Pike expedition

United States Army Captain Zebulon Pike led the Pike expedition (July 15, 1806 – July 1, 1807) to explore the south and west of the Louisiana Purchase. Roughly contemporaneous with the Lewis and Clark expedition, Pike's excursion was the first American effort to explore the western Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and marked the discovery of Pikes Peak.

Aftermath

In many ways, the expedition was less than successful. Pike's abilities as a naturalist and ethnographer were nowhere near the level of his compatriots Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. His notes had been confiscated by the Spanish, so when he eventually published his memoirs in 1810, they were composed from memory and thus vague and factually inaccurate. Pike had not been able to make contact with as many Native American nations as he had hoped, nor to convince them to submit to United States authority. He was unable to traverse the Red River.

Related Topics:
Meriwether Lewis - William Clark - 1810 - Native American

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However, the party had travelled more of the western Great Plains than any previous American, and they had made important discoveries in the Rocky Mountains. Their path across the west would form the kernel of the Santa Fe Trail, used by thousands of American pioneers.

Related Topics:
Great Plains - Santa Fe Trail

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