Pike’s Journal Back in Print!

Just in time for the Bicentennial, the University of New Mexico Press has republished the complete journal of Pike’s southwestern expedition, making this historic work available to the public again after being out of print for nearly forty years.

This new edition, titled The Southwestern Journals of Zebulon Pike, 1806-1807, was originally published in 1932 when, under the capable hands of editors Stephen H. Hart and Archer B. Hulbert, it became the first version of the journals to make use of Pike’s maps and other navigational data confiscated by the Spanish in 1807 and later returned to the U.S. by the Mexican government as a result of the 1906 Pike centennial.

The University of New Mexico Press enlisted noted Southwest historian Mark Gardner to write a new introduction to Hart and Hulbert’s work, and he has ably delineated the place of their original edition in Pike scholarship, as well as providing additional historical insights helpful for today’s reader. Readers will also find the edition a nice balance of historiographical styles, with the running text of the journals periodically interspaced with other primary documents, such as pertinent letters, that help further clarify particular expedition-related events in a wider context. But in the end, it is the immediacy of reading Pike’s actual words that provides the ultimate window through which people and landscapes live and breathe again, and the editors’ light touch deftly let Pike remain our ultimate guide to this great adventure.

The Southwestern Journals of Zebulon Pike is a crucial traveling companion for those who are embarking on the expedition’s exciting trail—whether it’s via the open road, or from the comfort of an armchair—and is the welcome return of an old friend for historians of every stripe.

Copies of The Southwestern Journals of Zebulon Pike, 1806-1807 are available from the Santa Fe Trail Association Last Chance Store or by phone at 888-321-7341.

Classic Pike Film Released on DVD

The bicentennial release of the award-winning film, “Zebulon Pike and the Blue Mountain,” is now available to the public on a digitally remastered DVD from Colorado-based Tamarack Productions.

As the title suggests, while the film presents an overall view of the expedition’s Southwestern journey, “Zebulon Pike and the Blue Mountain” centers around what is arguably the most exciting and challenging part of their amazing saga, their harrowing winter adventures in what is today’s state of Colorado.

Most of the footage for the film was shot on actual locations along Pike’s route, giving the viewer a keen sense of historic place that is enhanced by the filmmaker’s efforts to replicate as accurately as possible all of the expedition’s equipment and uniforms.

Where scenes involve Indians, such as the tense meeting on November 22, 1806, between the explorers and a Pawnee war party, the realistic effect is appreciably heightened by the extensive use of actual Indian tribal members, accurately attired, who speak the dialogue in subtitled native languages.

It’s a great adventure story, made all the more so by the use of the voice of renowned actor Burgess Meredith as narrator. “Zebulon Pike and the Blue Mountain” is the only film devoted exclusively to relating Pike’s saga in the Southwest, and offers both entertainment and a valuable educational tool for classroom use.

To view a clip of the movie and get additional information, click here.