Leading a U.S. Army expedition to survey the southern reaches of the Louisiana Purchase, Zebulon Pike spotted a distant peak in present-day Colorado that he attempted, and failed, to climb due to deep snow and inadequate supplies. The mountain was later named Pikes Peak in his honor, becoming an enduring landmark of westward American expansion.
Zebulon Pike, a 27-year-old army officer, had been dispatched by General James Wilkinson to explore the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, map the southwestern frontier of the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, and establish relations with Native tribes -- and, unofficially, to scout Spanish territory in a mission shadowed by intrigue and suspected espionage.
On November 15, 1806, Pike's party spotted a massive, snow-capped peak rising from the plains, which he described in his journal as resembling 'a small blue cloud.' He estimated, wildly incorrectly, that they could reach its base in a day or two and climb it shortly after. In fact it took several days just to approach it, and when Pike and three companions finally attempted the ascent in November cold with no winter gear, waist-deep snow forced them back well short of the summit.
Pike never came close to reaching the top of the mountain that would eventually bear his name, and he considered the peak probably unclimbable by any human. Decades later, gold-rush pioneers adopted the slogan 'Pikes Peak or Bust,' and the mountain became one of the most recognizable symbols of the American West, visible for a hundred miles across the Colorado plains.