PIKE-PAWNEE VILLAGE

IN 1806 ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE WITH TWENTY INFANTRYMEN CROSSED KANSAS ON AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION WHICH ENDED IN THE DISCOVERY OF PIKE'S PEAK AND HIS CAPTURE AND IMPRISONMENT BY A SPANISH FORCE. ON SEPTEMBER 29 AT A PAWNEE VILLAGE EIGHT MILES NORTH AND FOUR MILES WEST OF THIS SIGN (TWO MILES SOUTHWEST OF REPUBLIC), PIKE HELD A COUNCIL WITH THE PAWNEE NATION. A SPANISH FLAG, LEFT SHORTLY BEFORE BY AN EXPEDITION FROM MEXICO, WAS FLYING IN THE VILLAGE. PIKE TELLS IN HIS REPORT HOW HE PERSUADED THE CHIEFS TO RAISE AN AMERICAN FLAG IN ITS PLACE, THE FIRST RECORD OF THE FLYING OF THE FLAG IN PRESENT KANSAS. THE SITE OF THE VILLAGE, NOW OWNED BY THE STATE, IS MARKED BY A MONUMENT.