Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 - April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions under authority of President Thomas Jefferson through the new Louisiana Purchase territory, first in 1805-1806 to reconnoiter the upper northern reaches of the Mississippi River, and then in 1806-1807 to explore the Southwest to the fringes of the northern Spanish-colonial settlements of New Mexico and Texas. Pike's expeditions coincided with other Jeffersonian expeditions, including the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806) and the Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis expedition up the Red River (1806).