Local historian John Patrick Michael Murphy (far left in photo) spoke on the subject of “Zebulon Pike – His Mission and Adventures” on a warm
Tuesday, July 13 evening at the Old Colorado City History Center. Murphy has used records from Pike’s mission in 1806 to help determine that it
was on Mt. Rosa (see the Murphy-designed map at right) in late November 1806 that the U.S. Army lieutenant decided it would not be possible
for his party (clad in summer clothes) to climb the tall mountain to the northwest that would come to bear his name.
Murphy, a member of the region’s century-old Saturday Knights hiking club, traced Pike’s route before making his Mt. Rosa assertion in recent
years – one which refutes previous speculation about which high point Pike stood on to view the peak and decide to give up on its ascent.
Murphy’s talk was the second in the Old Colorado City Historical Society’s “Tuesdays in July” series. An estimated 70 people were in the
audience. Coming up July 20 is “Pioneers on the Santa Fe Trail,” presented by local educators Michael and Patricia Olsen. The presentations are
free and open to the public, beginning at 7 p.m.
Westside Pioneer photo