Treasure Mountain, CO - Lost Frenchmens Gold

I'm in Durango on business today, and it was gorgeous warm weather today. And Durango is around 6,500. But now a huge storm is shaking the whole area, and the hail is piling up around my Jeep like snow in the hotel parking lot. We talk about conditions up there, well something like this storm would be ten times worse in a tent at tree line up there. I know from personal experience. But hey, it does help you refill the camp food cooler with ice! How ironic.
 

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I have obtained Zebulon Pikes expedition report i find it interesting when he arrived into western Kansas the Pawnee were flying the Spanish flag in there village. When he asked the Chief why this was, the report was that the Spanish had been there with about 300 well armed soldiers. They had informed the Pawnee if any white men were to approach from the east that they needed to tell them to go back they way they came or suffer the consequences. the Spaniards were using the Indians as a buffer zone and told the Indians they would suffer to if they did not follow there orders. Pike some how convinced the Pawnee to let them pass once into the Pueblo Colorado area.Here they came across a well worn path by the Spanish had traveled that ran North and South and there old camps that would have an estimated fires of about 80 his estimate that this would be roughly 400 Spaniards.
 

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Excellent observation. Makes one wonder exactly how much penetration into the region did the French miners actually have? Spaniards were everywhere.
 

That is the big question here unfortunately there is hardly any info out there on the French.My research is mostly to see how prevalent the Spanish were in this area during the French and it looks like they were abundant.Pike reported that the trails were not new and had been there for quite some time by all the evidence they found as of camps, grazing of animals and tree removal.
 

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Pike was concerned about encountering the Spanish but the first people that came to his camp were French it seems the French came over to the Spanish side. The French were sent by the Spanish to meet him and tell Pike were he was actually at in a Spanish controlled land.
 

cyzak said:
Pike was concerned about encountering the Spanish but the first people that came to his camp were French it seems the French came over to the Spanish side. The French were sent by the Spanish to meet him and tell Pike were he was actually at in a Spanish controlled land.
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Can you go into more detail about this. How many French came to his camp and what was the location of the camp. Where the French sent by government officials from Santa Fe.
 

The site of this camp and the fortification which Pike proceeded to construct, has been identified as on the north bank of the Rio Conejos, about 5 miles above its junction with the Rio Grande, near a warm spring.It was only a couple of French to talk with Pike and yes they were sent from Santa Fe with some dragoons to take him back to Santa Fe.
 

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cyzak said:
The site of this camp and the fortification which Pike proceeded to construct, has been identified as on the north bank of the Rio Conejos, about 5 miles above its junction with the Rio Grande, near a warm spring.It was only a couple of French to talk with Pike and yes they were sent from Santa Fe with some dragoons to take him back to Santa Fe.
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Thank you. I had never read that there were French in the party that arrested Pike.
 

Yes i found that really interesting and it is totally possible that few of the French would have gone over to the Spanish back in the day.He stated that he was treated and his men very well from the Spanish.
 

cyzak said:
Yes i found that really interesting and it is totally possible that few of the French would have gone over to the Spanish back in the day.He stated that he was treated and his men very well from the Spanish.
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That seems like a good book to get. Considering the time period, I would speculate that the French may have been fur trappers. There were many of them working out of Taos and may have been persuaded by the Spanish officials to meet with Pike since they were likely quite familiar with that part of CO.

Edit: just found it free: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43775
 

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Yes it is a very informational report, I am a boots on ground type of hunter I just wanted to go over Pikes path that he traveled on his expedition. Finding out that there were French involved is just a bonus for my knowledge base this work is like a giant puzzle and then I find pieces I can fit it is awesome.
 

Headed north east of Monte Vista to the KOA.
 

Qui court deux lievres a la fois, n'en prend aucun"
 

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I think they are few and far between now back in the day they were pretty popular.lol
 

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