The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Volume I (of 3) (Illustrated)

To the Public:

Books of travels, journals, and voyages have become so numerous, and are 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 the production of this volume. Soon after the purchase of Louisiana by an enlightened administration, measures were taken to explore the then unknown wilds of our western country—measures founded on principles of scientific pursuits,...