Zebulon Pike Arrived at Pike's Peak 214 Years Ago Yesterday

On November 14, I wrote about Zebulon Pike, the American discoverer of what is today called Pikes Peak.  In yesterday's Chicago tribune, I saw that date happened 214 years ago, November 15, 1806.

Pikes Perak is 14,100 feet tall and the highest peak of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains., 12 miles west of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

It was discovered during Zebulon Pike's  Second Expedition.   In early November 1806, Pike and his team spotted and tried to climb to the summit of the peak later named after him.  They failed after a two-day attempt.

--Brock-Perry

Zebulon Montgomery Pike Honored in Florida

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