Pike's Stockade is a historic exploration campsite located near
Sanford,
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
. Set on the north bank of the Conejos River, it is where explorer
Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike (January 5, 1779 – April 27, 1813) was an American brigadier general and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a U.S. Army officer he led two expeditions through the Louisiana Purchase territory, first ...
raised the American flag on Spanish soil in 1807. The site, now managed by Historic Colorado, includes a reconstruction of a wooden
stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall.
Etymology
''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...
, built according to Pike's detailed description of the original. The site was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1961.
[Joseph Scott Mendinghall (December 1, 1975) , National Park Service and .]
Description and history
Pike's Stockade is located about northeast of Sanford, at the end of County Road 24 on the northern bank of the Conejos River. Now a small park, the site is now less forested than it was at the time of Pike's expedition. The stockade is a wooden structure, roughly , with
bastion
A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...
s at the two northern corners. The stockade is built out of oak, a longer-lasting material than the
cottonwood Pike used in 1807. Like Pike's construction, the stockade has no normal doorways, and is entered through a tunnel that passes under one of the walls. In deference to public access, the tunnel is lined in concrete, and the stockade itself is built on a concrete foundation.
Zebulon Pike led one of several exploratory expeditions commissioned by President
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
following the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...
to understand what exactly had been acquired. His expedition left
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
in July 1806, and reached this point in January 1807. The fort was built primarily as a defense against attack from the Spanish, on whose territory Pike had (either knowingly or innocently) encroached. On February 26, a force of 100 Spanish cavalry arrived at the fort, and requested that he come to
Santa Fe, the territorial capital, to discuss the matter. Pike and his men went with the Spanish force, and were eventually released in July 1807.
See also
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Colorado
This is a list of National Historic Landmarks in Colorado. There are 29 National Historic Landmarks in Colorado, two of which extend into New Mexico.
__TOC__
National Historic Landmarks in Colorado
See also
* L ...
*
References
External links
Fort Garland Museum & Pike's StockadeHistory Colorado
Pike's Stockade National Historic Landmarks Program
{{National Register of Historic Places
Infrastructure completed in 1807
National Historic Landmarks in Colorado
Buildings and structures in Conejos County, Colorado
History Colorado
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
National Register of Historic Places in Conejos County, Colorado