Although his expeditions were never as famous as those of Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike (1779–1813) explored much of the new American lands acquired in the early 1800s.
Pike was born in New Jersey in 1779 in the midst of the Revolutionary War and named after his father, a soldier. At a young age, Pike knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, as his parents had instilled in him a strong sense of patriotism.
In July 1806, Gen. Wilkinson offered Pike a chance to explore again. He asked Pike to head west and find the source of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. He was also tasked with gathering intelligence about a Spanish settlement in New Mexico.
The ‘Blue Cloud’
Pike and his crew soon passed through Kansas. In what is now the eastern part of Colorado, a strange sight met them. It appeared to be a large blue cloud in the distance. As they continued west, they realized that the “blue cloud” was actually a giant mountain protruding into the sky.
As soon as Pike realized that it was a large mountain peak, he took off with a small crew of men to climb it, knowing that the height would give them a good vantage point of the surrounding territory. However, as Pike trekked northwest, the terrain became tougher and tougher.
It was now November and Pike and his crew found themselves traversing through waist-deep snow in frigid temperatures. Before turning his men around, he claimed the mountain was unclimbable in the freezing conditions. Even though Pike never summited the mountain, Pikes Peak would be named after him years later.
Pike’s crew went further west before catching the Arkansas River and heading back east. The crew then headed south and crossed the Sangre de Cristo Mountains before coming across more danger. Spanish troops had caught word that Pike was in the area and set off looking for him. When the troops eventually caught up with Pike and his crew, they captured them for trespassing on Spanish territory.
Pike and his men were taken to Santa Fe and then further south to Chihuahua. The Spanish troops confiscated most of Pike’s journals, but he was able to sneak some notes out in his crew’s rifle barrels. Pike and his men were released in July 1807, when the Spanish troops escorted them to the United States border in Louisiana.
Pike was ambitious and efficient, and these qualities helped him become a great military leader. Shortly after the War of 1812 started, he was promoted to brigadier general and tasked with leading an attack on York (now Toronto). However, during the attack, fleeing British soldiers torched their stash of ammunition and gun powder, leading to a massive explosion. Pike was killed when hit with a large rock flung by the blast.
Pike set out into the unknown to do what had never been done before, accepting tasks for his new country. Biographer Donald Jackson wrote in “The Journals of Zebulon Montgomery Pike With Letters and Related Documents” published in 1966: “Nothing that Zebulon Montgomery Pike ever tried to do was easy, and most of his luck was bad.”
