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Show '\PPEND1X TO PAHT lif. that you should lose your papers, but shall t•cly much on r ou t· tUcmory, ancl although it was un{ortunatc that you should have headed Hed rive r, ancl missed the object of yom enterprise, yet I promise myself that the route o,·cr which you have passed will afford some Uitercsting scenes, U!i well to the state.sman as the philosophet·. You will hear of the scenes in which I have been engag-ed, and may be inronnccl tlwt the traitors whose infamous clesign!:i against the constittltwn ancl g-ovcrnn1ent of our country I huve detected, exposed, and destroyed, arc V<linly attempting to explain their own conduct by inculpating me; and, among othct· devices, they have asserted th:1t vour's and lieutenant 'Vilkinson's enterprise was a premeditated co-oi)cration with ButT. Being on the wing fot· Richmond, in Virgin i,,, to con rront the arch traitor and his host or advocates, I have not lcio;ut·e to cot11mune with you as amply as I could desire; Jet it tllen sullice to you f'ot· me to say, that or the information you have ac< ptircd, and the observations you have made, you mmt be cauti.o~s, extremely cautions how you bt:cathe a word, because the puhhctty may excite a spirit of adventure adverse to the interests of our go, ·ernmcnt, 01' injurious to the maturation of those plans, which mar be hereafter found necessary and j u!3 ti fiahlc by the f;O\'crnmcnt. I leave colond Cushing- in commnncl of the distric t, with plenary powers, and h<wc informed him that you h~n c leave to repair to St. Louis, by the mo!->t direct route, the moment you have communicated to me in dujllicatc the result or you t· trave ls, Yoluntary and involuntary, in re lation to clim e, country, population, arts, a~riculturc, routes, distances, and military de fence. The president will be impatient to have whatever you have acquired, and to the detailed account a sketch must be added, ::.mel the ot·iginal and dupli cate addressed to me at the city of vVashington, with the le ast pos~iblc delay. You may make up your report at Natchitoches, and procec1l from thence to the vVascheta, and from thence to the Arkansaw, or you may descend to l~ort Adams, and proceed thence to St Lou~s, by the most convenient route. Colonel Cushing, whom I leave m command of the district, has my orders in your favor, and will girc yon every indulgence; but as an expedition is now in motion up_tl:c Arkansaw, to explore it to its source and further north.west, It JS highly important you should, either in person, or by two or t!11·ec confidential men, send forward to the Arkansaw every information which you may deem essential to the succes& of the enterprise. A 1\lr. freemen, unclct· the chief clir·ection of Mr. Dunbar of Natchc~, has the control of this operation. The escort, which consists of :.;5 select non-commissioned officers and privates, is commanded by APPENDIX TO PART III. 57 lieutenant 'Vilkinson, seconded by lieutenant T. A. Smith. This detachment, with two boats suitably equipped, will reach Natchez in eight ot· ten days ft·om the present, and will proceed with all possible dispatch. You will addt·css your communications to lieutenant \:Yilkinson, who, ufte1· many hardships and diflkulties, reached this place about the fit·st of March. lie has finished a pretty good traverse of the river, and his journal is inte1·esting. I think the present pat·ty wiJl winter ncn1· the Arkansaw Osag-e~, about 600 miles by the river ft·om the Mississippi. The president mentioned you and your explorations to the source of the Grrat river, in his address to congress, in handsome terms, and I am convinced he has a pl'Opcr sense of your merit s, and will do you ample justice. I offet· you leave to go immediately to yol11' family, because I apprehend it will be most desirable; yet, if you possess in your information aught which you may desire to communicate in person, you ;u·c at libcl'ty to pt·occcd, by the shortest route, to the scat of government, ncar which you will fincJ me, if aliln', three 0 1' foUl' lllOnths hence: I proy you to attend particulul'ly to the injnnctions of th1s hasty letter, und to believe me, whilst 1 am. your general, Your friend, (Signed) Ji\1\IF.S 'VILKINSO!'I Cajltain Pi/.:r, U. S. army. -·- [ No. 5. ] J\ iLchitoch!'<9, 5th July, 1807. DEAR G E'\EllAL., Once more I addt·cc;s you fr_om the land of ft·cedom and under the banners of our country. Yom esteemed favor of the 20th May now lies before me, in which I recognise the tSCnt~mcnt'i of my gencr .. I and friend, and will ct:(~cavor, as .far as 1:1y !muted abilitic!:i permit, to do j usticc to the spmt of your In stntcttons. 1 must premi se to your excellency that my letter of the ~~th April, dated at Chihuahua, went through n perusal by general Sal-c<: do, previous to his forwarding it. . . , That letter stat 'U the mode of my b<.:mg brought Into S:mt.l Fe, and I will now state to your excellency the proceeding on ~lw subject of my pnpers. I will omit the hnutcm ~1 the rcct:puo_n given me by governor Allen caster, for a more parn~ular com nu~mcation, which changed afterwards to extreme pohtcnrss. lk111 : ~ ., .. ... • > '• |