Who is this Man? #2

Tweet

That handsome fella is very famous here in the Pikes Peak region. He is Zebulon Pike, the man that discovered the mountain that bears his name. Zebulon Pike was an explorer and military man who rose to the rank of Brigadier General. He led two expeditions, one to find the source of the Mississippi River, and the second, for which he is most famous, the origins of the Arkansas and Red Rivers. It was on this second exploration that Pike discovered what was first called El Capitan, in 1806. Pike and his men unsuccessfully attempted to climb Pikes Peak, turning back after wading through waist-deep snow after two days without food. He later published a book about his expeditions, which was translated into Dutch, French, and German. In 1813, a Brigadier General at the age of 34, Pike was killed at the Battle of York when he and others under his command were struck by flying debris after retreating British troops blew up their ammo dump. Zebulon Pike has county seats named for him in 10 states (yet not in Colorado,) and lakes, parks, dams, and islands on a national level bear his name. (And, for decades, a popular Colorado Springs restaurant was called "Zeb's.") Interestingly, though Pike had no male descendants, DNA testing has shown that 20% of males bearing the surname "Pike" are related to the explorer. Pikes Peak, as you can imagine, is a pretty big deal around here. It's too bad that Zebulon Pike never got to stand atop what has turned out to be a very famous mountain. (Photo by me) (Info verified by Wikipedia)