Red River Expedition (1806)
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The Red River Expedition, also known as the Freeman–Custis Expedition, Freeman Red River Expedition, Sparks Expedition, and officially Exploring Expedition of Red River, was one of the first civilian scientific expeditions to explore the
Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...
. The 1806 expedition was ordered to find the headwaters of the Red River (Red River of the South) from the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
as a possible trading route to Santa Fe, which was then under Spanish colonial control in
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
; to contact Native American peoples for trading purposes; to collect data on flora, fauna, and topography, and map the country and river; and to assess the land for settlement. The Spanish officials intercepted the expedition 615 miles upriver, in what is now northeastern
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, and turned it back before the party had achieved all of its goals.


Planning

The third US President,
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
, ranked the Red River Expedition in importance second only to the
Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
to reach the
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through the
Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...
. The Red River stretches west from its confluence with the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
across what is now the state of
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
and part of south-western
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
. Further west, the river forms the present-day southern border of
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, where it meets
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, and is now known to originate in the Texas Panhandle. After acquiring the lands of the
Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...
in 1803, Jefferson commissioned military groups to explore the unfamiliar territory and to collect scientific data about flora and fauna, topography, and ethnography of the many Native American peoples."Red River Expedition"
''Handbook of Texas Online,'', accessed 8 February 2007
By sending a group of explorers up the Red River, Jefferson wanted to verify reports that the river could provide a water route to Santa Fe in New Mexico (then part of
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
). Other goals were to build trade and political relationships with the various tribes of American Indians, and to locate the Louisiana Purchase's southwestern and western borders with New Spain. In 1805 and early 1806, the President began to appoint leaders for the expedition. For the scientists, he chose the astronomer/surveyor Thomas Freeman, who had recently been with Andrew Ellicott on his survey of the southern boundary of the United States, and Peter Custis, who was the first academically-trained
naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
to accompany an expedition, was still a medical student in
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, and served as the group's botanist and ethnographer. Captain Richard Sparks was chosen to lead the military troops. As the departure date of the expedition grew closer, more soldiers were recruited until the group numbered twenty-four in all. President Jefferson persuaded Congress to fund the effort. He worked with foreign diplomats in Washington to convince them that the exploration was for scientific purposes and would not threaten their interests. Both the
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and
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accepted the proposal, but
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
objected, as it also still claimed the lands to be explored, which it had just been forced to turn the Louisiana territories over briefly to
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
, who had suddenly unexpectedly turned and sold the vast interior continental lands to the Americans the year before. Spain did not want an armed military expedition within or near its remaining territory.


Expedition

On April 19, 1806, the now-24-member party (Freeman and his two assistants; Sparks, who commanded the military party, with two officers, seventeen privates, and a servant) pushed off in two flat-bottomed barges and a pirogue from
Fort Adams Fort Adams is a former United States Army post in Newport, Rhode Island, Newport, Rhode Island, that was established on July 4, 1799, as a Seacoast defense in the United States#First System, First System Coastal defence and fortification, coas ...
, near
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, and turned into the Red River to go upstream to the west.Cox, ''Freeman Red River'', p. 116. Note: He wrote the party had 24 members. The group gradually took on soldiers along the route in response to rumors of a possible attack by Spanish troops and soon numbered 45. By July 28, the party was 615 miles upriver, near what is now New Boston, Texas, and heard gunfire in the distance that indicated the presence of Spanish troops. "Hoping to provoke an international confrontation for personal gain," U.S. General
James Wilkinson James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American army officer and politician who was associated with multiple scandals and controversies during his life, including the Burr conspiracy. He served in the Continental Army du ...
of the
Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of t ...
had secretly notified Spain of the Freeman expedition (he had had separate dealings with it earlier) and sent two teams of soldiers to intercept the party. The Freeman party was stopped at what has since been called "Spanish Bluff" on the river. Both the Spanish commander and Freeman undertook a parlay. The Spanish said that they had been ordered to fire on any foreign armed troops passing through Spanish territory. In response, Freeman demanded for the Spanish to provide their objections to the team's passage in writing and to name the authority under which they were taking action. The Spanish commander asked when Freeman would start on his return journey.Cox, ''Freeman Red River'', p. 118 Freeman's crew was highly outnumbered, and Jefferson had ordered the expedition to avoid any conflict with the Spanish. The expedition turned back on the next day and returned downriver to its starting point. The abrupt end of the expedition, and the political embarrassment that it caused the
Jefferson administration Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer) * Jefferson (singer) or Geoff Turton (born 1944), British s ...
overshadowed the findings. Over time, the expedition proved to be a success in some aspects. Coupled with
Dunbar and Hunter Expedition The Dunbar and Hunter Expedition, also known as the Grand Expedition, was an expedition led by William Dunbar and Dr. George Hunter with the purpose of exploring the lower portion of the Louisiana Purchase. The expedition was given the orders ...
in lowland Louisiana, the Red River party demonstrated that exploration of the area was possible. In addition, the scientists reported that the land could support a large population. The border debacle, as it was perceived at the time, received much attention. However, official comments were not taken concerning those events, and a single printed pamphlet was initially the only material that was published about the journey. Custis's pioneering work in naturalism was not superseded until much later expeditions, but his discoveries became obscured by the more dramatic quantity of material collected by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.Flores, Dan L., "The Ecology of the Red River in 1806: Peter Custis and Early Southwestern Natural History"
''Southwestern Historical Quarterly'' 88 (July 1984), accessed 13 June 2011
Jefferson commissioned the Pike Expedition through Wilkinson, which was also to seek the headwaters of the Red River and to explore the west of the Louisiana Territory, along the
Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...
. Departing from St. Louis in July 1806, the expedition recorded the discovery in November of what became called
Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, ...
, in present-day
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
. Many in the party, led by Captain
Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first ...
Jr., were captured in February 1807 by the Spanish after they had made mistakes in navigation and been forced to winter in New Mexico. Spain protested officially to the U.S. about the military expedition within its territory, but as the nations were not at war, its troops escorted Pike and most of his men to the Louisiana border and released them later that year.


Results

In present-day Louisiana and Arkansas, the expedition established positive relations with the
Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...
and Alabama-Quassarte (
Coushatta The Coushatta () are a Muskogean-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people now living primarily in the United States, U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, the ...
) villages on the river. Freeman and Custis recorded valuable information about the peoples and ecology of the area. In part because of the diplomatic furor aroused by its interception of the expedition, Spain changed its strategy and opened the Red River country to American traders. Because of the limited duration of the expedition, the scientists gathered little material, compared to the major discoveries of Lewis and Clark. However, Freeman's journal and Custis's pioneering natural history report gave valuable information about the American Indian peoples and the other aspects of the Red River country. Custis's work was published two decades before the expeditions of Thomas Nutall, Edwin James, and
Thomas Say Thomas Say (June 27, 1787 – October 10, 1834) was an American entomologist, conchologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. His studies of insects and shells, numerous contributions to scientific journals, and scientific expeditions to Florida, Ge ...
but was overlooked for some time. An American explorer, Randolph B. Marcy, finally located the headwaters of the Red River in 1852.


References


Further reading

*Flores, Dan L., ed. ''Jefferson & Southwestern Exploration: The Freeman & Custis Accounts of the Red River Expedition of 1806'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1984. *Flores, Dan L
"Spanish Bluff
. ''Texas Handbook Online'', s.v. (accessed January 1, 2007) *Harbour, Emma Estill

, ''Oklahoma Chronicles'' 16:1 (March 1938) 58–88, Oklahoma State Library, (accessed December 24, 2006)


External links


Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Freeman-Custis Expedition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red River Expedition, 1806 1800s in Texas 1806 in science 1806 in the Louisiana Territory 1806 in the Territory of Orleans Expeditions from the United States Louisiana Purchase Military expeditions of the United States North American expeditions Presidency of Thomas Jefferson Red River of the South Scientific expeditions