". . . I believe no human being could have ascended to its pinical." Do you know what Zebulon Pike meant by that? Well, we do. He meant that his group could not make it to the top of the mountain, because they were not prepared for climbing a mountain. Other people thought he meant the mountain, which is 14, 110 feet, was too tall to climb.

Zebulon Montgomery Pike was famous for finding a mountain which is now called Pike's Peak.

In 1805 Pike commanded a 20 man exploration party with orders to find the headwaters of the Mississippi, to make peace treaties with the Indian tribes that he found, and to claim the area for the United States. They went 2,000 miles by boat and foot from St. Louis up to northern Minnesota. Pike was wrong when he thought he had discovered the source of the Mississippi River when he got to Leech Lake, MN.

In 1806 Pike went exploring in what is now Colorado. Zebulon Montgomery Pike saw a blue cloud in the distance, soon he realized it was a mountain. Later he tried to climb it but failed. That night they camped at the bottom of the mountain.

In 1813 Pike became a general in the army. He died in the War of 1812 at a battle in York, Toronto, Canada.

After Pike died they named the mountain after him. Soon after, a man named Stephen Harriman climbed Pike's Peak in a uniform like Pike's and put an American flag on the top.

We found are information in these books:
Colorado's Colorful Characters by Gladys R. Bueler
an article in Colorado Kids Dig Up The Past writtin by Krissy LaBoon, Jason Rankin and Beth Welsh
and this Internet article.