[2] Pike arrested Collot, at Fort Massac, Illinois, but had to release him as there was no charges that could be laid against him.
He made maps and observed fortifications and the country's military preparedness, almost certainly on a secret mission on behalf of the French Republic.
[2] He had been watched during his progress, however, and on arriving in New Orleans he was almost immediately arrested by Carondelet, the Spanish governor, on October 27, and placed in custody at the Balize until he could be sent out of the colony on December 4.
Gen. Collot published an account of this expedition under the title "Voyage dans l'Amérique Septentrionale".
[2] When describing the purchase the Kentucky Herald-Leader called Collot "an excellent mapmaker but a lousy spy."