Zebulon Montgomery Pike was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named.
23 Facts About Zebulon Pike
2.
In 1810, Zebulon Pike published an account of his expeditions, a book so popular that it was translated into several languages for publication in Europe.
3.
Zebulon Pike later achieved the rank of brigadier general in the American Army and served during the War of 1812 until he was killed during the Battle of York in April 1813, outside the British colonial capital of Upper Canada.
4.
Zebulon Pike was the son of Isabella and Zebulon Pike, and would follow in the footsteps of his father, who had begun his own career in the military service of the United States in 1775 at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.
5.
Zebulon Pike was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in 1799 and promoted to first lieutenant later that same year.
6.
In 1796, Zebulon Pike shadowed the expedition of General Georges Henri Victor Collot, a French officer who had been tasked to tour the Mississippi frontier and draw maps that France might use if it were to try and seize the lightly settled territory from the nascent United States.
7.
Zebulon Pike left St Louis on August 9,1805, proceeding upstream by pirogue.
8.
Zebulon Pike informed the traders they were within the boundaries of the United States and henceforth required to abide by its laws and regulations.
9.
Zebulon Pike met with many prominent Ojibwe chiefs, prevailing on them to surrender the medals and flags given to them as tokens of allegiance by the British and offering American peace medals.
10.
Zebulon Pike relayed the United States' desire that the Ojibwe and Dakota cease their mutual hostility and invited the chiefs to attend a peace conference in St Louis.
11.
Zebulon Pike's was the second expedition dispatched by the government into its new territory, and the first to return.
12.
Zebulon Pike was treated well and invited to formal social dinners but still not quite given the treatment of a visiting dignitary, and his men were kept prisoner.
13.
Walker transcribed and translated Zebulon Pike's confiscated documents, including his journal.
14.
In 1811, Zebulon Pike fought with the 4th Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
15.
Zebulon Pike was promoted to colonel of the 15th Infantry Regiment in July 1812.
16.
On this expedition, Zebulon Pike commanded combat troops in the successful attack on York on April 27,1813.
17.
Zebulon Pike was killed, along with numerous other American troops, by flying rocks and other debris when the withdrawing British garrison blew up its ammunition magazine as Zebulon Pike's troops approached Fort York.
18.
Zebulon Pike's body was brought by ship back to Sackets Harbor, where his remains were buried at the military cemetery.
19.
The myth, said to be derived from a missing portion of Zebulon Pike's confiscated journals, is usually told in two segments.
20.
Zebulon Pike's memory faded after the Civil War but rebounded in 1906, at the centennial of his Southwest Expedition.
21.
Zebulon Pike's Peak remains the second most visited mountain in the world.
22.
Zebulon Pike was honored in 1901 by General William Jackson Palmer with a marble statue placed near the main entrance of the Antlers Hotel.
23.
For over two hundred years, historians have debated whether Zebulon Pike was truly an explorer, or if he was a spy.