Zebulon Pike Quotes

Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States (US) Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase 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 wintering 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.
Zebulon Pike, Jr. was born in Lamberton, New Jersey, now a part of Trenton. His father Zebulon Pike was an officer in the Continental Army under General George Washington, and served in the United States Army after the end of the American Revolutionary War.
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.