376 The Winning of the West 



and ecclesiastical alike, should wish to keep intrud- 

 ers out of the land, and should jealously guard the 

 secret of their own weakness. 



When Pike reached home he found himself in 

 disfavor, as was every one who was suspected of' 

 having any intimate relations with Wilkinson. 

 However, he soon cleared himself, and continued 

 to serve in the army. He rose to be a brigadier- 

 general, and died gloriously in the hour of tri- 

 umph, when in command of the American force 

 which defeated the British and captured York. 



Lewis, Clark, and Pike had been the pioneers in 

 the exploration of the far West. The wandering 

 trappers and traders were quick to follow in their 

 tracks, and to roam hither and thither exploring on 

 their own accord. In 1807 one of these restless ad- 

 venturers reached Yellowstone Lake, and another 

 Lake Itasca; and their little trading stations were 

 built far up the Missouri and the Platte. 



While these first rough explorations of the far 

 West were taking place, the old West was steadily 

 filling with population and becoming more and more 

 a coherent portion of the Union. In the treaties 

 made from time to time with the Northwestern 

 Indians, they ceded so much land that at last the 

 entire northern bank of the Ohio was in the hands 

 of the settlersi. But the Indians still held north- 

 western Ohio and the northern portions of what are ' 

 now Indiana and Illinois, so that the settlement at 

 Detroit was quite isolated, as were the few little 

 stockades, or groups of fur-traders' huts, in what 



