The La Jara chronicle., 1910-02-18
MONUMENT. TO MARK
SITE OF PIXIES FORT.


from Denver Wednesday and was a
pleasant caller at this office. The
Judge is gentleman of the old school
and is always welcome. He has been
interested in the history of Lieuten-
ant Pike. discoverer of Pixies Peak.
and particularly that portion of the
history which deals with Pixies jour
ney through the San Luis valley.
In the winter of 1906. Pike, with
small party, followed up the Arkan-
sas river to a point a little above
Pueblo. From there they crossed
over the mountains via Mosca Pass,
and came to the Rio Grande river
near Fort Garland They were on
foot and each man carried forty-hve
pounds on his back, but several of
the party were left with frozen feet
along the way. Pike believed the
Rio Grande to be the Red river and
intended following down it to the
white settlements in Texas. He es-
tablished camp and built fort on
the Conejos river about five miles
from its junction with the Rio
Irande. Around the fort he dug a
deep moat and these ruins are stiH
visible on the McIntire ranch and
Judge Hayt wishes to have the spot
marked with monument, as its
historic associations are of great val
ne. Here Lieutenant Pike was taken
prisoner by a detachment of Mexi-
can soldiers and marched to Santa
Fe and thence to Chihuahua, Mexico.
The following account is from the
L. Bradford Prince:
Much discussion has taken place as
TO the exact locality of Pixies Fort;
but by careful reading of his mar
rative it can be determined most to
certainty He first saw the Rio
Grande from the top of high hill.
two days after his party hit a small
river running west. which they hailed
as tributary to the Red River. and
followed through what would now be
called canon, along the foot of the
White Mountains Sierra Blanca)
A glance at a modern map will snow
that the small river was the San
gre de Christie; and the point from
which the Rio Grand was first seen.
near the site of Fort Garland. Aft
er reaching the Rio Grande they de
scended eighteen miles, where they
found a large western branch empty
ing into the main stream. This
must have been the present Cone
jos river. Five miles up this river,
on the south bank. and with the wat
er itself forming the defense on one
side. was where he built his fort;
which was so ingeniously constructed
that it could only be entered by
creeping through a hole, after pass
ing a draw-bridge over the ditch.
The description which Lieutenant
Pike gives of the surrounding coun-
try is just such a burst of enthusi-
asm as we might expect from the
first writer who ever attempted to
tell of the loveiness of the San Luis
Park. From high hill south of our
camp he says. 1--WE had a view of
all the prairie and rivers to the north
of us, it was at the same time one of
the most sublime and beautiful in and
prospects ever presented to the eyes
of man. The prairie, lying nearly
north and south, was probably sixty
miles by forty-five. The main river,
bursting out of the western noun
tain and meeting from the northeast
large branch which divides the
chain of mountains, proceeds down
the prairie, making many large and
beautiful islands-one of which
Judge contains 100000 acres of land,
all meadow-ground, covered with in
Vulnerable herds of deer. In short,
this view combined the sublime and
beautiful The great and lofty
mountains. covered with eternal
SHOWS, seemed to surround the lux
uriant vale, crowned with perennial
| flowers like a terrestrial paradise
shut out from the view of man."
The description of the journey
to Santa Fe shows the above to be
the correct location of the fort.
The first town of Importance which
they saw, was after march of a lit
tie more than a hundred miles. be-
ing the village of Warm Spring,
or "L'Eau Chaud," as Pike calls it,
or, as now known, Ojo Caliente. Here
he found the first real Mexican
houses which he had seen, and des-
cribes at some length the flat roofs,
waterspouts narrow doors, and
small windows-some with mica