806, Q1l([ 1807. .ilnd a tour through the interior jzarts qf .Ne'lu Sj1ain, when con duet l'd through theu jwo·vinces, by orde1· of the cajttain.gcnc rat in thr yrm· 180'/. By major Z. Jl,f. Pike. Illnstmted by majts awl charts." In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United l..)tatcs, intitnlcd," An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing· the Copies of Maps, Ch.nrts, and Dooks, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the times therein mentioned." And also to the Act, entitled " An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, " An Act for the Encouragement of Learnin g, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Hook:s, to the Authot's ar1d Proprietors of such Copies clming the time therein mcntioucd," and extending the Benefits thereof to tlle Arts or de~i~n inr;, engraving, 01nd ctcllins- historical and oth r Print<>." D. CALO\V I·:LL, CLerk of tht• lJist rirt r~j' J> t·nnsuh•ania. : • : f : • • • : : • •• t • • • ••• 'I I I I • f. I I ... ·.· .· . . . .. . .. . . ' . ' ~ . . .... .. .... "" .. .. ........ . . . .. ~ . ... ..·. · .. TO THE PUBLIC. llOOK of travels, journal antl voyages, have become so nmnerous, an<.l arc so frequently impositions on the public, that the writer of the following sheets feels under an obligation to explain, in some measure, the original circumstances that led to tho production of this volume. Soon after the purchase of Lolli,siann, by an enlightened administration, measut·es were taken to explore the then uuknown wilds of out' wcstem country, measures founded on })riociples of scientific pmsuits, combined with a view of entering into a chain of philantrophic atTan~emcnts for mcliot·nting the condition of the Indians who inhabit those vast plains and deserts. Ilis excellency, Jllcrri71'l'tlirr l,t''1vis. then a captain of the Grst re~imcnt of infantry, was selected by the President of the U nitcd Stat s, in conjunction with capt. C. Clark(', to explore the then unknown .sources of the Missouri, and I was chosen to trace the Missi-;~ippi to its source, with the objects in view contemplated hy my instructioni; to which I conceived my duly, as a soldier should induce me, to acld an investigation into the views of the Briti:sh tmdcrs in that quarter, as to trade, and an enquiry into the limits of the territories of the United States and Great llr!tain. As a man of humanity aud feel ing, I made usc of the name of my government to stop the savage watofare which had for ages been carried on hr two of the most powerful nations of Aborigines in North America. 'Vhy I did not execute the power vested in me by the laws of the country, to ruin the Dritish traclet·s and cmich myself, by seizing on the immense pro verty or the Nonh \Vest company, which I fi.>UIHI in the acknowleug ·ed boundat·y of the United States, will be explained by my I ·ttct · to J !ugh M'Gillis, E sq. to whom I owe etemal gratitude fur his })Oiitc and hospitable treatment of myself and party |