S2: Ep6- Wrong Mountain, Wrong Empire: The Spectacular Blunders of Zebulon Pike

If Lewis and Clark were the gold standard of American exploration, Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike was the clearance-rack version sent out without a jacket. Dispatched into the high plains by General James Wilkinson—a man actively drawing a traitor's paycheck from the Spanish crown—Pike marched a freezing platoon of soldiers into a brutal Colorado winter wearing thin summer cottons and essentially zero survival instincts. Upon spotting the massive monolith later named in his honor, Pike decided it looked like a breezy afternoon stroll, got bogged down in waist-deep blizzard drifts on a completely different mountain, and declared to the civilized world that no human being could ever conquer its summit. (Fourteen years later, people were literally hiking up it for fun.) Refusing to let frostbite kill the vibe, Pike stumbled across the Sangre de Cristo range, erected a heavily fortified wooden stockade right on the Conejos River, hoisted the American flag, and played totally dumb when a squadron of armed Spanish dragoons showed up to ask why he was squatting on Spanish territory. Was it breathtaking navigational incompetence, or an elaborate undercover espionage run disguised as an all-expenses-paid arrest and escort across New Spain? Lace up your inadequate footwear as we dissect the forensic absurdity of early American expansion, diplomatic gaslighting, and the man who failed upward so hard they permanently etched his name onto a 14,000-foot rock. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/4th-period-u-s-history--5621461/support. Visit the class at Spreaker.com and follow! Link to the page HERE!  It would mean a lot and go a long way in helping grow class! Thank you for your support!