Zebulon Pike

Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer. Pikes Peak in Colorado is named after him. As a U.S. Army officer, President Thomas Jefferson asked him to lead two journeys through the new Louisiana Purchase territory. The first was in 1805-06 to explore the upper northern parts of the Mississippi River. The second journey was in 1806-07 to explore the Southwest to the edges of the northern Spanish-colonial settlements of New Mexico and Texas. Pike's journeys happened at the same time as other journeys that happened while Thomas Jefferson was president. This include the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) and the Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis expedition up the Red River (1806).

Pike's second journey crossed the Rocky Mountains into what is now southern Colorado. He was captured by the Spanish colonial authorities near Santa Fe. They sent Pike and his men to Chihuahua (present-day Mexico), to be questioned. Later in 1807, Pike and some of his men were led by the Spanish through Texas, and they were released near American territory in Louisiana.

In 1810, Pike wrote a book about his journeys. The book was so popular that it was translated into Dutch, French, and German languages, for publication in Europe. He later became a brigadier general in the American Army. He served during the War of 1812, until he was killed during the Battle of York, in April 1813.

Early and family life

Early life and education
Pike was born during the Revolutionary War, on January 5, 1779, near Lamberton, now called Lamington in Bedminster, New Jersey, in Somerset County, New Jersey. His mother was Isabella (Brown), and his father was Zebulon Pike. He would become similar to his father, who had started his own career in the military service of the United States in 1775, at the outset of the American Revolutionary War.

Marriage and family
Zebulon Pike, Jr. married Clarissa Harlow Brown in 1801. They had one child who lived to become an adult, Clarissa Brown Pike. She later married President William Henry Harrison's son, John Cleves Symmes Harrison. They had four other children who died before becoming adults.

Military career

War of 1812
Pike was promoted to brigadier general in March 1813. Along with General Jacob Brown, Pike left Sackets Harbor, on the New York shore of Lake Ontario. This would be his last military campaign. On this campaign, Pike led soldiers in the successful attack on York (now Toronto), on April 27, 1813. Pike was killed, along with other American soldiers, by flying rocks and other debris. This was when the withdrawing British blew up its ammunition supply as Pike's troops got close to Fort York.  His body was brought by ship back to Sackets Harbor. His body were buried at the military cemetery.

Legacy
Pike's 20th century reputation focused on his exploration. His name appeared often on natural features, such as dams, islands, lakes, and parks.

In 1901, General William Jackson Palmer built a marble statue of Zebulon Pike. It was placed near the main entrance of the Antlers Hotel.  Pike was later honored in 1926 with a bronze medallion portrait placed in the pavilion at Tahama Spring in Monument Valley Park, Colorado Springs.

Military
 Fort Pike
 Camp Pike, Arkansas (A sub-section of Camp Joe T. Robinson Arkansas National Guard)
 USS General Pike
A building at Fort Knox is named in his honor.

Landforms
 Pike Bay
 Pike Creek
 Pike Island at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers in Fort Snelling State Park, Minnesota
 Pikes Peak
 Zebulon Pike Lake Reservoir in Morrison County, Minnesota

Communities
 Pike County in:
 Alabama
 Arkansas
 Georgia and its county seat Zebulon
 Illinois
 Indiana
 Kentucky
 Mississippi
 Missouri
 Ohio
 Pennsylvania
 Pike, New York
 Piketon, Ohio
 Pikeville, Kentucky
 Pikeville, Tennessee
 Pikesville, Maryland
 Pike Bay Township in Cass County, Minnesota
 Pike Creek Township in Morrison County, Minnesota
 Pike Township, Marion County, Indiana
 Pike Township, Wyoming County, New York
 Pike Township, Stark County, Ohio

Other
 Pike National Forest in Colorado
 Pikes Peak State Park in Clayton County, Iowa
 Pike Trail League, Kansas high school activities league
 Pike Valley School District, Kansas School District, U.S.D. 426
 Liberty ship SS Zebulon Pike (appears in Episode 1 of Victory At Sea)
 General Zebulon Pike Lock and Dam No. 11 in Dubuque, Iowa

Related pages
 Pike's Purchase

Footnotes

More reading

Other websites
 
 
 
 National Park Service biography
 Santa Fe Trail Research
 
 Pike's Explorations  - related to Pike's journey to find the source of the Mississippi River and the building of his fort in what is now Morrison County, Minnesota
 Pike's Menagerie  - the animals Pike and his men encountered in central Minnesota
 Was Pike a Failure?  - an examination of the often-heard critique of Pike's Mississippi River expedition
 Zebulon Pike and the Blue Mountain - award-winning film produced with the help of Pike Historian W. Eugene Hollon, the U.S. Army, the Smithsonian and the National Archives about the explorer's time in what is now Colorado

1813 deaths
1779 births
American explorers