From the Haines City (Fla.) Daily Ridge "More than 200-year-old Army veteran honored at Haines City Veteran's Day Ceremony" by James Coulter.
Most people today would not recognize his name, but if you ever visit Colorado, there is a rather prominent elevation that bears his name, Pike's Peak.
By direction of President Thomas Jefferson, James Pike led two westward expeditions to explore the newly acquired lands of the Louisiana Purchase. During one of those, he crossed the Rocky Mountains and explored the territory now known as Colorado. This feat earned him the honor of having his name given to Pike's Peak.
During his service, he was captured by Spanish colonial authorities near Santa Fe, taken to what is now Mexico and interrogated and later released near Louisiana. He wrote of his exploits in a book published in 1810.
He served in the U.S. Army for 14 years, eventually becoming a brigadier general. During the War of 1812, he was killed while leading an attack on the Canadian city of York (Toronto today).
Cynthia Morrison, one of his descendants, was at the ceremony.
--Brock-Perry
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