Col. Zebulon M. Pike
Discovers America's Mountain: November, 1806
Upstairs in Mr. Hunter's class, we look south. There stands Pikes Peak, a jewel in Jefferson's western frontier, a break in our boredom at TJ and a reminder of the freedoms TJ gave us.
Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis & Clark to find the Pacific Coast (Northwest Passage), but they followed the Missouri westward, unable to trace the source of the Mississippi. Mapping the borders of the Louisiana Purchase was assigned to Zeb Pike, a military man feared by England for battles won in our fight for independence. Surveying what became our northern Boundary Waters, Pike's reputation among the French and British turned sour. They heard the one about Yankee Doodle (you know - went to London just to ride the ponies - feather in his cap, etc.?) Wasn't that Ben Franklin (so vain, he probably thought the song's about him)?. Flies a kite in the rain, hoping for lightning? If Franklin was a crackpot, Toronto natives will tell you that as an explorer, Pike was a loon, constantly getting lost and asking for help outside his borders. Commonwealth pioneers scaled the Himalayas but this American claimed a 14,110-ft. mountain was unclimbable*. They heard about Pike sighting the Peak, then scoffed at his arrest. Later, the impression became a personal grudge match.
Monticello has lots of artifacts from Lewis & Clark; even a live prairie dog was delivered to Jefferson. The Bison became Jefferson's mascot. Sacajawea became a star. But Pike? Just some survey notes remain. Everything else was confiscated by the Spanish when they hauled him to Santa Fe, then Chihuahua as a spy. Jefferson asked him to trace the southern border, not get lost in the Great Sand Dunes that were Spanish Territory. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time, Jefferson and Madison promoted his rank several times : always in absentia, always notified months after the fact. Canadians, however, ignored the dirt about Spain that Pike told TJ: During his house arrest, Pike learned that Mexico was ready to revolt. After the War of 1812, Jefferson's successors acquired territory Spanish territory south of the Red River that Pike had traced.
Six years after sighting his Peak, Zeb was crossing Lake Ontario. Confident and heavily armed with canon, the British laughed about him being lost -again, but this time within sight of New York state. Like Spain, they prepared for his arrest if he made it to shore from his scuttled fleet. But they had few small arms or bayonets for close combat. And then lake fog intervened. York couldn't hear Pikes silent approach, not knowing where the invasion would land. Pike stumbled ashore before York could pivot its cannons. The Brits scattered into the Toronto settlement. Sadly, in What Madison considered a disgraceful act of cowardice, the British lit fuses to their powder magazine before retreating. The blast flattened Fort York, tearing the bunker wall wide open for the second assault. The first troops, overrunning the empty compound, were showered from behind. Zebulon Montgomery Pike was killed, shot in the back by rock and debris.
The second wave stormed in to find Pike's body, but no British. Claiming revenge, our army burned Toronto to the ground. In retribution the British invaded New York state, burned much of our Capitol, and continued all the way to New Orleans.