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Show I TODAY IN HSSTORyI SATURDAY. FEBRUARY 5. THE DISCOVERER OF PIKE'S PEAK. Today Is the birthday of many notables. no-tables. Of especial Interest Is that of Zohulon Montgomery PIUc. jl poldlcr rtf fortune- In the curly port of tho nineteenth nine-teenth century, who discovered the famous fa-mous peak In tho Kocky mountains bearing bear-ing his name. Pike's father lived In Now Jersey and wns n i-nptnln In the Revolutionary army, nnd "Zeb" wns born In that state In 1773. lie began his career at an early ngc-. nnd had already attained ronsldemble promlnencr- when the government made the purchase of Loulslrtnu from the French. Lieutenant Pike was appointed to conduct an expedition expe-dition to trace the Mississippi to Its source, nnd. leaving St. Louis on August 0, lS).r.. ho returned after nearly nine months of exploration nnd constant exposure ex-posure to hardship, having satisfactorily satisfactori-ly performed his service. In lS0fi-7 he was engaged In geographical geograph-ical explorations in tho Jxmlslnna territory, terri-tory, and In carrying out this work ho discovered Pike's peak. This was In November. No-vember. lSOU. A little more than three years rigo the centennial celebration of this event wns fittingly celebrated at Colorado Springs, as well as other sections sec-tions of Colorado. The name "Pike's peak" was never officially of-ficially sanctioned by the government, but was informally adopted after the early settlers hnd refused to designate the mountain as James peak, the title first conferred by tlm war depatyment-The depatyment-The early maps never alluded to the sentinel sen-tinel of the Rockies as Pike's peak, and it wns not until years after thai the government followed the lend of the trappers trap-pers and accepted "Pike's penk. ' When Pike's pnrty f.'iw the peak, on November 15. IRAS, 'they gave three cheers for tho Mexican mountain, but It was not until twelve days Inter that Pike climbed Cheyenne mountain, eighteen miles from tho "big white mountain," nnd found the peak so terrlblo of aspect that ho did not even attempt to ascend It and declared, further, thnt no huninn being could do so. The first person to reach the top of the peak was Dr. Long. In August. 1S15. The Pike's Penk . railroad, rail-road, which now climbs tho mountain to the distance of H.l-17 feet, was completed com-pleted In the autumn of S00. Pike was rapidly advanced ns a soldier, sol-dier, nnd lu wns about 31 years of ngc when, as brigadier-general, ho commanded command-ed tho forces thnt attacked York. Canada. Can-ada. April 27. 1813. The explosion of a powder magazine mortally wounded the young commander, who died ns tho cheers of his soldiers told of n victory. Tho captured flag of the British was plnced under his head to easo his dying dy-ing agony. Ono of tho few monuments that hns noon erected in honor of the soldlcr-ex-plorer Is a statue of heroic size in front of the Antlers hotel In Colorado Springs. Today, in .1757, was fought the fnmous bnttlc of Plnsscy. and In lSKS Thomas Carlisle, the famous historian, died. |