This July marks the 200th anniversary of the first known American of European descent to visit and describe what we now know as Cheyenne Cañon.

Of course, natives inhabited the area since prehistoric times when the Clovis people may have migrated through the cañons. Later, the cañons provided shelter for the Ute, along with abundant water and food sources.

The creek and cañon were named for the Cheyenne Indians who also found shelter, food and water there.

Many are familiar with General Zebulon Pike whose name has been given to our region’s most prominent landmark. Under President Thomas Jefferson’s orders, Pike led two expeditions to explore the new territories gained from the Louisiana Purchase, much as the more famous Lewis and Clarke did at the same time.

Pike’s first expedition left St. Louis in 1805 and proceeded up the Mississippi. After negotiating treaties with the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes and informing fur traders that they were now in United States territory, he returned to St. Louis and, in the summer of 1806, was sent south to explore the headwaters of the Arkansas River.

In November, his team sighted and attempted to summit the peak that is named for him. But there is no record of them exploring Cheyenne Cañon before they continued south to New Mexico territory where the Spanish authorities captured them and eventually escorted them to the Louisiana border.

Although French traders would occasionally pass through this area, it would be 14 years before the government sent another expedition to explore the vast territory.

In 1820, Maj. Stephen Harriman Long of the U.S. Army Topographical Engineers was dispatched with a 22-man group of soldiers, hunters, guides and scientists trained in geology, botany, zoology, topography and an artist to conduct military and scientific reconnaissance of the central plains. 

On June 5, they set out from the Missouri River a few miles north of what is now Omaha, Nebraska. Traveling about 20 miles a day, they reached the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains on July 6 where they explored the South Platte and Arkansas rivers.

Originally, they missed Pikes Peak because they were too close to the range to distinguish it from the other peaks. They soon realized their error and doubled back for further exploration, setting up a camp at the base of the mountain on July 12.

While botanist Dr. Edwin James and two other men set out to become the first white men to summit the peak (stopping along the way to collect the first sample of the blue Columbine, now our state flower), other members of the party explored the lower altitudes. [A recent Wild Connections video about the first summiting of the peak can be seen on Youtube.]

Among them was Capt. John R. Bell, whose journal of the expedition was published upon their return. It is in that journal that he described what is believed to be Cheyenne Cañon, commenting on the fine growth of timber, wildlife including deer and antelope, and the remarkable view of a snowcapped Pikes Peak.

He also describes using water from Fountain Creek after a rain storm washed buffalo dung into the stream, leaving a foul taste in the soup.

On July 16, they continued their march. When they reached the Arkansas River, Long split his party, leading half of his men east into present-day Oklahoma (he famously described the Great Plains as the “Great American Desert”), while Bell took the other half of the team south beyond the river. The two groups rejoined on Sept. 13 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, having survived low provisions, high temperatures, drought and insect bites.

Long went on to a storied career as an inventor helping to develop key parts of the steam locomotive.

If you have ideas for topics to cover in future Cañon Echo articles, send them to Rob@cheyennecanon.org.