Zebulon Pike

Pike, Zebulon Montgomery (1779–1813), a United States army officer explorer. Pike led an expedition to the south-western part of the newly purchased Louisiana Territory, 1806–07. He had been sent by Brigadier General James Wilkinson, commander of the U.S. Army, to find the headwaters of the Red and Arkansas rivers and to reconnoiter the Spanish settlements in New Mexico. Pike traveled through what are now Missouri and Kansas, then followed the Arkansas River into Colorado. There he discovered and attempted to climb the peak later named for him. After his 11-man party built a small fortification on a branch of the Rio Grande, believing it to be the Red River, they were taken into custody by a Spanish patrol. They were eventually released at the United States border near Natchitoches, Louisiana. Pike's account of his explorations was published in 1810 and encouraged western expansion.

Pike was born in Lamberton (now part of Trenton), New Jersey. He entered the army in 1794 and was commissioned a first lieutenant in 1800. During 1805–06 Pike led an expedition to Minnesota in search of the source of the Mississippi River. He purchased the future site of Fort Snelling (near present-day Minneapolis) from the Sioux.

In 1813, during the War of 1812, Pike, then a brigadier general, led the attack that captured York (now Toronto). He was killed in the fighting.