Pedro Vial later worked for the Spanish government as a peacemaker, guide, and interpreter.
18 Facts About Pedro Vial
1.
2.
Pedro Vial blazed trails across the Great Plains to connect the Spanish and French settlements in Texas, New Mexico, Missouri, and Louisiana.
3.
Pedro Vial led three Spanish expeditions that attempted unsuccessfully to intercept and halt the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
4.
Pedro Vial communicated with the Comanche in Wichita which many of them spoke.
5.
That being accomplished, the Spanish governor persuaded Pedro Vial to undertake a peace mission to the Comanche, who often raided Spanish settlements in Texas.
6.
Pedro Vial persuaded several of the Comanche chiefs to accompany him to San Antonio for peace talks with the Governor.
7.
In 1792, Pedro Vial was ordered to cross the Great Plains again, this time to open communications between New Mexico and St Louis, Missouri.
8.
East of the Pecos River, Pedro Vial encountered his former colleague, Francisco Xavier Chaves, who was en route to Santa Fe to visit his parents whom he had not seen since being captured by the Comanche 22 years earlier.
9.
Pedro Vial roughly followed the route of the later Santa Fe Trail in crossing the plains.
10.
In 1795, Pedro Vial, suspected of being disloyal to Spain, was arrested in Santa Fe, but was freed and dispatched again to the Pawnee to make peace between them and the Comanche.
11.
Pedro Vial did so but on his return to Santa Fe he was re-arrested.
12.
Pedro Vial escaped and with Comanche help made his way across the Great Plains and took up residence for the next few years in the St Louis area.
13.
Pedro Vial returned to Santa Fe again in 1803 and was pardoned and given back pay for his services.
14.
Near present-day Las Animas, Colorado, Pedro Vial was attacked by about 100 well-armed and mounted Indians whose persistence caused him to return to New Mexico.
15.
Pedro Vial, now being called "Old Pedro Vial," apparently accepted the US rule of the Louisiana Purchase.
16.
Pedro Vial continued to serve the Spanish in New Mexico as an interpreter and guide.
17.
On October 2,1814, Pedro Vial signed his will in Santa Fe, stating that he had neither wife nor children, and leaving his meager belongings to Maria Manuela Martin.
18.
Pedro Vial has the Three Forks located at approximately their correct location 700 miles north of Santa Fe.