Pike sees the dunes
1807
In January 1807 Zebulon Pike's starving, frostbitten party waded over Medano Pass in summer uniforms. Camped at the dunes, Pike wrote they looked 'exactly that of the sea in a storm, except as to color.' It is the first known written description of the Great Sand Dunes.
Photo: Charles Willson Peale, Public domain, source
