See quotation 1857.
1856. A tall yellow-haired, sun-burned Pike, in a butternut-colored hat, coat, and so forths “of the period.”—G. H. Derby (‘John Phœnix’), ‘Phœnixiana,’ p. 217.
1857. The two ‘Pikes’ went to sleep, very fortunately, for they were least disagreeable in that state.—Knick. Mag., l. 258 (Sept.).
1857. Our only neighbor was a ‘squatter’ and a Pike of the pikiest description. (There may possibly be, even among your readers, some untutored minds, who do not understand the meaning of the term ‘ ‘Pike.’ It is a household word in San-Francisco, originally applied to Missourians from Pike County, but afterwards used as a generic term to designate individuals presenting a happy compound of verdancy and ruffianism.)—Id., 265.
1862. I have seen Maltese beggars, Arab camel-drivers, Dominican friars, New York Aldermen, Digger Indians; the foulest, frowziest creatures I have ever seen are thorough-bred Pikes.—Theodore Winthrop, ‘John Brent,’ p. 10 (N.Y., 1876).
1873. [When it was proposed to build a school-house in a village where there was none,] the leading Pikes objected … on the ground that the ringing of a school-house bell would scare all the deer away.—Charles Nordhoff, ‘California,’ p. 137 (Bartlett).
