Zebulon Pike
Portrait of Zebulon Pike, oil on canvas by Charles Willson Peale, 1808; in Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia.
Zebulon Pike
American military officer and explorer
Also known as: Zebulon Montgomery Pike
Zebulon Pike (born January 5, 1779, Lamberton, New Jersey, U.S.—died April 27, 1813, York, Upper Canada [now Toronto, Ontario]) was a U.S. army officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. In 1805 Pike, then an army lieutenant, led a 20-man exploring party to the headwaters of the Mississippi River with instructions to discover the river’s source, negotiate peace treaties with Indian tribes, and assert the legal claim of the United States...