Zebulon Pike Zebulon Montgomery Pike ( January 5 , 1779 – April 27 , 1813 ) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named . As a United States Army captain in 1806 – 1807 , he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana territory and to find the headwaters of the Red River , during which he recorded the discovery of what later was called Pikes Peak . Captured by the Spanish while wandering in present - day Colorado after his party got confused in its travels , Pike and his men were taken to Chihuahua , present - day Mexico and questioned by the governor . They were released later in 1807 at the border of Louisiana . In 1810 Pike published an account of his expeditions , a book so popular that it was translated into French , German and Dutch for publication in Europe . He later achieved the rank of brigadier general in the Army , serving during the War of 1812 . He was killed during the Battle of York , which the United States won . Family . Pike was descended from John Pike , who immigrated from England as a child in 1635 , and was a founder of Woodbridge , New Jersey in 1665 . Later in his life , Zebulon Pike had a wife named Clarissa Harlow Brown and a child named Clarissa Brown Pike . Early life and education . Zebulon M . Pike was born during the Revolutionary War on January 5 , 1779 near Lamberton ( derived from the Indian pronunciation " Alamatunk " ) , now called Lamington , in Somerset county , New Jersey . Pike would follow in the footsteps of his father , also named Zebulon , who had begun his own career in the military service of the United States beginning in 1775 , at the outset of the American Revolutionary War . To avoid confusion , son Zebulon Pike is referred to with the middle initial of M , while father Zebulon Pike is not . The younger Pike grew to adulthood with his family at a series of Midwestern outposts — the frontier of the United States at the time — in Ohio and Illinois . In 1794 he joined his father ' s regiment as a cadet at the age of 15 , earned a commission as ensign in 1799 and a first lieutenancy later that year . Marriage and family . Zebulon M . Pike married Clarissa Harlow Brown in 1801 . They had one child who survived to adulthood , a daughter . Clarissa Brown Pike married John Cleves Symmes Harrison , a son of President William Henry Harrison . Zebulon died without a son , so left no male descendants . Ancestry . A Surname DNA project exists for male individuals with the Pike surname . A genetic study of DNA samples submitted show almost 20 % of Pike surnames in this project show a genetic relationship to the same male line as Zebulon Pike . This paternal line descends from a male ancestor of the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries . Military career . He continued his military career , working on logistics and payroll , at a series of frontier posts , including Fort Bellefontaine near St . Louis . General James Wilkinson , appointed Governor of the Upper Louisiana Territory and headquartered there , became his mentor . In 1805 , Wilkinson ordered Pike to find the source of the Mississippi River and he traveled upriver into the northern territory . " Of Patriots and Traitors " by Joshua Gornitsky , as well as several other sources , state that General Wilkinson was a double agent for Spain . Wilkinson ' s double agency was not discovered for over one hundred years until the official records were released by Spain . Wilkinson had gained personal trade concessions . After Pike ' s first expedition , Pike was almost immediately ordered by Wilkinson to mount a second expedition in 1806 to explore and map the Red River , evaluate natural resources , and establish friendly relations with Native Americans . On this second expedition , he discovered the peak that was named after him . As Wilkinson planned , Pike was captured by the Spanish who controlled Mexico . As a prisoner in Mexico , Pike was treated well , invited to formal social dinners , but still not quite given the treatment of a visiting dignitary . Mexican authorities feared the spread of both democracy and a different religion that might undermine their monarchy . Eventually , Pike and his men were released . The Red River , which separated Oklahoma Territory from Texas , was next explored by the ill - fated Woolley expedition of 1815 , when Colonel Woolley died , and only two sick men returned from the expedition , one of whom later died . Pike Expedition . Soon after his return in 1806 , Pike was ordered to lead an exploratory expedition of the southwestern part of the Louisiana Territory to find the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers . Beginning July 15 , 1806 , Pike led what is now known as the " Pike Expedition " to explore the southwest . General Wilkinson ' s son served as one of his lieutenants . In early November 1806 , Pike and his team recorded the sighting of and tried to climb to the summit of the peak that was named after him ( Pikes Peak . ) Unprepared for the conditions , they made it as far as Mt . Rosa to the southeast of Pikes Peak , and gave up the ascent in waist - deep snow . They had already gone almost two days without food . The expedition , for which he is most remembered , ended when Spanish authorities captured him and some of his party in northern New Mexico , now part of southern Colorado , on February 26 , 1807 . Having gotten confused in their search for the headwaters of the Red River , they had made a fort there for the winter . Pike and his men were taken to Santa Fe , then to the capital of Chihuahua , where he was taken to the Commandant General Salcedo , who was governor of the state . Salcedo housed Pike with Juan Pedro Walker , a cartographer , who also acted as an interpreter . Walker transcribed and translated Pike ' s confiscated documents , including his journal . During this time , Pike had access to various maps of the southwest and learned more of Mexican discontent with Spanish rule . The Spanish protested officially to the United States about Pike ' s expedition , but as the nations were not at war , the governor released the military men . The Spanish escorted Pike and most of his men to the north , releasing them at the Louisiana border on July 1 , 1807 . Some of his soldiers were held for years in Mexico . Subsequent military duty . Pike was promoted to captain while on the southwestern expedition . In 1811 , he was listed as Lt . Col . Zebulon M . Pike with the 4th Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Tippecanoe . He was promoted to colonel in 1812 . He continued in the military , serving as deputy quartermaster - general in New Orleans and inspector - general during the War of 1812 . Pike was promoted to brigadier general in 1813 . Along with General Jacob Brown , Pike departed from the newly fortified rural military outpost of Sackets Harbor , on the New York shore of Lake Ontario , for his last military campaign . On this expedition , Pike commanded combat troops in the successful attack on York , ( now Toronto ) on April 27 , 1813 . Pike was killed by flying rocks and other debris when the withdrawing British garrison blew up its ammunition magazine while Pike ' s troops approached Fort York . His body was brought by ship back to Sackets Harbor , where his remains were buried at the military cemetery . Journals . The Spanish authorities confiscated Pike ' s journals and they were not recovered by the United States from Mexico until the 1900s . He wrote an account from memory of his expeditions , which was published in 1810 as " The expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike to Headwaters of the Mississippi River , through Louisiana Territory , and in New Spain , during the Years 1805 - 6 - 7 " . It was popular and later translated into French , German , and Dutch editions . His account became required reading for all American explorers who followed him in the 19th century . His capture by the Spanish and travel through the Southwest gave Pike insight into the region . He described the politics in Chihuahua , which led to the Mexican independence movement . He also described trade conditions in the Spanish territories of New Mexico and Chihuahua , which contributed to development of the Santa Fe Trail . Memory . As Olsen ( 2006 ) shows , after his death in battle Pike ' s military accomplishments were widely celebrated in terms of mourning memorials , paintings , poems and songs , as well as biographies . He became the namesake for dozens of towns , counties , and ships . His memory faded after the Civil War , but recovered in 1906 at the centennial of his Southwest Expedition . His 20th century reputation focused on his exploration , and his name appeared often on natural features , such as parks , islands , lakes , and dams . Many places and two ships were named for the explorer :