to the southwest part of the territory and, from he came pective, when out here, he really walked off the map. be the mission was to first american official to carry word of american ownership of this region to the american indian people were out here. to create a map of the region. to identify resources that were here in the american west. and to determine boundaries jefferson bought louisiana the boundaries were disputed, and the spanish would not have agreed with what thomas jefferson thought he had acquired. even if -- even if that dispute had happened. it was still not quite clear and e one country ended another country began because defined by river drainages and no one really knew where all the rivers went. coming lon pike was across the plain, he entered present-day colorado in november 1806. shortly after, in what we now think of as colorado, he could begin to see the mountain. what he called, grand peak. he identified the mountain as a location where he could get high enough and begin to understand how the rivers flow. if you look down onto the plains of the surrounding area