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Zebulon Pike

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Zebulon Pike (1779–1813)

Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American soldier and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. His Pike expedition, often compared to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, mapped much of the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase.

Early life

Pike was born in Lamberton, New Jersey. His father, also named Zebulon Pike, was an officer in the United States Army under General George Washington and remained in service after the end of the Revolutionary War. The younger Pike grew to adulthood in a series of Midwestern outposts — the frontier of the United States at the time — in Ohio and Illinois. He joined his father's regiment as a cadet in 1794, earned a commission as ensign in 1799 and a first lieutenancy later that year.

Pike married in 1801 and continued an unremarkable military career in logistics and payroll at a series of frontier posts. His career was taken up by General James Wilkinson, a political ally of Aaron Burr's, of mixed allegiance, who had been appointed Governor of the Upper Louisiana Territory. In 1805, Wilkinson ordered Pike to find the source of the Mississippi River. Lewis and Clark's expedition had followed the Missouri River northwest from St. Louis, and American claims on the most northern part of the Louisiana Territory remained unasserted.

Northwest expedition

Attempts to close British forts at the lakes, though vigorous, were unsuccessful. Pike returned with his men to St. Louis on April 30, 1806, with little to show for their efforts.

Southwest expedition

Nearly immediately upon his return, Pike was ordered out once again to lead an exploratory expedition to find the headwaters of the Arkansas River and Red River. Near St. Louis on July 15, 1806, Pike led what is now known as "the Pike expedition" from Fort Bellefontaine to explore the southwest.

Pike never successfully reached the summit of the famous peak that bears his name; he attempted it in November of 1806, made it as far as Mt. Rosa to the southeast of Pikes Peak, and gave up the ascent in waist-deep snow after having gone almost 2 days without food.

This journey, for which he is most renowned, ended with his arrest on February 26, 1807 as a spy by Spanish authorities in northern New Mexico, now part of Colorado. He and his men were taken to jail in Santa Fe, then to Chihuahua where he appeared before the Commandant General Salcedo. General Salcedo housed Pike with Juan Pedro Walker, a cartographer, who also acted as an interpreter and as a transcriber/translator for Pike's confiscated documents. It was while with Walker that Pike had access to various maps of the southwest and learned about Mexican discontent with Spanish rule. Pike and his men were released, under protest, to the United States at the Louisiana border on the 1st of July 1807.

Subsequent military duty

Pike was promoted to captain without his knowledge 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 his role as a military functionary, serving as deputy quartermaster-general in New Orleans and inspector-general in the War of 1812.

Pike was promoted to brigadier general in 1813. Along with General Jacob Brown, Pike departed from a rural military outpost, 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, Ontario (now Toronto) on April 27, 1813. Upon completion of this mission, Pike was killed by a chunk of flying rock when a retreating British garrison exploded its ammunition store. His body was carried by ship back to Sackets Harbor, where his remains were buried.

Journals

Although his actual journals were confiscated by the Spanish authorities, and not recovered from Mexico until the 1900s, Pike's account of his southwest expedition 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 and later published in French, German, and Dutch. His account became required reading for all American explorers that followed him in the 19th century. Pike's account had a dramatic effect on the exploration of the southwest. He described the politics in Chihuahua that led to the Mexican independence movement, as well as the trade conditions in New Mexico and Chihuahua, which descriptions helped promote the development of the Santa Fe Trail.[citation needed]

Named for Zebulon Pike

Ancestry and family

Zebulon's descent from his immigrant ancestor John Pike is as follows:

  • John Pike (1572–1654)
    • John Pike (1613–1690)
      • John Pike (1650–1714)
        • Zebulon Pike (1693–1763)
          • James Pike (1721–?)
            • Zebulon Pike (1751–1834)
              • Zebulon Montgomery Pike

Zebulon married Clarissa Harlow Brown in 1801. Their daughter Clarissa Brown Pike married John Cleves Symmes Harrison, a son of President William Henry Harrison. Zebulon died with no son to carry on his name, so there are no Pikes who are direct descendants. However DNA testing can reveal who is related to him and there is a very active effort to trace the family tree.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ Pike Surname DNA Project

References

  • Hollon, W. Eugene (1949) The lost pathfinder, Zebulon Montgomery Pike Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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