On Nov. 15, 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike walked across Colorado’s Eastern Plains and set eyes on a mountain “which appeared like a small, blue cloud.”
Nine days later, Pike set out to climb the peak but was forced back by a blizzard. He named it Grand Peak.
Today, 200 years later, the mountain bears Pike’s name and a colorful spot in U.S. and Colorado history.
PIKES PEAK BY THE NUMBERS
14,110: Elevation, in feet.
14,115: Elevation according to Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum historian.
11,499: Elevation, in feet, of Mount Rosa, the high point Pike is thought to have reached on his unsuccessful bid to climb Pikes Peak.
130: Approximate distance, in miles, from the point of “first sighting” to Pikes Peak itself.
31st: In height out of 54 Colorado peaks that are 14,000 feet or higher.
TIMELINE
1820: Dr. Edwin James and two others from a party led by Maj. Stephen H. Long make the first recorded ascent. Long gave the doctor’s name to the mountain, but Pikes Peak soon became the official name, as shown by military maps of 1835.
1850s: Gold seekers embrace “Pikes Peak or Bust” slogan.
1858: Julia Archibald Holmes becomes the first woman to make a recorded ascent.
1886-88: Carriage road to summit is constructed.
1891: World’s highest cog railway, The Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway, debuts.
1893: Inspires Katharine Lee Bates’ “America the Beautiful”
1901: First automobile reaches summit.
1915: Work begins on auto highway along carriage-road route.
1916: First Pikes Peak Hill Climb auto race. Still held today.
1922: First AdAmAn Club – so named because the group adds a person to the hiking party each year – lights up New Year’s firework displays. Still held today.
1966: First annual Pikes Peak Marathon; still held today. Race dates to 1956.
Sources: www.pikespeakcolorado.com, Denver Post archives
Compiled by Jack Cox and Barbara Hudson of The Denver Post
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to an editing error, it incorrectly reported the name of the person who made the first recorded trip to the summit. Dr. Edwin James and two others reached the summit July 14, 1820.
