Zebulon Pike | |
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 Portrait byCharles Willson Peale, 1808 | |
| Born | Zebulon Montgomery Pike (1779-01-05)January 5, 1779 Lamington, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | April 27, 1813(1813-04-27) (aged 34) York, Upper Canada(nowToronto, Ontario) |
| Cause of death | Killed in action |
| Resting place | Military Cemetery, Sackets Harbor, New York |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | Emory Jenison Pike (great nephew) |
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Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whomPikes Peak inColorado is named. As aU.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through theLouisiana Purchase territory, first in 1805–1806 to reconnoiter the upper northern reaches of theMississippi River, and then in 1806–1807 to explore the southwest to the fringes of the northern Spanish-colonial settlements ofNew Mexico andTexas. Pike's expeditions coincided with other Jeffersonian expeditions, including theLewis and Clark Expedition and theRed River Expedition in 1806.[1]
Pike's second expedition crossed theRocky Mountains into what is now southern Colorado, which led to his capture by the Spanish colonial authorities nearSanta Fe, who sent Pike and his men toChihuahua (present-day Mexico) for interrogation. Later in 1807, Pike and some of his men were escorted by the Spanish through Texas and released near American territory inLouisiana.
In 1810, Pike published an account of his expeditions, a book so popular that it was translated into several languages for publication in Europe. He later achieved the rank of brigadier general in the American Army and served during theWar of 1812 until he was killed during theBattle of York in April 1813, outside theBritish colonial capital ofUpper Canada.
Pike was born on January 5, 1779, inLamington, New Jersey.[2][3][4] He was the son of Isabella (Brown) and Zebulon Pike, and followed 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 theAmerican Revolutionary War. Through his father, he was a direct descendant ofRobert Pike, who was famous being an opponent of theSalem witchcraft prosecutions of 1692.[5]
Zebulon Pike Jr. grew to adulthood with his family at a series of outposts inOhio andIllinois—the United States'northwestern frontier at the time. He was commissioned as asecond lieutenant of infantry in 1799 and promoted tofirst lieutenant later that same year.
Pike married his cousin Clarissa Harlow Brown in 1801.[6] They had one child who survived to adulthood, Clarissa Brown Pike, who later marriedPresident William Henry Harrison's son, John Cleves Symmes Harrison. They had four other children who died before reaching adulthood.[7] He was the great-granduncle ofMedal of Honor recipientEmory Jenison Pike.[8]
Pike's military career included working on logistics and payroll at a series of frontier posts, includingFort Belle Fontaine near today'sSt. Louis.General-in-ChiefJames Wilkinson (1757-1825), of theUnited States Army was appointed by third PresidentThomas Jefferson (1743-1826, served 1801-1809), as first Governor of the UpperLouisiana Territory and headquartered there, becaming young Pike's mentor.
In 1796, Pike shadowed the expedition of GeneralGeorges Henri Victor Collot (1750-1805), a Royal, then ImperialFrench Army 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 heartland territory of the Mississippi River valley basin from the nascent United States further to the East.[9]
In the summer of 1805, General-in-Chief James Wilkinson ordered young Lt. Pike to locate the northern source of theMississippi River, explore the northern portion of the newly created and beginning to organize theLouisiana Territory, and expel anyBritish / Canadian rovingfur traders illegally trading within the new western borders of the expandedUnited States. Pike leftSt. Louis on August 9, 1805, proceeding upstream bypirogue. He and his crew reached theconfluence of the Mississippi andMinnesota Rivers on September 21, where he negotiated aTreaty of St. Peters agreement with the native Dakota Indians, purchasing the future site ofFort Snelling. The expedition proceeded further upriver, stopping to construct a winter camp at the mouth of theSwan River, south of present-dayLittle Falls, Minnesota, on October 16. On December 10, they continued upstream along the frozen river on foot, visiting several BritishNorth West Company fur posts along the way.
They reached the fur post atLeech Lake on February 1 and stayed nearly three weeks. Pike informed the traders they were within the new boundaries of the United States and henceforth required to abide by its American laws and regulations. Pike met with many prominentOjibwe chiefs, prevailing on them to surrender the medals and flags given to them as tokens of allegiance by the British and offering Americanpeace medals. He also relayed the new United States' desire that the Ojibwe and Dakota cease their mutual hostility and invited the chiefs to attend a peace conference back in St. Louis (all declined the invitation to travel through several hundred miles of hostile territory). On February 10, they ceremonially shot theBritish red ensign flag from the fur company's flag pole, replacing it with a fifteen stars and fifteen stripesStar-Spangled Banner American flag. On a short side trip (February 12 to 14), Pike traveled to the North West Company fur post onUpper Red Cedar Lake (later renamed Cass Lake), designating the lake as the upper source of the Mississippi and taking celestial observations / calculations to determine itslatitude.
Pike and his men left Leech Lake on February 18, carrying diplomatic tokens from the Ojibwe chiefs to present to the Dakota chiefs as a gesture of reconciliation, arriving at their winter encampment on March 5. They re-embarked in their pirogues for the downriver journey on April 7, reaching St. Louis on April 20. Pike's was the second expedition besides earlierLewis and Clark, dispatched by the U.S. government into its newwestern territories, and the first to return.
After Lieutenant Pike returned from this first expedition, General Wilkinson almost immediately ordered him to mount a second expedition, this time to theSouthwest to explore, map, and find the headwaters of theArkansas River and parallelRed River of the South upstream from the lowerMississippi River. Additional objectives of this exploratory expedition into the southwestern part of the new Louisiana Territory were to evaluate natural resources and establish friendly relations with Native Americans. It is commonly said that his expedition was an innocent exploration of the West, but that is not the case. This was a mission to prepare for a possible American invasion of the neighboring Royal Spanish provinces of New Mexico and Texas over the disputed southwest border fromFrance's sale of theLouisiana Purchase of 1803.[10] Beginning July 15, 1806, Pike led what became known as the "Pike Expedition".
In early November 1806, Pike and his team sighted and tried to climb to the summit of the peak later named after him (Pikes Peak). They made it as far as Mt. Rosa, located southeast of Pikes Peak, before giving up the ascent in waist-deep snow. They had already gone almost two days without food.[11]
They then continued south, searching for the Red River of the South's headwaters, andbuilt a fort for shelter during the winter. However, they had crossed the border, whether through confusion or deliberation. Royal Spanish authorities captured Pike and some of his party on February 26, 1807.
Pike and his men were taken to the old colonial capital ofSanta Fe of the Royal Spanish province ofNew Mexico and on further south to theChihuahua City capital ofChihuahua province, and presented toCommandant General Salcedo, who was governor of the state.[12] Pike was treated well and invited to formal social dinners but still not quite given the treatment of a visiting diplomatic dignitary, and his men were kept prisoner. Salcedo housed Pike with Juan Pedro Walker, a cartographer who also acted as an interpreter. Walker transcribed and translated Pike's confiscated documents, including his journal. Spanish authorities feared the spread of both their democracy andProtestant Christian sects that might undermine their rule.
During this time, Pike had access to various maps of the southwest andNew Spain, and especially learned about colonial Mexico's increasing discontentment with Royal Spanish rule. Spain filed official protests with the United States about Pike's exploring expedition, but since the nations were not at war (and the Kingdom of Spain was rebelling againstNapoleon Bonaparte's younger brother, who was put in place to rule Spain and was also fightingGreat Britain in thePeninsular War), Commandant Salcedo released the American military men. The Spanish escorted Pike and most of his men back north, releasing them at the Louisiana border on July 1, 1807.
Pike was promoted to the rank ofcaptain during the southwestern expedition. In 1811, Pike fought with the 4th Infantry Regiment at theBattle of Tippecanoe under General (and future ninth President)William Henry Harrison (1773-1841). He was promoted to colonel of the 15th Infantry Regiment in July 1812. Pike's military career also included service as deputyquartermaster-general inNew Orleans andinspector general during the later part of theWar of 1812 (1812-1815).
Pike commanded the advance guard of an American force which was defeated—primarily because of the poor planning and half-hearted effort of his commander,Henry Dearborn—at the firstBattle of Lacolle Mills in November 1812. Pike was promoted to brigadier general in March 1813.[13] Along with GeneralJacob Brown, Pike departed from the newly fortified rural military outpost ofSackets Harbor, on theNew York shore ofLake Ontario, for what became his last military campaign. On this expedition, Pike commanded combat troops in thesuccessful attack on York (nowToronto) on April 27, 1813. 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 Pike's troops approachedFort York.[14] His body was brought by ship back to Sackets Harbor, where his remains were buried at the military cemetery.[15]
The Spanish authorities confiscated some of Pike's papers, which were not recovered by the United States from Mexico until the 20th century. Pike wrote an account of his expeditions, some of which had to be recreated from memory, which was published in 1810 asThe expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike to Headwaters of the Mississippi River, through Louisiana Territory, and in New Spain, during the Years 1805–6–7.[16] These journals and maps gave Americans important information about trade opportunities along with the blueprints for the Santa Fe Trail.[17] It was popular and was later translated into Dutch, French, and German editions. It became popular reading for all American explorers who followed him in the 19th century.
Pike's capture by the Spanish and travel through theSouthwest gave Pike insight into the region. For example, he described the politics in Chihuahua, which led to theMexican independence movement, and described trade conditions in the Spanish territories of New Mexico and Chihuahua.
In some eastern regions of North America, a tradition or legend pervades often referred to asThe Lost City of Palanor orZebulon's Gift which has been attributed to Pike's journals. The myth, said to be derived from a missing portion of Pike's confiscated journals, is usually told in two segments. The first sequence involves Pike's unlikely acquisition of a great treasure.[18] The second is a description of Pike's discovery of the lost city "Palanor," said to be built by pre-Columbian European settlers, and his decision to hide the treasure there.[18]
As Michael Olsen shows, after Pike's death in battle, his military accomplishments were widely celebrated in terms of biographies, mourning memorials, paintings, poems, and songs, and he became the namesake for dozens of towns, counties, and ships. His memory faded after theCivil War but rebounded in 1906, at the centennial of his Southwest Expedition. His 20th-century reputation focused on his exploration, and his name appeared often on natural features, such as dams, islands, lakes, and parks.[19] Pike's Peak remains the second most visited mountain in the world.[20] Pike's expedition route of approximately 3,664 miles is maintained to this day by the Pike National Trail Association.[21]
Pike was honored in 1901 byGeneral William Jackson Palmer with a marble statue placed near the main entrance of theAntlers Hotel.[22] Pike was later honored in 1926 with a bronze medallion portrait placed in the pavilion atTahama Spring (named after Pike's Dakota guide, ChiefTahama) in Monument Valley Park, Colorado Springs.[23] For over two hundred years, historians have debated whether Pike was truly an explorer, or if he was a spy.[17]
Alas, Collot was not very secretive. Before he left Pittsburgh on his journey, American authorities discovered his mission and shadowed him. Zebulon Pike, a U.S. Army officer who would later become an explorer and the namesake of Pike's Peak in Colorado, arrested Collot at Fort Massac near what is now Metropolis, Ill., but had no legal grounds to detain him.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[page needed]| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Adjutant Generals of the U. S. Army March 12, 1813 – April 27, 1813 | Succeeded by vacant |
| Preceded by | Inspector General of the U. S. Army March 12, 1813 – April 27, 1813 | Succeeded by vacant |
