Zebulon Pike

“With the greatest pleasure, I obey your commands, but must beg of you to have the patience to hear my story.”

“We were for two days without anything to eat whatever, and our men had to march in that condition.”

“These vast plains of the western hemisphere may become in time as celebrated as the sandy deserts of Africa.”

“If we go to the heavenly mansions, we shall meet again; but if not, our separation is eternal.”

“Never, my son, even in the most trivial affair, suffer your honor to be compromised.”

“Should I be the happy mortal destined to turn the scale of war, will you not rejoice, O my father?”

“I shall be obliged to cross the snowy mountains at the risk of my life, with my brave soldiers.”

“It was my intention to have ascended to its pinnacle, to have placed the American flag on it, and to have given three cheers to the Mexican mountains.”