Pike's peak?/Though overshadowed by Lewis and Clark, Zebulon Pike's

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Aug 7, 2000 | by Deb Acord

He knew his climbers should be in their 20s, relatively the same age as Pike and his men. He knew the weather conditions the day Pike climbed - 52 degrees at the base and 23 degrees on the summit. He knew the approach should be 34 miles, and he knew the climbers should gain about 6,000 feet in elevation. Just months before, he had located a cave Pike described in his journals, about an hour down from the summit of Rosa, to further advance the route he believed to be correct. And he knew that Pike described the mountain he climbed as "the highest of this chain."

Murphy also knew that Pike and his men had descended along a different, easier route, following a ravine cut by a stream. And he knew that when the climbers stood on the summit of their mountain, they had a full, unobstructed view of Pikes Peak.

Murphy believes the climbers proved his theory, even with all its denominators, and he believes his field tests helped place Pike firmly in mountaineering history.

"Pike completed the first recorded climb in the American West," Murphy says. "And the elevation gain they endured, and the number of miles they hiked made it an even more important accomplishment."

- Deb Acord may be reached at 636-0264 or dacord@gazette.com. Edited and headline by Bob Ehlert.

Fact and fiction

FICTION: Pike named the peak after himself.

FACT: In his journals, Pike called it Blue or Grand Mountain. On his map, he called it simply "highest mountain."

FICTION: Pike said he believed no one could ever climb Pikes Peak.

FACT: When he reached the summit of a nearby mountain, he said he knew that no man in his group, with its lack of provisions, could make it up that mountain on that day.

FICTION: Pike was a bumbler, an inept Army officer who wandered in circles.

FACT: Pike was an explorer, and often that means getting lost in uncharted territory. He met most of his objectives here.

FICTION: Pike was engaged in espionage with the man who commissioned his expedition, James Wilkinson, and former Vice President Aaron Burr. The two were accused of conspiring to break off the Louisiana Purchase into a separate nation.

FACT: Pike was sent west by Wilkinson, but he did what he was commissioned to do. He was later absolved of any collusion with Wilkinson.

Source: "Zebulon Montgomery Pike: Pathfinder and Patriot," by Harvey L. Carter, "The Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike," edited by Elliott Coues.