Pike Expedition

The Pike Expedition (July 15, 1806 – July 1, 1807) is a military party sent out by President Thomas Jefferson and authorized by the United States government to explore the south and west of the recent Louisiana Purchase.

Roughly contemporaneous with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, it is led by United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, Jr. (He is promoted to captain while on the trip.)

It is the first official American effort to explore the western Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains in present-day Colorado.

Pike contacts several Native American tribes during his travels and informs them of the new US rule over the territory.

The expedition documents the United States' discovery of Pikes Peak.

After splitting up his men, Pike leads the larger contingent to find the headwaters of the Red River.

A smaller group returns safely to the US Army fort in St. Louis, Missouri before winter sets in.

Pike's company makes several errors and ends up in Spanish territory in present-day Southern Colorado, where the Americans build a fort to survive the winter.

Captured by the Spanish and taken into Mexico in February, their travels through present-day New Mexico, Mexico, and Texas provide Pike with important data about Spanish military strength and civilian populations.

Although he and most of his men are released because the nations are not at war, some of his soldiers are held in Mexican prisons for years, despite US objections.

In 1810, Pike publishes an account of his expeditions, which is so popular that it is translated into French, German, and Dutch for publication in Europe.

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