returning to the U.S

The Spanish returned Pike and his men to Natchitoches, Louisiana on July 1, 1807.  In 1810 he published his final report of the expedition as a book. It was filled with much valuable information and was widely read.  Among this information was the fact that the borderlands between Spanish Mexico and the U.S was as good as the rest of the Louisiana purchase. This caused a large U.S. interest in that region. Some people think that this interest helped fuel the Mexican-American war sixty years in the future. However, despite all of this, Pike never did locate the headwaters of the Red River.