Pike (1805-1807)

Pike, Zebulon Montgomery (1779-1813). Exploratory Travels Through the Western Territories of North America [...] performed in the years 1805, 1806, 1807 [...]. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1811.

Zebulon Montgomery Pike's account of his explorations was first published in the United States in 1810, reissued in London the following year, and then translated into French and Dutch in 1812 and into German in 1813.

Pike was born in New Jersey in 1779, the son of a regular army officer. He joined the ranks of his father's company as a cadet while still in his teens and obtained the rank of first lieutenant at the age of 20. He then served for several years in different frontier posts.

In 1805 General James Wilkinson put him in command of a detachment with orders to explore the sources of the Mississippi. Pike left Saint Louis in August 1805 and returned in April 1806 after visiting some trading posts on British territory. He had barely returned when he received new orders: to explore the sources of the Arkansas and go on reconnaissance in New Mexico, which was then Spanish territory. After following the Arkansas up to the present site of Pueblo (Colorado), Pike entered New Mexico. Arrested by a detachment of Spanish soldiers, he was led to Chihuahua (Mexico), interrogated, and released.

After his return to the United States, Pike was suspected of having participated in a plot by General Wilkinson to carve out an empire for himself in the southwestern United States. After being rehabilitated by the secretary of state for war, Pike was promoted to major in 1808, colonel in 1812 and brigadier general in 1813. He was killed in April 1813 while leading his men into battle at York (Toronto) during the war between the United States and England.

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