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AMERICAN OCCUPATION

THE

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

AND THE EXPLORATION

EARLY HISTORY AND

BUILDING OF

THE WEST

RIPLEY HITCHCOCK

With Illustrations and Maps

BOSTON, U.S.A.

GINN

& COMPANY, PUBLISHERS

The Athenaeum Press

1903

5 ¦&

Checked

May 19

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

560248

ASTOR, LENOX AND

TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

R 1912 L

M. W. H.

INTRODUCTION

In the year 1803 the United States bought from France the greater part of our country lying between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The area acquired contained nearly a million square miles. This "Louisiana Purchase" has been called an event " worthy to rank with the Declara- tion of Independence and the formation of the Constitution."

The price of the empire which we gained in 1803 was $15,000,000. This seems a large amount even in this day of the easy handling of millions, but the taxable wealth of the Lou- isiana territory to-day is more than four hun- dred times the purchase money. In whole or in part fourteen states and territories have been formed in the area which was bought, and there are over fifteen million people within its borders.

vi INTRODUCTION

These are impressive facts and they invite questions as to what the Louisiana territory was and how we happened to secure it. The answers tell a curious story, full of happen- ings so strange that they have the quality of romance. In the sixteenth century the Span- iards, first of white men to penetrate Louisi- ana, might have occupied and perhaps have held it for at least two centuries and a half, but they were lured away by the gold and sil- ver of Mexico and South America. Later there were disasters near home, and always there was their own incapacity in colonization.

Next came the French, descending from the north and holding Louisiana until their power on this continent was broken at the fall of Quebec in 1759. Four years later France ceded Louisiana to Spain. After our Revolu- tion England yielded us a boundary on the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, and the thirty- first degree. She promised also the free navi- gation of the Mississippi. But this promise Spain, holding the river's mouth, refused to sanction, and as American pioneers pressed

INTRODUCTION vii

westward across the Alleghenies and sought the natural route to a market afforded by the water ways, this refusal became a matter of supreme moment.

There followed a critical period in the his- tory of the West. In 1790 the possibility of a war between England and Spain led Pitt to consider a seizure of New Orleans. A little later France, always regretting the loss of Lou- isiana, employed the French minister Genet to use the discontent of our frontiersmen as a means of wresting Louisiana and Florida from Spain. Later still France's efforts to regain Louisiana became successful under the powerful guidance of Napoleon. His plans were laid for occupation. They were checked by the negro revolt in San Domingo and the prospect of war with England.

Meantime the West was ablaze, and Presi- dent Jefferson sent Monroe as commissioner to Paris to secure New Orleans and the Floridas and make clear the way to the sea. The instructions of Monroe and Livingston were limited to a strip of seacoast. But

viii INTRODUCTION

Napoleon changed his mind. He offered them the whole vast area of Louisiana, and thus suddenly and unexpectedly we acquired Louisiana from France even before possession had formally passed to France from Spain.

What was bought was for the most part a wilderness. How this wilderness was ex- plored is told in the second part of this volume in an abridged version of the journals of Lewis and Clark, the classical explorers of the West.

This outline of the first great American expedition into the far West and across the continent is followed by sketches of the jour- neys of Pike, Colton, Hunt, Wyeth, Prince Maximilian of Wied, Bonneville, Fremont, and others, — soldiers, traders, scientists, makers of the old trails, and pioneers of the greatest of river routes, the Missouri- Mississippi. This third division of the story naturally includes the American fur trade, as well as the trails and water routes of the West. These explorers, trappers, and traders made the early American history of Louisiana,

INTRODUCTION ix

but long before them were the eras of Span- iards like Coronado, and Frenchmen like Father Marquette, La Salle, and the Verendryes.

The waning of the fur trade's supremacy toward the middle of the nineteenth century was followed by discoveries of mineral wealth, by the pressure of settlement, by railroad building, by the cattle industry, and by other factors in the earlier building of the West which are sketched in the fourth part of this narrative. With the later political organiza- tion and giant growth of the old Louisiana territory within comparatively recent years this history deals only in a summary of facts.

Since the purpose of this book is to afford a continuous and very simple narrative, it has not seemed necessary or wise to enter at length into the diplomatic and political his- tory of the purchase of Louisiana. That story may be read in the first and second volumes of Henry Adams's " History of the United States of America " and in McMaster's "His- tory of the People of the United States." The French side of the history is emphasized in

x INTRODUCTION

Dr. J. K. Hosmer's popular "History of the Louisiana Purchase." Many other references will be found throughout this volume.

There seems to be no single hook which tells the story of the West succinctly and includes the work of the Spanish and French pioneers, and also accounts of the various phases of American exploration and of the typical figures and aspects of the Western formative periods. It is hoped that this vol- ume, in spite of its modest character, may afford a certain comprehensiveness which will be of convenience and of value to students of the earlier history of the West between the Mississippi and the mountains.

I desire to express my sense of obligation to my friends, Professor John Bach McMaster and George Parker Winship, Esq., for their kindness in reading portions of the proofs. I wish also to acknowledge the aid of Mr. Percy Waller of the Lenox Library, New York, in reading the proofs and in preparing the index.

R. H.

CONTENTS

PART I DISCOVERY AND ACQUISITION

THE SPANISH AND FRENCH PERIODS AND THE PURCHASE

PAGE

Chapter I. The Spanish Discoveries .... 3

What the Louisiana Purchase was. Early Spanish explorers. Discovery of the Mississippi. Pineda, Cabeza de Vaca, Coronado, De Soto, and Docampo. The Spaniards first in the field. Their weakness in colonization.

Chapter II. The French in Louisiana ... 21

Nicollet's early expeditions. Saint Lusson claims the West for France. Marquette and Joliet explore the upper Mississippi. La Salle descends to the mouth. The French claim to Louisiana. Tonty and other pioneers. The founders of New Orleans. The search for a way to the western ocean. Le Sueur and other explorers. The Verendryes see the Rocky Mountains.

xii CONTENTS

PAGE

Chapter III. The French in the Eighteenth

Century............. 34

The founding of New Orleans. Extent of French possessions. The beginnings of St. Louis. The gate- way of Louisiana. Downfall of French power. Louisiana ceded to Spain. American and English explorations. Oregon not included in Louisiana.

Chapter IV. The American Westward Move- ment.............. 45

Advancing beyond the Alleghenies. Settlement rather than exploration or exploitation. Experiences of the pioneers. Their way to the sea blocked by Spanish control of the mouth of the Mississippi. How the Spaniards ruled New Orleans.

Chapter V. Louisiana's Critical Period . . 54

France tries to regain the West. Genet's intrigues. Attitude of England and Spain. Napoleon's designs. Talleyrand's plans for a colonial empire. Louisiana ceded to France. Napoleon's plans checked by Tous- saint's rebellion in San Domingo.

Chapter VI. Louisiana an Active Issue . . 64

The East slow to see the facts. Foresight of Wash- ington, Jefferson, and Hamilton. A critical period. Spanish exactions. The river closed. Popular agita- tion. The West ready for war. Jefferson resolves to buy New Orleans and the Floridas. Monroe appointed commissioner. Livingston's work in Paris. Talley- rand's startling proposition. How Napoleon made his purpose known. A family quarrel in a bath-room.

\7\

CONTENTS xiii

7\ PAGE

Chapter VII. The Purchase arranged ... 76

Closing the bargain. The terms of payment. What was bought. Questions as to West Florida. The news in the United States. Federalist opposition. Debates over the right to buy and rule foreign territory. The treaty ratified. Provisions for government.

Chapter VIII. Transfer to the United States 86 Louisiana still in Spain's hands. Delivery to France. Cession by France to the United States. A country without government. Congress gives the President power. Importance of the precedents. The territory divided. A last foreign invasion.

PART II

THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION

Chapter IX. Exploring Louisiana..... 97

An unknown interior. Jefferson's early interest in exploration. Ledyard's vain attempt. Jefferson selects Lewis and Clark. Who they were. Their in- structions. The uncertainty as to their route.

Chapter X. Preparing for the Journey . . 106

An uninformed Spaniard. A company of picked men. Some curious supplies. The journal of the expedition.

Chapter XL Starting for the Wilderness . Ill

Trappers and Indians. Across Missouri. The first sight of buffalo. Turning northward. A council with the Indians near Council Bluffs. An odd way of fish- ing. A country full of game.

xiv CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER XIL. In South Dakota...... 120

A haunted mountain. Among the Sioux. A curious fraternity. Some new animals. Trouble with the Tetons. The first meeting with the grizzly bear. Reaching the Arikara Indians. The approach of cold weather.

Chapter XIIL. At the Mandan Villages . . 128

The wintercamp. Hunting the buffalo. The journey onward. Finding the Yellowstone River. Adventures with grizzly bears. Hunting in Montana.

Chapter XIV. Across Montana...... 137

Discovery of the Musselshell. The first glimpse of the Rockies. A buffalo charges the camp. A narrow escape. At the Great Falls of the Missouri. A difficult portage. Reaching the Three Forks of the Missouri. In an unknown country.

Chapter XV. Through the Rockies to the

Pacific............. 146

Ascending the Jefferson. Reaching the Great Divide. Some friendly Indians. Sacajawea meets old acquaint- ances. Hardships and disappointments. Struggling across the mountains. Among the Nez Perc&eactue;s. On toward the sea. Passing the cataracts of the Columbia. The first glimpse of the sea.

Chapter XVL. On the Pacific Slope .... 159

The wintercamp. Peculiarities of the Clatsop Indians. A scarcity of supplies. Turning homeward. Sur- mounting the cascades. Journeying by land. Trouble- some Indians. Living on dog flesh. A search for their horses. Indian cooking. Suffering of the explorers.

CONTENTS xv

PAGE

Chapter XVIL. Across the Mountains . . .171

A rough mountain road. Dividing the party. An adventure with a grizzly. Fighting with Indians. An accident to Captain Lewis. His indomitable courage. Passing the Great Falls of the Missouri. Lewis over- takes Captain Clark.

Chapter XVIII. Captain Clark's Adventures 178

Crossing the Yellowstone. The last glimpse of the Rockies. Buffalo and bears. Reaching the Missouri. Attacked by mosquitoes. Pryor loses the horses. Bitten by a wolf. The whole party reunited.

Chapter XIX. Ox the Way Home". . ... 185

At the Mandan villages again. Big White accom- panies the explorers. Colter remains in the wilder- ness. His subsequent discovery of Yellowstone Park. Parting with the faithful squaw. Descending the river. The arrival at St. Louis. The news in Wash- ington. The later life of Lewis and Clark.

PART III

THE EXPLORATION OF THE WEST

Chapter XX. Pike's Explorations..... 199

Ascending the Mississippi. A second expedition westward. Hostile Spanish influence. Into Colorado. The first glimpse of Pike's Peak. On the upper Arkansas. Disappointment and privation. In Spanish territory. Captured by the Spaniards. Pike's return and death.

xvi CONTENTS

PAGE

Chapter XXI. Routes of Exploration . . . 208 The great water ways. Importance of the Missouri. The Santa F%eacute;, Overland, and Oregon trails. The fur trade the chief industry. Its effect on exploration.

Chapter XXII. Typical Pathfinders . . . 226

Trade seeking the Northwest. Hunt and the "over- land Astorians." Ashley and Wyeth. Bonneville's journeys. Explorations by Frémont.

PART IV

THE BUILDING OF THE WEST

Chapter XXIII. A Formative Period . . . 241

Influences of the westward movement. A time of expansion. Development of the Mississippi Valley. Influences upon upper Louisiana. Types of the middle period. The soldier's work in the West. Labors of missionaries. Whitman's journey and its real purpose.

Chapter XXIV. The Coming of Industries . 255 The search for mineral wealth. Louisiana ignored for California. Later developments. The day of the "pony express." The great cattle industry. Open- ing of the interior by the first transcontinental railroad.

Chapter XXV. Permanent Occupation . . . 270

The Free Soil issue. Kansas and Nebraska. Dis- tribution of public lands. Louisiana in the Civil War. A glance at later development. Political and economic consequence of the old Louisiana Purchase.

CONTENTS xvii

PAGE

Appendix I.............. 287

Treaty of Purchase between the United States and the French Republic.

A Convention between the United States of America and the French Republic.......... 293

Appendix II. The Louisiana Purchase of To- Day............... 296

Its vast area. Statistical summary of the states and territories formed from the Purchase. Fifteen mil- lions of people. Wealth four hundred times the pur- chase money. The empire which we gained.

Louisiana............ 296

Arkansas............ 300

Colorado............ 303

Indian Territory......... 307

Iowa.............. 309

Kansas............. 312

Minnesota............ 316

Missouri............. 320

Montana............. 303

Nebraska............ 305

North Dakota........... 328

Oklahoma............. 330

South Dakota........... 333

Wyoming............. 335

Index................ 339

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

PAGE

American Occupation........ Frontispiece

Expansion Map of the United States..... Facing 3

"Hunch-backed Cow"......... Facing 8

Pueblo of the Zuni Indians........ Facing 10

De Soto's First View of the Mississippi River..... 13

De Soto's Expedition (1539-1542)......... 15

Old Spanish Gateway at St. Augustine....... 17

Spanish Explorations............. 19

La Salle.................. 23

Louis XIV, King of France........... 25

Autograph of Jolliet............. 26

Father Marquette (from Trentenove's statue in the Capitol

at Washington).......... Facing 26

La Salle at the Mouth of the Mississippi...... 28

Autograph of Tonty............. 29

Map of the Verendryes' Route...... Facing 32

Autograph of Le Moyne d'Iberville........ 35

Autograph of Bienville............ 36

Autograph of John Law............ 36

New Orleans in 1719............. 37

The Royal Flag of France.......... 39

Montcalm................ 40

George Rogers Clark............. 46

George Rogers Clark's Expedition to capture Vincennes

in 1779............. Facing 46

Anthony Wayne.............. 47

A Flatboat on the Ohio............ 50

xix

LOUISIANA

Part I DISCOVERY AND ACQUISITION

THE SPANISH AND FRENCH PERIODS

AND

THE PURCHASE

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CHAPTER I

THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS

At the opening of the year 1803 the terri- tory of the United States was bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. 1 In April of that year a treaty was signed in Paris by which nearly a million square miles west of the Mississippi, stretching from the mouth of the river to British America, was purchased from France for $15,000,000, and the total area of our country was more than doubled. This great event is known in history as the

1 On the south the boundary was the thirty-first parallel of latitude from the Mississippi to the Apalachicola, down the middle of that river to the Flint, thence to the head of St. Marys River, and down the latter to the sea.

4 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Louisiana Purchase. By this treaty, which was signed by Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe representing the United States, and Barbé-Marbois representing the Republic of France. Napoleon Bonaparte — then the First Consul of France and afterward Emperor — ceded to the United States the territory which now contains Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, a portion of Colorado, and a part of Idaho, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory. 1

1 Much attention has been given by historians to the ques- tion whether or not Texas was or should have been included in the Louisiana Purchase. Henry Adams and Professor Edward Channing are among the more conspicuous advo- cates of Texas as a part of Louisiana, and Professor A. C. McLaughlin declares that France "had good ground for claiming the Texas country perhaps even to the Rio Grande." Schouler and H. H. Bancroft take a contrary view, and the thesis that Texas was not a part of the Louisiana Purchase is ably maintained in an interesting monograph by Professor John R. Ficklen. This discussion is not essential to the present narrative, since the United States, after claiming the territory as far west not only as the Rio Bravo but even to the Rio Grande, yielded the point in 1819, when by treaty with Spain the Floridas were acquired and Texas abandoned.

THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS 5

It is easy now to see that this great addi- tion to our country was of incalculable impor- tance. At the time, however, the significance of the purchase, which has been called a turn- ing point in our history, was not realized. We can understand the situation better by showing what had been learned up to 1803 of the vast region which Jefferson and Napoleon added to the United States.

It is sometimes said that the Louisiana ter- ritory was unexplored. In one sense this is true, but we shall find that as a matter of fact many white men had penetrated this wilder- ness. The first were Spaniards who followed after Columbus. The purpose of Columbus, and, for a time, of others after him, was to find a water way to Cathay, or China, and the Spice Islands by the westward route, and to secure their rich trade. The extent of Amer- ica was so little understood that much time was spent in trying to find a passage through or around our continent. Cipango, as Japan was called, was supposed to lie much farther east ; indeed, in some old maps it seems included

G LOUISIANA PURCHASE

within our boundaries. It was the Spanish pioneer explorers of the sixteenth cent ury who

lirst penetrated western North America and discovered the vast extent of our country.

It was in a search for this water route to the west that, in 1519, Don Diego Velasquez, the Spanish governor of Cuba, sent out lour caravels commanded by Don Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda. The little fleet finally sailed west- ward across the Gulf of Mexico until Pineda met Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, and his followers, who claimed that territory. The point of chief interest to us is that on his return Pineda found the month of a great river, which he explored for a few leagues and named the Rio de Espiritu Santo. This was the Missis- sippi. We may think of Pineda, therefore, as the first white man to approach the confines of the territory known later as Louisiana.

A few years later, in 1 -VJT. another Spaniard reached Louisiana, and the story of this man, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, 1 is of peculiar

1 The "Relation" of Cabeza do Vaca's journey, by him- self, was first published at Zamora, Spain, in 1542. The

THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS 7

historical interest. He was treasurer of an expedition sent from Spain to Florida. With his comrades he struggled across Florida to the Gulf, and then, sorely tried by their hardships, they built rude boats as best they could. Their horses were killed for food. The manes and tails and some vegetable fibers were twisted into ropes; rough tools and nails were wrought out of stirrups and spurs, and shirts were pieced together for sails. Finally, the unhappy fugi- tives put to sea in five boats. They were ignorant of the waters and the coast, but they hoped to reach the Spanish settlements in Mexico. After a time they passed the mouth of the Mississippi, and then their boats were shattered by storms, and only fifteen men lived to be cast upon an island west of the mouth of the Mississippi, which they aptly termed "The Isle of Misfortunes."

first edition of Buckingham Smith's translation appeared in 1851, and the last, after his death, in 1871. While the translator's notes cannot be accepted implicitly in the light of later research, this translation holds a place of peculiar distinction in our early history as the first presentation in English of a most important source of historical knowledge.

8 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Of this remnant all but four were slain by the Indians. Cabeza de Vaca himself was taken captive. For six terrible years he was held by his savage masters, who dwelt in east- ern Texas and western Louisiana. Sometimes he was forced to act as a "medicine man." Again he was sent out as a trader, making long journeys as far north as the Red River country, where, it is believed, he was the first white man to see the "hunch-backed cows," as the older Spanish writers termed the buffalo. Finally, at some point west of the Sabine River in Texas, he was reunited to his three sur- viving comrades. They succeeded in escaping from their captors, and by using the rites of "medicine men," with which they mingled "earnest prayers to the true God," they pre- served themselves from harm at the hands of other Indians.

Slowly and painfully they toiled westward across Texas, hoping to reach the Spaniards in Mexico. They seem to have crossed the Rio Pecos near its junction with the Rio Grande, and then crossing the latter river to have journeyed

LBS SINOVLARJTEX trecefie Flonde <&* l*rimere de Palme fe trtuueni Torcau diuerfes e a eces J e y c f{ es mgnftruettfes tentre It/eintU les Ion pew voir i>nc cjpece de grands tanreaux por~

•f>

p^c^~afe

tans cornes Ungues fettlcment d~)m pie t eyfiir ledos ~\>ne tumueur on eminence, dune ~\n chamean: Ic pod longpartom le corps, duqiielU couleur s'approchefort j de celle d'~)>ne mule faune , cjr' encores I'eft plwsccluy <p*i eft dcjfoubs le mento.Lon en amena ynefoii dettx" tons yifs en EJp<.tffne } de l"\n dejauels j'djTl eu lapeat* Cr non autre chojc t Cp" rijpenrenf\iw'c Ion? temps. Ceft animal ainft yite Ion dit, eft perpetual enncmy du cheual,0- , ne lepeut endnrer pres de luy.De U fieri- Cap Je de tirantan promontoire de Baxe ,Je trouue antique petite rimer e,ou les ejclaites ~)>ontpefther huitres, <jiti portent perles. Or depuis jucjommes 1>enufiufjue la\\ portans V** ^ e t9m her ^ a etlleclion des huitres , ne ~)>a*x ou~ perles. blierpar quelmoyen les paries enfint tiroes } tant au*

fades

Baxc. Huitres

The Buffalo

(From Thevet's "Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique," Antwerp, 1558. "Winsor considers this one of the earliest, if not the earliest, picture of the buffalo.)

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THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS 9

through the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora. Turning southward they finally, in May, 1536, reached Culiacan in Sinaloa, the northern outpost of Spanish settlement. Over two thousand miles were traversed by these fugitives in this flight, which restored them to their countrymen eight years after their ill- starred expedition landed in Florida.

With the exception of their passage by the mouth of the Mississippi and some wanderings in Louisiana and to the north, they had had little to do with the actual territory of the Purchase, 1 but the stories which these survivors brought back made others eager to explore the mysterious interior of the New World.

One story which appealed particularly to the imaginations of the Spaniards was a tale which Cabeza de Yaca had heard of the Seven Cities of Cibola, to the north, which were de- scribed as full of treasures. In search of these cities a fearless priest, Fray Marcos de Nizza, started from Sinaloa in 1539, taking with him one of Cabeza de Yaca's companions, a negro

1 That is, of course, eliminating Texas.

10 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

named Estevanico. He found no treasures, but he reached the " cities," which are believed to have been the pueblos or villages of the Zurii Indians near the present Zuni village in west- ern New Mexico.

When he returned and reported that he had actually seen certain strange towns to the north, there was a stir among the Spaniards, always tireless in the quest for treasure. The viceroy of Mexico, Mendoza, promptly organ- ized an expedition under the command of Coronado, governor of New Galicia, to take possession of this rich country. He started in 1540, captured the Zuni villages and wintered in New Mexico, where he heard a marvelous tale which brought destruction to many of the early treasure seekers. This was the legend of Quivira, a wonderful city of gold. Lured by this golden myth, Coronado crossed Indian Ter- ritory and pressed on to northeastern Kansas. 1

1 General Simpson believed that Coronado reached a point somewhere in the eastern half of the border country of Kan- sas and Nebraska. Bandelier placed the main seat of the Quiviras " in northeastern Kansas, beyond the Arkansas River and more than 100 miles northeast of Great Bend."

Pueblo of the Zi ni Indians (From a photograph)

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THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS 11

He found a tribe of Indians called the Qui- viras, but they had no gold and knew of none, and he was forced to make his painful way back empty-handed. This wonderful journey of Coronado may be called the first great exploration within the Louisiana territory.

It is most fortunate that narratives of this remarkable expedition have come down to us. The best of these was written by Castaiieda, who is supposed to have been a well-educated private soldier in Coronado's army. 1

A journey far longer and more perilous than that of Coronado originated in the devo- tion of the brave priest Fray Juan de Padilla, who was with Coronado, and returned to min- ister to the Quiviras accompanied only by one soldier, Andres Docampo, and two boys, Lucas and Sebastian. The good priest was slain in northeastern Kansas. Docampo and the boys

1 A translation of this narrative follows Mr. George Parker Winship's critical discussion of the Coronado expe- dition published in the Report of the Bureau of Ethnology for 1892-1893. " The Spanish Pioneers," by C. F. Lummis, offers a vivid sketch of early Spanish exploration and con- quest throughout the Western Hemisphere.

L2 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

wandered over the plains for nine heart-break- ing years, sometimes prisoners, sometimes fugitives, finally reaching the Mexican town <<i Tampico on the Gulf. Their journey Lngs must

have covered thousands of miles of Louisiana territory, but no records have been preserved. 1 At the same time that Coronado was leading his soldiers eastward, another Spanish officer was st niggling from Florida towards the west. This was the famous Fernando de Soto, gov- ernor of Cuba, who was commissioned to conquer the unknown territory on the Gulf of Mexico which had been granted to Narvaez by a royal patent. De Soto sailed from Havana in 1539 and, landing his force of nearly six hundred men in Florida, fought bis bloody way through Georgia and Alabama and on to the Mississippi, which he crossed at Chickasaw Bluff. This was in 1541, and De Soto was the first white man to see the Mississippi except at its mouth. 2

1 See "The Spanish Pioneers," by C. F. Lummis.

2 There has been much historical discussion as to the dis- covery of the Mississippi, ami lli«- question of the claims of Pineda in 1519, of Cabeza de Vara, who crossed one of its mouths in 1528, and of De Soto, has beeo argued at length

THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS

After crossing the great river De Soto marched northward to Little Prairie, led by the vague

De Soto's First View of the Mississippi River

tales of gold which so often lured the Spaniards to an evil fate. He sent out expeditions, one

by Rye in the Hakluyt Society's " Discovery and Conquest of Florida," 1851. See Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America," Vol. II, pp. 289-292.

14 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

of which marched eight days to the north- west and reached the open prairies. It seems probable that De Soto approached the Mis- souri River, although he learned nothing of it.

At this very time, in the summer of loll. De Soto and his starving followers must have been so near Coronado's army that an Indian runner could have carried a message from one to the other in a few days. Indeed, Coronado heard of these white men and sent a messenger, who failed in his errand. Thus, in the first half of the sixteenth century two Spaniards, one starting from Tampa Bay in Florida and the other from the Gnlf of California, practi- cally e< mipleted a journey across the continent. 1

De Soto's wanderings on the west bank of the Mississippi are of interest here chiefly because he entered the Louisiana territory. He met with little save disaster, and after a bitter winter passed on a branch of the Missis- sippi, which seems to have been the Washita, he started southward with the remnants of

1 Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America," Vol. II, p. 292.

THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS

his force. At the mouth of the Red River, on May 21, 1-342, the baffled "conqueror" died. Surrounded as his survivors were by hostile Indians, they dared not leave his body in a grave lest the Indians should discover it ; so

this proud Spanish warrior found his last rest- ing place beneath the waters of the Mississippi. The survivors, led by Luis cle Moscoqo, at first undertook to go westward in the hope of reaching their countrymen in New Spain, and some chroniclers have credited them with so

L6 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

long a journey across the plains thai they came within Bight of the mountains. Bui their attempts to reach their friends in Mexico yielded no results, and they made their pain- ful way hack to the Mississippi. There they built boats and descended the river. They skirted the coast of Texas, and in September, 1 5 !•>. the wretched remnants of De Soto's once proud expedition reached Tampico.

Pineda had found the mouth of the Rio de Espiritu Santo, but De Soto is justly remem- bered as the true discoverer of the Mississippi. I )n this discovery was based an early claim to Louisiana. But the story of the Spaniards in North America was very different from their record in the south, where Cortes had gained an empire by his conquest of Mexico (1519- 1521), and Pizarro another in Peru (1531- 1534). The early expeditions of the Span- iards within the present territory of the United States represented even larger possibilities, as they were the first comers in this new land.

Pineda, Coronado, De Soto, and other Span- iard.- made their journeys in the first half

THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS

of the sixteenth century, and the oldest town in the United States, St. Augustine, Florida, was founded by the Spaniards in 1565. The Spaniards had sailed by the shores of Virginia long before Raleigh had dreamed of settlement.

Old Spanish Gateway at St. Augustine

It was not until 1605 that the French on the north founded Port Royal, now Annapolis, N.S., which was followed by Quebec in 1608. It was not until 1607 that the English founded Jamestown, in Virginia, and not until 1620 that the Pilgrims made their way to Plym- outh. Thus in the struggle for a continent

18 LOUISIANA PUBCHASE

the Spaniards had all the advantages of

priority, and t ln-\ mighi have held North America. Bu1 Spanish disco v en was not ac- companied by thequalil tea which have wroughl out a very different history for Anglo-Saxon expansion, and there were oilier obstacles.

Louisiana lay open to Spain in the six- teenth century, but the Spaniards, like other Europeans of their time, held to the " Bullion theory/' — that the precious metals were the only form of wealth, — and the gold and silver of .Mexico and South America blinded them to the opportunities awaiting them in the development of the Mississippi valley. Fur- thermore, after 1-370 Spain's energies were absorbed in attempts to suppress Protestant- ism in Europe and to crush the revolting Netherlands. 1 In 1588 Spain's maritime power was crippled by England's destruction of the Invincible Armada.

All this checked a career in the New World which, continuing as it began, mighl have

igee "The Discovery of Am. Tic;)." by John Fiske, par- ticularly Chapter XII.

THE SPANISH DISCOVERERS

meant a warfare against heretics in Virginia and New England like that which stained the early annals of Florida. It might have meant also an assured grasp of the Mississippi and

Spanish Explorations

Louisiana. But Spain's distraction and exhaus- tion gave a clear field for the English settlers on the eastern seaboard, and also for the French who came from the north to explore the Missis- sippi and claim the interior of our country.

The seventeenth century found Spain sus- picious and uneasy, but for the most part

20 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

inactive as regards Louisiana. In the early eighteenth century, aboul 1716, a Spanish expedition moved eastward from Santa Fe* to check the French by establishing a mili- tary posl in the upper Mississippi valley, but it came to a disastrous end. So far as the Louisiana territory is concerned the brilliant beginnings of Spain suffered an inglorious lapse. We owe to De Vaca, Coronado, and De Soto the amplest knowledge which the sixteenth century afforded of the interior of North America, but the Spanish desire for conquest and gold rather than real coloni- zation and development proved impotent in the end.

Many years later than the Spaniards — not until the seventeenth century — came the French, adventurous, impelled by pride of country, desirous of territory and of trade, but like the Spaniards lacking the colonizing power of the race which finally dominated Louisiana.

CHAPTER II THE FKE^CH IN LOUISIANA

Nicollet's early expeditions. Saint Lusson claims the West for France. Marquette and Joliet explore the upper Missis- sippi. La Salle descends to the mouth. The French claim to Louisiana. Tonty and other pioneers. The founders of New Orleans. The search for a way to the western ocean. Le Sueur and other explorers. The Verendryes see the Rocky Mountains.

It was nearly a century after the disastrous end of De Soto's journey and the return of Coronado's expedition before the first repre- sentative of the New France, which was press- ing up the St. Lawrence, reached a tributary of the Mississippi. This was Jean Nicollet, a French interpreter of Three Rivers, whose journey westward as far as Green Bay and the Wisconsin River about 1634 x was due to tales of a strange people, who, it was held, might be the Chinese. This Oriental myth, which

1 As to the question of date see Winsor, Vol. IV, p. 304.

22 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

persisted so long, was no1 shattered by Nicol- let's discovery thai these "Orientals" were recall}- Winnebago Indians. He returned be- lieving that the Wisconsin River, which he claimed 1 to have reached and descended for a distance, had borne him within three days' journey of the sea.

Tales of the great river, the " Mesipi" of the Sioux, were brought back by adventurous French traders and priests in the years that followed Nicollet's quest. " Through what regions did it flow?" In Parkman's eloquent words, "Whither would it lead them, — to the South Sea or the Sea of Virginia, to Mexico, Japan or China ? The problem was soon to be solved and the mystery revealed."

Of the gallant French explorers who first penetrated the interior of our country, one of the bravest and deservedly most famous was Robert Cavelier, born at Rouen in lG4o and

1 C. W. Butterfield's -History of Discovery by Jean Nicollet," etc. (Cincinnati, 1881), indicates that Nicollet did not descend the Wisconsin. He was, however, the first white man to reach Green Bay.

THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA

best known as La Salle. At the age of twenty- three he came to Canada. He became seignior of an estate near Montreal; but ambition, love of adventure, an ardor for discovery and con- quest soon led him to the ex- ploration of the unknown West. It seems certain that in 1669 he journeyed from Lake Erie to a branch of the Ohio and de- scended at least as far as the falls at Louis- ville. But a more glorious journey of dis- covery was yet to come.

At nearly the same time Jean Talon, intendant of Canada, was making the first formal move in the great game which was to checkmate England and Spain by a French control of the interior that would confine

La Salle

24 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

England t<> the eastern Beaboard and bold tin- Spaniards at ba^ in the south ami southwest.

It was with this in view that in J('»7<> be ordered Daumonl de Saint Lusson to Lake Superior to take possession of the interior. It was early in May that the French soldiers and priests assembled on a hill near the fool of the Satdt Sainte Marie, surrounded hy wondering Indians, who watched them raise a cross and place beside it a post bearing the arms of France. All the known country of the Great Lakes, all the contiguous countries discovered and undiscovered, " bounded on the one side by the seas of the North and of the West, and on the other by the South Sea," were claimed by Saint Lusson, sword in hand. as the possessions of "the most High, Mighty and Redoubted Monarch. Louis. Fourteenth of th.it name. Most Christian King of France and of Navarre."

Such was the proud claim of France cover- ing the valley of the Mississippi and the coun- try to the wesl ; but of the geography of much of the western territory the French Lad little

THE FRENCH IX LOUISIANA

more knowledge than the Spaniards in 1493 when the bnll of Pope Alexander VI divided the Western World between the Spaniards and Portuguese. Of the many French soldiers, priests, traders, and adventurers associated with the early history of the Louisiana territory, the most famous are Father Mar- quette and the La Salle whom we have met at the outset of his career. It was

Louis XIV, King of France

in 1673, sixty-five years after Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec, that Louis Joliet, an agent of Count Frontenac, governor of New France, or Canada, and Father Marquette, a Jesuit priest of singular devoutness and

26 LOUISIANA PUBCHASE

unflinching courage, were commissioned to discover the greal river which had proved so elusive, — the Mississippi. From Mackinaw they journeyed to Green Bay and entered Fox River. With the aid of Indian guides they found their way to a portage which broughl them to the Wisconsin River. "They bade farewell to the waters that (lowed to the

St. Lawrence, and committed 1 hemsel ves to the current that

A i rOGB uii or Jollikt,

OB JOLIET as THE NAME W 3, S tO b G3) 1*

18 ™ X,M 8PELtED them, they knew not whither, — perhaps to the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps to the South Sea, or the Gulf of California." l

On June 17 they reached the present site of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and there before them si retched the stream which was the object of their quest. Day after day, in spite of strange and terrifying adventures, they kept their way

1 Parkman, " La Salle and the Discovery of the Greal West"

Fatheb Marquette

(From Trentanove's statue in the Capitol at Washington)

This i- an ideal figure. In 1897 a painting was discovered in Montreal which

is claimed to be a portrait.

LOUISIANA PUECHASE

Waters" had been traversed by a white man. On April 9, on the shore near the mouth, he

k ,-i*wk^^ .1."'

La Salle at tiik Moitii of the Mississippi

erected a column bearing the arms of France and an inscription, and took possession of "thifl

THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA 29

country of Louisiana " from " the mouth of the great river St. Louis, otherwise called the Ohio, ... as also along the river Colbert, 1 or Mississippi, and the rivers which discharge themselves thereinto, from its source ... as far as its mouth. ..."

But after this triumph came a dangerous ill- ness which kept him a prisoner at the Chicka- saw Bluffs, while his faith- ful follower Tonty was dispatched to Michilli- mackinac 2 with tidings of his success. La Salle

Autograph of Tonty

returned to France and

was finally, in 1684, enabled to set sail for the

1 A short-lived name given in honor of the minister of finance of Louis XIV.

2 The name was applied generally by the French to the region about the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The island of Mackinac to the east was an early military post, and was also the first site of the mission of St. Ignace, afterwards transferred to the present site of St. Ignace on the mainland north of the straits, where Father Marquette was finally interred a year after his death in 1G75 near the present site of Ludington, Michigan. A century later the English built a fort at the present site of Mackinaw City, south of the straits.

;)0 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

mouth of the Mississippi with a force which was to build fortifications, establish a colony, and hold the country against the Spanish. Through an error they Landed at Matagorda

Bay, in Texas, and there followed a squalid period of privation, suffering, and discontent. culminating in a conspiracy of La Salle's fol- lowers and the assassination of this brave explorer in 1687.

Several of those who served with La Salle made their mark in the early annals of the west . Joutel and Tonty, his loyal lieutenants, have left valuable records of adventurous ex- plorations. Another less heroic figure was Father Hennepin, the discoverer of the Falls of St. Anthony at Minneapolis, who for a time accompanied La Salle. But Father Hennepin, unhappily, was romancer as well as historian.

To Pierre Le Sueur is due the credit of a journey in 1700 from the mouth of the Mis- sissippi t<> the country of the Sioux, in the presenl state of Minnesota, and a return down the river. This journey was made in a profit- less search for furs and mineral wealth. In the

THE FRENCH IN LOUISIANA 31

same year Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville planned an expedition to the upper Missouri, lured by the hope of a western passage down some river to the western sea. In 1717 Hubert urged a similar plan upon the French Council of Marine. 1 The belief in the myth of the northwest pass- age 2 to the Orient was waning, but there was still faith, not wholly unfounded, in a nearly continuous river route to the western ocean, and, failing this, it was believed that a way could be made by land.

1 In 1704 Bienville reported that over one hundred Canadians were scattered along the Mississippi and Mis- souri. In 1705 a Canadian named Laurain claimed to have ascended the Missouri, and in 1708 Nicolas de la Salle proposed a plan like those of Iberville and Hubert. In 1719 Du Tisne ascended the Missouri above Grand River. Afterward he crossed the state of Missouri and reached the Indians on the Osage River. The early eighteenth-century explorations of Saint Denis, La Harpe, Bourgmont, and the brothers Mallet, for the most part in the southern half of the Louisiana territory, in Texas, and even New Mexico, helped, in the language of Parkman ("A Half Century of Conflict "), " to unveil the remote southwest."

2 This idea represented a phase of the long search for a northwest passage to the Orient, which is perhaps most closely identified in the popular mind with the early attempts in the region of Hudson Bay and in the Arctic.

32 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Qnder the regency of the Duke of Orleans, in 17 L6, three posts were planned between Lake Superior and Lake Winnipeg to serve as bases of supplies for an overland expedi- tion, and one was actually built at the mouth of the river Kaministiguia on the nortb shore of Lake Superior. Bui nothing more wasdone, and three years later Charlevoix, the Jesuit his- torian y>( early Canada, was ordered to visit the country and report upon a passage to the west- ern sea. His report was that the Pacific prob- ably lay just to the west of the country of the Sioux. One plan which he advocated was the ascenl of the Missouri. " the source of which is certainly not far from the sea."

[berville and Charlevoix had pointed to the Missouri as the route nearly a century before the journey of Lewis and Clark. Then came the Yerendryes, who preceded the Americans almost to the Rocky Mountains.

La Verendrye the elder, a French soldier, explorer, and trader, built forts at the Lake of the Woods, on the Bite of Winnipeg, and at the mouth of the Saskatchewan. In the course

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CHAPTER III

THE FRENCH IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

The founding of New Orleans. Extent of French possessions. The beginnings of St. Louis. The gateway of Louisiana. Downfall of French power. Louisiana ceded to Spain. American and English explorations. Oregon not included in Louisiana.

While French explorers and traders were following the northern rivers, signs of genu- ine colonization began to appeal- in the south. At the beginning of the eighteenth century three countries maintained conflicting claims to the valley of the Mississippi. Spain held Florida and based her claim to the westward on De Soto's discovery of the great river. France held the upper waters, and La Salle and others had descended the river to its mouth and asserted possession. The char- ters of some of the English colonies on the

FRENCH IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 35

seaboard embodied sweeping claims to terri- tory from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

In spite of the doubts of King Louis XIV of France as to the value of the new coun- try, he was finally persuaded to sanction the founding of a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. This was largely due to the enthusiasm of a gallant Canadian, Pierre

Autograph of Le Moyne d'Iberville

Le Moyne d'Iberville, who sailed from France with an armed expedition in 1698. The first colony was established the year following at Biloxi, upon the Gulf of Mexico, within the present limits of Mississippi, but its checkered career was ended in 1718, when Bienville d'Iberville, a brother of Le Moyne, founded the city of New Orleans.

The early years of the French colonists were not prosperous. In an effort to make the colony a source of income rather than

;;,; LOUISIANA PURCHASE

expense, the king in 171- gave to Antoine Crozat an exclusive right to trade in thai quarter. The Eailureof this plan resulted in its

abandonment in 1 7 1 7. and the Company of the West, bet I er known as the Missis- sippi < lompany, was formed, which succeeded to Crozat's rights.

Under the leadership of the notorious John Law. who for a time was a financial mag- nate in France, the company issued an unlim- ited amount of paper money without adequate security. This was done in part to further the interests of the company in the Mississippi

A R \iii "i I'.n s\ iii.i:

Aii' ",k i in "i John Law

valley: hut after a period of wild excitement and speculation in Prance it was found that the paper money could not be exchanged for coin or solid property, and in 1721 there followed

FRENCH IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 37

collapse, failure, and ruin. This was the end of what is known as the Mississippi Bubble.

In spite of the dismay and suffering caused by this failure, the growth of the colony was quickened during this era of speculation by enforced emigration from France,' since it was

« I.esjti-svu i/iuuHiers tt'sjfoiiryeut'jt jpiiL m/mu\ir ¦ tHwi.jiaulnub trots jiiois do I'atateo' vu Ic ik-bonlcmeitl tlmeiiii.r dujfatne i/riJiii'.r A- ~.i iiuir.ej<u,/itnti.X.ijuin/Jtcoiait-Jart)lUe. it Jill* unr Tcve'e et f«ic ficrriivr mi /S*H> ft aulsrs /ir'ninfmini/.r.n

oLoji/Jivrts.

New Orleans in 1719

necessary to settle and develop the new lands as quickly as possible. These troubles, with attacks by the Indians, illness, and lack of proper supplies, clouded the early years of French settlement in Louisiana; but the French remained, and later the colony began to enjoy prosperity.

38 LOUISIANA PUECHASE

Thus by discovery, exploration (and to some extent by colonization), and by the building of forts on the north and east, the French held the Mississippi valley, together with the vaguely known empire to the west. The word " colonization " must be accepted with limita- tions, for neither the French nor the Spanish were led by the motives which caused the Eng- lish settlers to regard the new country as a permanent home and to develop it for the future as well as for the present. But while New Orleans was struggling through its early years at the mouth of the Mississippi, the French trappers and traders were descending the river from the north.

In 1762 M. d'Abbadie, the French director general of Louisiana, granted to Pierre Laclede, the head of a company of merchants, the exclusive right to trade with the Indians on the Missouri. Two years later this company founded the city of St. Louis, selecting its present site for the erection of a house and four stores. This was the beginning of the city, which for practically a century remained

FRENCH IX EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 39

the commercial center of the Louisiana terri- tory. It was here that the American fur trade had its headquarters, and up to nearly the middle of the nineteenth century the traffic in furs was the chief industry of the Louisiana territory. 1 As time went on the commerce of the Southwest and of the great river passed in swelling volume through St. Louis, the gateway of the \^ West ; but all this was then in th future. Even before St. Louis was founded a change had come in the fortunes of France. The long warfare between the French and English in North America had culminated, and the rule of France on this continent was ended forever.

1 The " History of the American Fur Trade," and the " History of Early Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River," by Captain Hiram M. Chittenden, U.S.A., are indis- pensable to students of the early nineteenth-century history of the West.

The Koyal Flag of France

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

In 17"» ( .t the English (Jeneral Wolfe defeated the French ( reneral Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham, under the walls of Quebec. Four years later, in 176o. Fiance ceded to England her American possessions east of the Missis- sippi, with the exception of New Orleans. 1 But New Orleans and the French possessions west of the Missis- sippi, — that is, the country of the Louisiana Purchase, — were secretly ceded to Spain by King Louis XV of France, who desired to cement a Spanish alliance.

In 1768 the first Spanish governor appeared at New Orleans, and northward from the sea

Montcalm

1 In the same year Spain transferred Florida to England in exchange for Havana, but Spain received Florida back in 178:3.

FRENCH IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 41

along the west bank of the Mississippi, four- teen hundred miles, the Spanish authority prevailed. All the traffic down the Missis- sippi from the valley of the Ohio or else- where must pass under the Spanish flag.

The American Revolution was at this time close at hand. Then there came the critical period of the adoption of the Constitution and the organization of the government of the United States, so that the attention of the American people was occupied elsewhere. For nearly forty years the Spaniards, who had been the first to penetrate the Louisiana Purchase, held full possession, although, as we shall see, France presently undertook to regain the coun- try, and with the growth of the United States west of the Alleghenies the American pressure began to strain the arbitrary boundaries.

The Spaniards made no prolonged explora- tions to the north, but Americans and English began to investigate the unknown and remote west. Jonathan Carver, a native of New York and an officer in the war with France, sug- gested an attempt to cross the northwest

[2 LOUISIANA IMi;< HASE

portion of America by land. This was looked upon as visionary, bu1 in L766 Carver under- took an exploring expedition in winch he

Followed tlif Minnesota River for sonic two hundred miles. The interesl of this journey to us lies in the fact that Carver heard much

tVoin the Indians regarding the " Shining Moun- tains," as the Rocky Mountains were termed, and that he learned of the Oregon, or " River of the West/ 5 which is now the Columbia. It occurred to him that by ascending the Mis- souri it might he possible to cross To the head waters of the Columbia. But official indiffer- ence prevented the attempt. This idea was carried out nearly forty years afterward by Lewis and Clark. Twenty-five years later a Scotchman, Alexander Mackenzie, crossed the continent to the Pacific, but his route lay farther north, through what is now Manitoba and British Columbia.

On the Pacific coast the Spaniards held California, but they knew r little of the North- west. This was reached by the famous ex- plorer, Captain Cook, who visited Alaska in

FRENCH IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 43

1778. Vancouver, another English explorer, sailed by the mouth of the Columbia without entering it ; this was left for American enter- prise. In 1787 some Boston merchants sent Captain Robert Gray in the sloop Washington and Captain John Kendrick in the ship Colum- bia around Cape Horn to the northwest coast to trade for furs, which were to be exchanged for silk and tea in China. So far as Gray was concerned the journey was successful, and after exchanging ships with Kendrick, Gray returned by way of China in the Columbia, which was the first ship to circumnavigate the globe under the American flag. On this first voy- age Gray nearly lost his ship on the bar of an unknown stream, probably the Columbia. On his second voyage, in 1792, he entered and named the great river. His discovery was earlier than that of Vancouver and formed the basis of the subsequent claim to Oregon urged by the United States against Great Britain. 1 Gray was followed by other

1 H. H. Bancroft argues for the discovery of the Colum- bia by Heceta in 1775, but Gray's discovery is generally

I i LOUISIANA PURCHASE

traders, and in a few years a regular trading post was established near the mouth of the Columbia.

While a knowledge of these northwestern explorations is desirable, it should be under- stood that Oregon, as the northwest beyond the Rocky Mountains was called, was not in- cluded in the Louisiana Purchase. The Loui- siana Purchase extended only to the Rocky Mountains, but, as it was important to find a way across and to explore the Columbia to the sea, the task of finding a route to the Pacific was included in the instructions to Lewis and Clark.

accepted. The rival claims of Gray and Vancouver and their relation to the Oregon question are not essential here.

CHAPTER IV THE AMERICAN WESTWARD MOVEMENT

After the long periods of desultory Span- ish exploration, of French trading expeditions and attempts at military and commercial occupation which have been sketched in the preceding chapters, the history of Louisiana shows the influence of Americans bent upon actual settlement of the country to the west- ward of the Alleghenies. 1 The downfall of

1 McMaster's " History of the People of the United States," Vol. II, and Roosevelt's "Winning of the West" give picturesque accounts of the pioneers and the significance of their movement. Hinsdale's " The Old Northwest," Win- sor's "The Mississippi Basin (1697-1763)" and "The West- ward Movement (1763-1798) " may be consulted with profit.

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

French power on this continenl brought the beginning of another era in the history of Louisiana. Bui the operation of the forces represented in the American westward j Bure was delayed, first by the Revolution, and then by the fierce opposition of the south- west era and north- western Indian tribes who fought to hold the Middle West. In spite of all obstacles the way was opened by the rifles of the soldiers and frontiers- men who followed George Rogers Clark, A nth ony Wayne, and other leaders in the winning of the West. Close behind them came a swelling tide of migration across the Alleghenies. The sound of the axes and rifles of the American pioneers along the eastern trib- utaries of the Mississippi marked the opening of a new epoch in the history of the West.

Geobge Rogers Clark

George Rogers Clark's Expedition to capture

VlNCENNES IN 1779

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

AMEBIC AN WESTWAED MOVEMENT 47

Up to the end of the Revolution the pos- session of Louisiana territory by one foreign power or another had not touched Ameri- cans closely. But now the conditions were changed. In the western migra- tion of the later eighteenth century and the demands of these frontiersmen for a free route to the seaboard lay influences which finally resulted in the acquisition of Louisiana. 1

1 " In 1781 Pittsburg numbered one hundred dwellings and almost one thousand inhabitants. It was the centring point of emigrants to the West, and from it the travellers were carried in keel-boats, in Kentucky flat-boats, and Indian pirogues down the waters of the Ohio, ... to the filthy and squalid settlements at the falls of the Ohio, or on to the shores of the Mississippi, where La Clede, twenty years earlier, had laid the foundations of St. Louis. . . . The boat was at every moment likely to become entangled in the branches of the trees that skirted the river, or be fired into by the Indians who lurked in the woods. The cabin was therefore low, . . . and lined with blankets and with

Anthony Waynk

48 LOT isi A N A I'l i;< HASE

The growth of this movement is shown by the returns of the census for Kentucky, Ten- nessee, and the Northwest Territory, which then represented our West. In 17 ( ."i there were 73,677 people in Kentucky, and in 1800 there were 220,955. Tennessee showed 35,691 people in 1790, and L05,602 in L800. The census of 1790 gives no population for Ohio and Indiana territories, hut ten years later there were 44,078. Before these stalwart pioneers the forests were swepl aside to make room for farms. Rude log cabins were built with chimneys' of logs plastered with mud. The settlers made their simple furniture with their own tools. Their hunting shirts and trousers were of homemade linsey, a mixture of linen and wool, and of deerskin. Most of their food was gained by their rifles and their traps. Corn was pounded or ground in rude

beds to guard the inmates from Indian bullets. From St. Louis rude boats and rafts floated down the river to Natchez and \>'\v Orleans. . . . The current was bo rapid that it seemed hopeless to attempl :i return. The boats wen- therefore hastily pu1 together and sold at New Orleans as lumber." — McMaster's HistoryyVol. I. pp. 69-70.

AMERICAN WESTWARD MOVEMENT 49

stone mortars to make meal. But the vigor and energy of these hardy pioneers soon bet- tered their condition. They began to raise tobacco and wheat and to cure hams and bacon. Then came the question of trade. 1

How could they exchange these products for money or for goods of which they stood in need ? There was no market at hand. The railroad was yet in the future. To the east- ward lay the Alleghenies and a long and difficult journey by land impossible for their purposes. Their easiest and cheapest route to a market was by water, and close at hand were the Ohio and other rivers flowing to the

1 Certain economic phases of this pioneer life have been summarized as follows : " Currency was very scarce and was replaced by articles of general value, such as skins and jugs of whiskey. Cowbells were also such a necessity that they became an acceptable tender. Small currency was scarce, and a silver dollar was often cut into half dollars or quarters with an axe or chisel. . . . Salt was worth six cents a pound. Beef sold at four cents a pound and deer meat at three. . . . Corn was sold at fifty cents a bushel. A single log cabin could be built for $150. Feather beds were a great luxury and readily brought six dollars each. The family washing- was done on the river bank." — Sparks's " Expansion of the American People."

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Mississippi, and offering a tempting water

way to New Orleans and the sea. But New

Orients was held by the Spaniards. Their laws and customs regulations were arbitrary;

A Flatboat oh THE ( Mini

their business methods were antiquated, com- plicated, and irksome. Between their medi- aeval rule and the free and impatient spirit of the pioneers there was instant conflict. In the early nineties the Spanish authorities

AMERICAN WESTWARD MOVEMENT 51

closed navigation and refused to grant the right to deposit goods at New Orleans to await the arrival of trading vessels. This right was essential for the men who journeyed down the great river in their " broad-horns," or rude homemade boats.

A crisis seemed at hand in 1795, but it was averted by the Spanish minister of state, Manuel Godoy, known as the " Prince of Peace," * who more than once had proved his friendly feeling for the United States. In 1795 a treaty was signed, which granted the right of deposit, with certain minor limita- tions, for three years. Thus an outbreak was averted. The way to a market was kept open during the three years, and thereafter until 1802. Then the Spaniards withdrew the right of deposit, the West rose in pro- test, and therein lay a potent motive for the

1 This remarkable title was derived from Godoy's negoti- ation of the treaty of Basel with France in 1795. His per- sonal character was open to reproach, but in his attitude toward France and toward American interests at the mouth of the Mississippi he rendered valuable aid to the United States.

52 LOUISIAE \ PURCHASE

acquisition of ai Leasl the mouth of the Mis- sissippi. Bui tin' immediate demand of these American settlers was no1 for Louisiana, hut simply for an open seaport, or al most the possession of the river's mouth.

On the south, therefore, the Americans were shut in by Spain. In these days, when we have seen Spain losing the very last of her holdings in the Western Hemisphere, it is hard to realize the extent of her sway a little more than a century ago. A hun- dred years before our war with Spain the Spaniards held Texas, Mexico, and the Flori- das, not to mention the West Indies and all of Central and South America except Brazil. They controlled the ports of Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans. The Spanish possessions ran from Fernandina to Natchez, and then north on the west bank of the Mississippi to the Lake of the Woods. Above New Orleans, as Ear as Point Couple, there were planta- tions and villages. North of Point Couple the west bank of the river was. with few exceptions, a wilderness.

AMERICAN WESTWARD MOVEMENT 53

The older part of New Orleans, 1 which was laid out under Bienville by the Sieur La Blonde de la Tour, was inclosed by ramparts. Most of the streets retained their French names. Outside the ramparts dwelt a motley colony of foreigners and Americans. Many of the latter were traders who had floated down the river in clumsy boats, bringing produce for sale or shipment. The levee was crowded with shipping and piled high with goods. Spanish officers, regidores, alcaldes, and syn- dics, ruled a city which offered a most pictur- esque mingling of Spanish, French, Creole, foreign, and American types. But while all this was undoubtedly picturesque, the mediae- val customs of the Spaniards, and their many rules and taxes, were galling to the active and impatient Americans.

1 McMaster, Vol. Ill, chap, xiv, gives a picturesque de- scription of Spanish New Orleans.

CHAPTER V LOUISIANA'S CRITICAL PERIOD

If Spanish control of the outlet of our western trade was bad, a French rule under the aggressive Napoleon would have been worse, and this began to appear as a possi- bility. The pride of the French had been hurt by their cession of Louisiana to Spain. So strong was this feeling that various efforts were made by French ministers to regain the lost territory. To the government of the United States Louisiana became in the last decade of the eighteenth century a source of constant anxiety. From the beginning of this decade to the consummation of the

LOUISIANA'S CRITICAL PEEIOD 55

purchase in 1803 was the most critical period in the varied history of Louisiana. Within our borders there was the expansion of a race not to be held in check. Without, the efforts of three great powers were concerned at vari- ous times with the possession of Louisiana. A mere outline of these efforts will illustrate the perils of the situation.

In 1790, wdien England and Spain were at variance, the English minister William Pitt contemplated a seizure of the Floridas and Lou- isiana, which Washing- ton, and Jefferson, then

x ,^-C n 4- « -t- s> Autograph of Genet

secretary oi state,

rightly viewed as a menace to the future of

the United States. Fortunately the danger

passed, but only to be succeeded by a new

peril.

France, eager to recover Louisiana, sent Genet as her minister to the United States in 1793 with a proposition for an alliance which should aim at the wresting of Canada from England and the seizure of Louisiana

e P z?

5ti LOUISIANA PUKCHASE

and the Floridas from Spain. When this "entangling foreign alliance" was declined, Genet, acting under secret instructions from his government, instigated movements in the Carolinas and Georgia to seize the Floridas, and in Kentucky to descend upon New Orleans. The frontiersmen were ready, I mt the progress of the French Revolution and the request of our government for Genet's recall prevented a frontier revolt against Spanish occupation which might have had results of lasting consequence.

The plottings of Genet to wrest Louisiana from Spain were followed by France's attempt to secure Louisiana through the treaty of Basel, which closed her war with Spain. In 1796, through the French minister to Spain, another effort was made in the series, which resulted in success in 1800. By 1797 there were added complications. The Spanish minister at Wash- ington was expressing apprehensions of an invasion of upper Louisiana by the English. The English minister Liston denied the charge, but admitted that there had been

LOUISIANA'S CRITICAL PERIOD 57

some discussion of an invasion of Louisiana from the south. As a matter of fact, Senator Blount of Tennessee was implicated in this plot and was expelled from the Senate. 1

In the following year Talleyrand broached his plan of a great colonial French empire in his formal proposition to Spain to exchange Louisiana for a principality to be made up of the papal legations and the duchy of Parma. This ambitious scheme was coupled with a generally in- imical attitude * • /*> • ~^ r^ <<ty ^x^^J on the part of

x Autograph of Talleyrand

France, which

led to open hostilities on the sea between the United States and France in 1798-1799. England, stirred by the growing aggressive- ness of France, contemplated cooperation with the United States in the prevention of the transfer of Louisiana to France.

1 The Spanish delay, 1795-1799, in removing troops from Walnut Hills, Chickasaw Bluff, and other river posts according to the treaty, irritated our West and influenced the Blount conspiracy.

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Next, in 1800. came the secret treaty of retrocession by which Louisiana was to be returned to France, and in L802 we find an English alliance again considered as a possible means of defense against French aggression. 1 In addition to these menaces of foreign inter- ference we must bear in mind the pressure exercised at home by frontier settlers, sorely tried by Spanish exactions, and none too patient or law-abiding at the best. Tins pressure made the outcome inevitable. 2 The various parts which the question played in our own politics need not be dwelt upon in detail, but it contained possibilities not only

1 »From the moment that France takes New Orleans we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation."

— Jefferson to Livingston.

2 " The winning of Louisiana was due to no one man, and least of all to any statesman or set of statesmen. It followed inevitably upon the great westward thrust of the settler folk,

— a thrust which was delivered Mindly, but which no rival race could parry until it was stopped by the ocean itself."

The fourth volume of Theodore Roosevelt's "Winning of the West," from which thi> extracl was taken, was pub- lished in 1896, when the author could not foresee that the "westward thrust" of Americans was not to be stopped even by the ocean.

LOUISIANA'S CEITICAL PERIOD 59

of most serious foreign embroilments but also of dangerous internal dissensions.

Of all these attempts upon Louisiana the most dangerous, and the most important as regards their unlooked-for outcome, were the efforts of France made through Talleyrand, who became minister of foreign affairs for the French Directory in 1797.

In the following year Talleyrand wrote the French minister at Madrid that the Floridas and Louisiana should be returned to France in order that the power of America might be bounded by the limits set by France and Spain. In 1800 Napoleon, then First Con- sul, endeavored again to secure Louisiana from Spain. When, on October 1, 1800, he signed the convention or agreement between France and the United States which closed the little war between the two countries, Napoleon at the same time drew up a secret treaty with Spain, providing that Loui- siana should be given back to France. All knowledge of this was carefully kept from the world. Napoleon intended that nothing

60 LOl I > I A N A PURCHASE

should be known of his plan until he was ready to land a force of t coops at New Orleans. For this purpose the French portion of the island of San Domingo would be a

most important base of operations.

But these plans were checked by a series of events which led even Napoleon to change his purpose. The influence of the Spanish min- ister Godoy kept King Carlos IV of Spain from signing the treaty with France until the autumn of 1802. In San Domingo there began in 1791 among the colored population an era of bloodshed which included civil war, massacre, and warfare against Spain and France, the powers which claimed control of the island. Out of this time of carnage and revolt rose the historic figure of Toussaint L'Ouverture. 1

lu The story of Toussaint L'Ouverture has been told almost as often as that of Napoleon, bul not in connection with the history of the United States, although Ton-saint exercised on their history an influence as decisive as that of any European ruler. His fate placed him at a point where Bonaparte needed absolute control. San Domingo was the only center from which the measures needed for

LOUISIANA'S CRITICAL PERIOD 61

One of the most curious of the many strange events associated with Louisiana is that Toussaint L'Ouverture, born a slave in the French part of San Domingo, should have done so much to thwart the ambition of Napo- leon for a colonial empire. In 1794, after a period of civil war and anarchy in the island, the National Assembly of France abolished

Autograph of Toussaint L'Ouverture

v/u^ci^y

slavery, and the negroes, led by Toussaint, drove the Spaniards from the portion of the island which they held. He became the actual ruler, although San Domingo was nominally a colony of France. But he distrusted France and with reason, for Napoleon in spite of friendly

rebuilding the French colonial systems could radiate. Before Bonaparte could reach Louisiana he was obliged to crush the power of Toussaint." — "History of the United States," by Henry Adams, Vol. I, p. 378.

62 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

promises intended fco crush tin* i < 1 * • «¦ i <>l free- dom cherished by Toussainl and his followers.

When in L798 the United States became involved with France, and commercial rela- tions were suspended, Toussainl declared his independence and assured the United States that lie would safeguard trade if it were re- newed. His soldiers cooperated with the American fleet at the siege of Jacmel, a port of San Domingo. But our half-war with France came to an end. In Europe the treaty of Amiens closed the war between France and England, and then Napoleon was free to crush Toussaint.

In 1802 Napoleon sent General Leclerc with a great fleet and army to reconquer and occupy the island. Although Toussaint had aided us against France, the United States now made no offer of intervention in his behalf. The negroes fought desperately against the French, but they were overmatched. Toussaint sur- rendered and was carried to France, where he died in prison. There are grewsome pages in the history of that insurrection, but

LOUISIANA'S CRITICAL PERIOD 63

Toussaint's war for liberty will always touch the sympathies of American readers.

The victory of the French in San Domingo was dearly bought. Napoleon's purpose in the summer of 1802 was u to take possession of Louisiana in the shortest time possible." But Toussaint's rebellion and the ravages of yellow fever among the French troops involved delay and appalling loss. Time brought a change of purpose, and Napoleon's veterans never landed to occupy Louisiana and face the frontiersmen and soldiers of the United States.

CHAPTER VI

LOUISIANA AN ACTIVE ISSUE

The East slow to see the facts. Foresight of Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton. A critical period. Spanish exactions. The river closed. Popular agitation. The West ready for war. Jefferson resolves to buy New Orleans and the Floridas. Monroe appointed commissioner. Liv- ingston's work in Paris. Talleyrand's startling proposi- tion. How Napoleon made his purpose known. A family quarrel in a bath-room.

Although the western expansion of Ameri- cans after the Revolution had made control of the Mississippi a question of swiftly increas- ing consequence, this had become. apparent but slowly to the people of the East. A few states- men saw the difficulties which were realized so forcibly by the pioneers who were pushing the frontier to the west. As early as 1782, while the negotiations were in progress which resulted in the establishment of peace with England by the Treaty of Paris the following

LOUISIANA AN ACTIVE ISSUE

year, Franklin wrote to Jay that to part with the Mississippi were as if one should sell his street door. 1 In 1790 Washington declared that " we must have and certainly shall have the full navigation of the Mississippi." It was a necessity pointed out in the same year by Jefferson when secretary of state. In 1799 Alexan- der Hamilton, even then in ad- vance of his time, argued that we should possess not only the Floridas but the whole of Louisiana. Yet popular sentiment in the East was slow to grasp the practical importance of an issue which became so acute

Alexander Hamilton

1 The many complications with France and Spain as well as England which confronted the American Peace Commission are described in Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History," Vol. VII, chap. ii.

66 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

in the Wesl as early as L793 that Kentuck- ians, as we have seen, advocated a resort to force and were ready to follow the counsels of ( renet.

In the East the Mississippi question was utilized by the Federalists in the first year of the century as political capital. Their bitter opposition to Jefferson, who became President on March 4, 1801, led them to exult in the dilemma which seemed forced upon him the following year. On the one hand there was an increasing possibility of war with France ; on the other, if the government failed to sup- port the demands of the West and South, there was a prospect of their secession and the dis- solution of the Union. Jefferson's supporters, the Republicans, argued for negotiation rather than war. They pointed to the success of Washington's diplomacy in averting another war with England in 1704, and John Adams's avoidance of a general war with France. It was a situation in which an impetuous chief executive might have precipitated a war. Jefferson was emphatically a man of peace.

LOUISIANA AX ACTIVE ISSUE 67

When Congress met in December, 1802, the President's annual message was awaited with intense eagerness ; but it was absolutely pacific. This was not due to indifference. Jefferson had proved his interest in the West. It was in January, 1802, that his minister to France, Eobert R. Livingston, learned of the secret treaty by which Spain retroceded Louisiana to France, a cession at first denied by Talley- y rand. In May, Madison, /^Jl/^MJtK Jefferson's secretary of *

„±~i~ ,„ 'j.' t • Livingston's Autograph

state, was writing to Liv- ingston regarding the menace of the cession, and transmitting Jefferson's instructions for the acquisition from Spain of New Orleans and the territory east of the Mississippi in case the cession to France had not been accomplished. In Paris Livingston followed closely the de- velopment of Napoleon's plans and labored to find a way of carrying out his instructions. In Washington Jefferson's peaceful and cautious policy influenced Congress at the outset to leave matters in his hands. But in the West

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

and in the South peace was unknown. The news of the retrocession of Louisiana and the suspension of the right of deposit for Ameri- can goods at New Orleans by the Spanish in- tendant, Morales, brought an outbreak which

>-_--

James Monroe

compelled recognition. Remonstrances and memorials were circulated through the West. State legislatures called for action. Troops were demanded to oppose the first attempt

LOUISIANA AX ACTIVE ISSUE 69

of the French, to land at New Orleans. The West and the South clamored for freedom of trade, even at the cost of war.

It became inevitable that the government should take action. Jefferson appointed James Monroe as a special envoy to Paris with power to buy New Orleans and the Floridas for $2,000,000. 1 Here was the American begin- ning of the negotiations, which were intended to effect only the purchase of New Orleans and the Floridas. 2 It is true, however, that the

1 Jan 11, 1803. Gentlemen of the Senate :

. . . While my confidence in our minister plenipotentiary at Paris is entire & undiminished, I still think that these objects might be promoted by joining with him a person sent from here directly. . . .

1 therefore nominate Robert R. Livingston to be minister plenipotentiary, & James Monroe to be minister extraordi- nary & plenipotentiary, with full powers to both ... or to either ... to enter into a treaty or convention . . . for the purpose of enlarging & more effectually securing our rights & interests in the river Mississippi & in the territories east- ward thereof. ... Th Jefferson

(State Papers. For. Rel., Vol. II, p. 475.)

2 It was not then known that France had acquired only Louisiana.

71) LOUISIANA PURCHASE

farsighted Livingston proposed that France should cede the Louisiana territory above the Arkansas River, but this was an idea of his own. and the instructions given by Jefferson were narrowly limited, as we have seen. 1

The earnestness and ability with which Livingston labored in Paris to secure the Floridas and New Orleans and the free use of the Mississippi seemed to be poorly rewarded by the appointment of Monroe as a special commissioner to do practically what he was already trying to bring about. But the seri- ousness of the situation justified a special appointment, and it was Livingston after all who held the larger part in the negotiations. Meantime Livingston argued his case with Talleyrand, with Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's

1 Jefferson's views at this stage are shown in a letter \\ ritt.n to Monroe, January 13, 1803. " On the event of this mission depend the future destinies of the Republic. If we cannot by a purchase of the country, insure to ourselves a course of perpetual peace and friendship with all nations, then, us war cannol !»<¦ far distant it behooves us to be immediately preparing for that course, without however haste 1 1 i 1 1 •_; it ; and it may be necessary, on your failure on the Continent, t<> cross tin- Channel."

LOUISIANA AN ACTIVE ISSUE 71

brother, and with Barbe-Marbois, minister of the treasury. He boldly predicted a rupture with the United States in case France should occupy Louisiana and hold the mouth of the Mississippi and the Floridas.

For a long time his arguments seemed to carry little weight, but on April 11, 1803, Talleyrand met him with the startling propo- sition that the United States should buy the whole of Louisiana. This was not the plan of Jefferson; it was not the purpose of Living- ston. Napoleon himself, in his usual arbi- trary fashion, had changed his purpose and decided to offer the whole of the great Louisiana territory to the United States. 1

1 Disgust at the disastrous campaign in San Domingo, anger with Spain, a desire to be free for new campaigns in Europe, and a wish to be rid of the whole irritating subject of Louisiana are cited by Henry Adams as among the prob- able motives for Napoleon's change of mind. An essential motive was evidently due to the likelihood of a combina- tion of England and the United States against France in case he occupied Louisiana. The result might well have been the exhaustion of France and the downfall of Napo- leon long before \V T aterloo, with radical changes in European history and probably in our own.

72 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Livingston's description of this remarkable event is quoted from a letter to Madison. •*M. Talleyrand asked me this day when pressing the subject whether we wished to have the whole of Louisiana. I told him no; that our wishes extended only to New Orleans and the Floridas ; that the policy of France, however, should dictate (as I had shown in an official note) to give us the country above the river Arkansas, in order to place a barrier between them and Canada. He said that if they gave New Orleans the rest would be of little value, and that he would wish to know ' what we would give for the whole.' I told him it was a subject I had not thought of, but that I supposed we should not object to twenty millions [francs, — about $4,000,000] provided our citizens were paid. He said this was too low an offer and he would be glad if I would reflect upon it and tell him to-rnorrow. I told him that as Mr. Monroe would be in town in two days, I would delay my further offer until I had the pleasure of introducing him."

Napoleon as First Consul

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

A3TOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATION*.

LOUISIANA AX ACTIVE ISSUE 73

Leaving the American negotiations for a mo- ment, it is worth while to go behind the scenes. First, Napoleon confided his purpose to Talley- rand, and later, on April 10, to Marbois and another of his ministers. The next day, a few horns before Talleyrand met Livingston, Napo- leon summoned Marbois. In his usual peremp- tory fashion he exclaimed: "Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season ; I renounce Louisiana. It is not only New Orleans that I cede; it is the whole colony, without. reserve. I know the price of what I abandon, I have proved the importance I attach to this prov- ince, since my first diplomatic: act with Spain had the object of recovering it. I renounce it with the greatest regret; to attempt obsti- nately to retain it would be folly. I direct you to negotiate the affair. Have an inter- view this very day with Mr. Livingston." 1

But it was Talleyrand, as we have seen, and not Marbois, who a few hours later startled Livingston with this unexpected change.

1 For a full account of these negotiations see " History of the United States of America," by Henry Adams, Vol. II.

71 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

While the matter remained unsettled, there were not only the chances of discovery and opposition by Spain, and of irritation and change of plan on Napoleon's part, but there was also the pressure brought to bear by Napoleon's brothers, to prevent this sacrifice of French pride and possessions. His broth- ers Lucien and Joseph heard the news with astonishment and indignation. Summoning their courage they went to the Tuileries to protest, and were admitted to find the impe- rious ruler in his bath. Napoleon announced his purpose of selling Louisiana. " What do you think of it? " he asked Lucien. " I flatter myself," replied Lucien, "that the Chambers will not give their consent."

The First Consul retorted from his bath tub that he would do without their consent.

Joseph threatened to oppose him in the Chambers. He declared that they would all be punished by an indignant people. At this reply Napoleon lost his temper. "You are insolent!" he shouted, starting up, and then suddenly plunging back into his bath with

LOUISIANA AX ACTIVE ISSUE 75

a violence that sent the water flying into the faces of Lucien and Joseph. A servant who was present, frightened at the scene, fell fainting on the floor. Such was the stormy reception of Napoleon's decision in his own family. But he declared that his purpose was fixed in spite of the Constitution or the Chambers. And at the last Napoleon threat- ened Lucien, who lingered alone to maintain the argument, that if the latter undertook open opposition he would break him like the snuff- box which he hurled angrily upon the floor. And so the Napoleonic will prevailed. 1

It has been said that the disregard of legal authority and of the wishes of the French peo- ple involved in this arbitrary decision marked a turning point in Napoleon's career. His act has been called a betrayal of his country. Yet after this he became the Emperor of France, and the most powerful single figure of his time.

1 This amusing and yet serious bath-room scene is de- scribed in full in " Lucien Bonaparte et ses Memoires," and summarized by Henry Adams, and by Dr. J. K. Hosmer in the latter's " History of the Louisiana Purchase."

CHAPTER VII THE PURCHASE ARRANGED

It was on April 11 that Livingston was sur- prised by Talleyrand's offer of the whole of Louisiana. The next day Livingston, recov- ering from his astonishment, endeavored to arrange the matter definitely, but the wily Talleyrand delayed lest he should cheapen the bargain by seeming too eager. Livingston was anxious to carry the affair as far as pos- sible before Monroe took part.

After Monroe arrived, there followed a period of haggling over the price and terms. The price first mentioned on the French side was a hundred million francs ($20,000,000),

THE PUECHASE ARRANGED 77

with a provision that the United States should pay the claims of American citizens against France for depredations by French privateers, which amounted to twenty million francs ($4,000,000). Then Marbois, who presented this offer, dropped to eighty million francs ($16,000,000) for the territory and the claims. Finally, on April 29, the Americans agreed to Marbois's terms. The next day, April 30, their agreement was submitted to Napoleon. April 30 was adopted as the date of the treaty of cession and the convention regarding the payments, although the documents were not actually signed until a few days later. 1

One curious feature of this checkered history is that the exact boundaries of the purchased territory were unknown. The treaty simply described the province of Louisiana " with the

1 With this the work of the American negotiators was practically ended. Livingston resigned his post the next year and retired from public life ; but the rest of his days were full of a usefulness which included his encour- agement of Robert Fulton, the father of the steamboat. Monroe, continuing in public life, rose to the presidency of the United States.

7^ LOUISIANA PURCHASE

same extent "thai it had under Spain and ear- lier under France. The eastern boundary vraa

the Mississippi from its source to the parallel of thirty-one degrees ; but uo one knew where the source was, and the eastern boundary below thirty-one degrees was in question, although the American.- claimed the country as far as the Perdido River. 1 The western boundary was supposed to be the mountains, although little was known regarding them; and the northern limit was the ill-defined possessions of Great Britain.

What was bought, therefore, was a vast ex- panse of territory whose precise limits no one knew. Again, the Floridas were not mentioned in the treaty because they had not been ceded by Spain, although the acquisition of West Florida from the Mississippi to the river Per- dido was part of the original American plan. All that the commissioners obtained was a verbal promise from Napoleon to use his good offices with Spain in helping the United States to gain West Florida. The Americans

1 Now the boundary between Florida and Alabama.

THE PURCHASE ARRANGED 79

claimed West Florida as included in the sale under the French title. The claim was denied by Spain, but in 1810 a successful local revo- lution against Spain resulted in the formal annexation of West Florida to the United States.

The exact cost of the Louisiana territory was sixty-four million francs, in the form of United States six per cent bonds, representing a capital of $11,250,000. 1 In addition to this the American government agreed to assume and pay the obligations of France to American citizens for French attacks upon American shipping. These were estimated at twenty million francs, or $3,750,000, making the total payment $15,000,000. Troubles and. scandals arose from the settlement of these claims, but that forms no part of this history.

With the money paid for the Louisiana ter- ritory Napoleon had intended to construct a system of canals; but war broke out almost

1 The ultimate cost would include not only the par value of the bonds but also ten years' interest and the costs of sur- veying, of government explorations, and of selling lands, etc.

80 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

immediately, and by another of the curious turns of fate which accompanied the whole affair, this money was spent by Napoleon in preparations for an invasion of England which never took place.

President Jefferson had hoped to secure New Orleans and West Florida at a cost of not more than $2,000,000. But there came from Paris the astonishing tidings that the commissioners had bought the whole Louisi- ana territory and had agreed to pay $15,000,- 000. The great news was promptly seized upon by the politicians and the people. The party opposed to Jefferson, the Federalists, attacked the purchase. They ridiculed the vague stories told of the unknown interior, and condemned the acquisition of a wilderness ; but by the majority of the people the purchase was approved. Nevertheless, there were new and serious questions to be settled concerning the rights and powers of the United States as regarded the acquisition of foreign terri- tory and its government. They were ques- tions not unlike those discussed when the

THE PURCHASE ARRANGED 81

United States, after the late war with Spain, acquired the Philippines and Porto Rico.

Thomas Jefferson

In October, 1803, Congress met. Jefferson himself was a strict constructionist of the Con- stitution, and believed in states rights. He

82 LOUISIANA PUB< HASE

held that Congress had only such powers as were definitely delegated fco it and such as were necessary to carry out the delegated powers. Be believed thai this treaty providing for the incorporation of foreign territory was in vio- lation of the Constitution. He held at first that an amendment to the Constitution would be necessary before action could be taken upon the treaty. But he was confronted with a practical issue of grave and immediate mo- ment, Statesmen holding views as extreme as his own argued for the constitutionality of the acquisition. Jefferson yielded his opinions to the practical exigencies of the situation, believing, as was the case, that the popular view would approve his course. Federalists, as well as Republicans, agreed that the United States could acquire territory. 1

As to the status of the inhabitants of the Louisiana territory, another question was

1 Later the right to annex territory was upheld by the Supreme Court. Professor McLaughlin, "History of the American Nation." p. 264, cites the case of Am. Ins. Co. o. Canter, 1 Peters, 511.

THE PURCHASE ARRANGED 83

presented which was seized upon by the Fed- eralists. The treaty contemplated their early admission to the rights of citizens of the United States, — Louisiana was not to be a dependent colony, without a vote or the pros- pect of statehood. This was bitterly opposed by the Federalists. It was argued that the vote of each individual state was necessary for the admission of a new state. The New England Federalists, foreseeing a lessening of their power through the admission of south- ern and western states, were strenuous antag- onists of the measure. In some cases there was talk of secession.

Again the treaty gave special privileges to the vessels of France and Spain at New Orleans, although the Constitution required that duties should be uniform. This was defended by the claim that "Louisiana is purchased by the United States in their federal capacity, and is in the nature of a colony whose commerce may be regulated without reference to the Constitution." The far-reaching importance of these arguments,

84 LOUISIANA PUBCHASB

and of the precedent established by the ratifi- cation of the treaty, has been illustrated in the discussions over the recent acquisition of

Porto Ivico and the Philippines. 1 The discus- sion of these questions was long and bitter, but the treaty was ratified October 19, 1803.

After the treaty was ratified and the bill to provide payment for the purchase was passed still another question arose, — How should the territory be governed ? In spite of Federalist opposition it was voted that until Congress should provide a temporary government all the military, civil, and judicial powers should be exercised by persons to be appointed by the President, without the advice or consent of

1 " This broad interpretation of the treaty-making power by the strict constructionist and state rights party itself, paved the way for an imperial expansion of the United States. Not only that, — it laid the foundations for a readjustment of sectional power within the Union." — Professor Frederick J. Turner, in the Review of Review* (May, 1903). This article, which has been consulted in the preparation of this chapter, in addition to Adam-. McMaster, and others, is a remarkably clear and concise presentation of political and constitutional phases of the purchase.

THE PURCHASE ARRANGED 85

the Senate. This act was approved by the President on October 31, 1803. It was a temporary measure intended to apply to the taking possession of the new country rather than to its permanent occupation. The for- mal act of taking over Louisiana was the next step in this eventful history.

CHAPTER VIII TRANSFER TO THE UNITED STATES

Louisiana still in Spain's hands. Delivery to France. Cession by France to the United States. A country without gov- ernment. Congress gives the President power. Importance of the precedents. The territory divided. A last foreign invasion.

Another curious feature of this history is that although France had sold Louisiana to the United States, it had not yet been delivered by Spain to France. On the 30th of November, 1803, however, this ceremony was formally per- formed in the old Cabildo (City Hall) of New Orleans. The French commissioner, Laussat, delivered to the Spanish commissioners the order of the king of Spain for the transfer of the province to France, and showed the author- ity which Napoleon had given him to receive it. Then the Spaniards yielded the keys of New Orleans and absolved the people from

TRANSFEK TO UNITED STATES 87

allegiance to Spain. The Spanish flag was low- ered, the French tricolor rose in its place, and the reign of Spain in Louisiana was ended.

The next step was the formal cession to the United States, and there were reasons for haste. Spain had protested against the act of France in selling the territory, for there was a clause in the original treaty which forbade its alienation. 1 These protests were so strong

1 An interesting modern Spanish view of the Louisiana Purchase has been afforded by Sefior Jeronimo Becker, archivist of the ministry of state, in La Espana Moderna for May, 1903. This writer maintains that after securing the cession of Louisiana back to France, Talleyrand assured the Spanish government that the cession was desired merely for display and effect, and that later, on the payment of two million dollars, half in cash, Louisiana would be returned to Spain.

Sefior Becker also states that in 1815 the Spanish govern- ment hoped to regain Louisiana through the action of the Congress of Vienna, and Labrador, the Spanish representa- tive, was instructed to make the attempt. He saw that this was impossible, but it was believed in Vienna in 1815 that the English were in possession of New Orleans and therefore practically of Louisiana, and he suggested that they might be willing to transfer it to Spain, — a plan, he added, which was approved by the Duke of Wellington. Sefior Becker expresses a feeling of inherited resentment against France on account of the sharp practice by which Napoleon obtained

88 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

that Jefferson even prepared to meel an armed resistance by sending a small military force un- der I reneral James Wilkinson 1 to New Orleans. Furthermore, in this interval there was no formal government in that city.

Jefferson appointed William C. C. Claiborne, governor of Mississippi territory, and General Wilkinson as the American commissioners to receive Louisiana. On December 20 they were

Cr Wilkinson's A i togb lph

escorted into the city by American troops and were received by Laussat in the Cabildo. The ceremonies performed at the Spanish cession twenty days before were repeated now for the

Louisiana from Spain in exchange for the award to the Duke of Parma of the so-called kingdom of Etruria, which remained under the control of French soldiers after Napoleon had sold Louisiana to the Americana and the Americana were claiming the Floridas. But he shows no ill-will at the action of the United States.

1 An unfortunate representative of the United States. His apparent willingness to prove false to his country in connection with Burr's plottinga, and hia military incom- petency, have not been palliated by his acquittals.

THEHEW^ORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

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most part, with one vital difference. This time the nag of France was replaced with the Stars and Stripes. It was the outward sign of a new destiny, the beginning of a new life richer and greater than any one who watched the unfurl- ing of the flag could have dared to imagine.

Claiborne assured the people that their lib- erty, property, and religion were safe, and that they should never again be transferred. His assurance must have meant little to his hear- ers, in view of the many changes of the past.

Claiborne's Autograph

" Ninety-one years before," says Professor Mc- Master, " when scarcely a thousand white men dwelt on her soil, Louis XIV had farmed Louisiana to Antoine Crozat, the merchant monopolist of his clay. Crozat, unable to use it, made it over in 1717 to John Law, director- general of the Mississippi Company, which surrendered it in 1731 to Louis XV, who gave it in 1762 to the king of Spain, who made it

90 LOUISIANA IM K< 1IASK

over to Napoleon, who sold it to the United Stales/' No wonder a promise t hat t here would be no more changes was received with doubt. Vet. except lor a short interval of fifteen months in the course of the Civil War, the Stars and Stripes have continued to wave over New Orleans.

For a short time Louisiana, although Amer- ican territory j was without American laws or custom-house regulations. The merchants found themselves continuing to pay the ob- noxious duties exacted by the laws of Spain, and they were not slow to protest. But early in 1804 Congress took action. After much discussion a law was passed dividing the pur- chased country at the thirty-third parallel, which afterward became the dividing line between Arkansas and Louisiana. The coun- try north of that line was called the district of Louisiana, and was placed under the terri- torial government of the Indiana territory. There were but few white people then in this great stretch of country, but lower Louisiana, wdiich was called the territory of Orleans,

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contained some fifty thousand people, or more than the territory of Ohio in 1800.

It was provided that the territory of Orleans was to be governed by officers appointed by the President. This was a step of great his- torical importance. First, the President had bought a foreign colony without its consent and had annexed it. Secondly, he assumed control of its government, and in both meas- ures he was sustained by Congress. This was done without any changes in the Con- stitution. Another striking feature was that, although the treaty with France provided for full citizenship for the people of the Louisiana territory, this was denied them, and a govern- ment was established which was not elected by themselves but appointed from Washington. However, in spite of the surprises, the contra- dictions and compromises which accompanied the strange history of Louisiana, it became and it has remained American territory.

Only once, since it passed into our keeping, has Louisiana been threatened by a foreign invader. This was in 1815, at the end of our

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

war with England. Uut Sir Edward Paken- ham's army of twenty thousand veteran British soldiers, who came to conquer Louisiana, was

Andrew Jackson riding along the Lines after the Battle of New Orleans

defeated by the forces led by Andrew Jackson in the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. As if to continue the list of strange events which have been connected with Louisiana, this

TRANSFER TO UNITED STATES 93

battle was fought after peace had been arranged between the United States and Great Britain. Two other events in our domestic history have menaced the integrity of Louisiana. Associated with the pacific Jefferson as Vice President was the brilliant, unscrupulous, and tragic figure of Aaron Burr. Burr's connec- tion with the President who acquired Loui- siana added another dramatic element to the history of plots which involved the West. As to the exact nature of Burr's schemes or con- spiracy in 1805-1806, students have differed. The usual belief has been that Burr, spurred by diseased ambition and wounded vanity, planned the separation of the Southwest from the United States and the foundation of an empire under his own rule. 1 Later researches 2 go to indicate that Burr proposed to organize a filibustering expedition for the invasion and occupation of the Spanish territory to the

1 See " History of the United States of America," by Henry Adams, for the argument that Burr proposed both treason to his country and filibustering.

2 See " The Aaron Burr Conspiracy," by Dr. W. F. McCaleb.

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south. At the outset, at least. Burr's designs were probably little better than treason. although his final purpose seems to have changed, Another figure in the history of

Louisiana, Wilkinson, who was governor of New Orleans, was implicated in Burr's plots and sought to clear himself at Burr's expense. While this plot, however, left the Loui- siana Purchase unchanged, our Civil War made an inroad, fortunately only temporary, upon its integrity. In the fateful spring of 1861 the states of Louisiana and Arkansas seceded from the Union and joined the Con- federacy. But in 1868 the constitutional rela- tions of these states to the Union were fully reestablished, and since then there has been and is likely to be no break in the relation of Louisiana to the United States.

LOUISIANA

Part II THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION

CHAPTER IX EXPLOKING LOUISIANA

An unknown interior. Jefferson's early interest in explora- tion. Ledyard's vain attempt. Jefferson selects Lewis and Clark. Who they were. Their instructions. The un- certainty as to their route.

The little that had been learned by 1803 of the interior of Louisiana came for the most part from the stories of Indians and of trap- pers. There were tales of vast prairies far in the interior, covered with herds of buffalo, and clothed with grass " because the soil was far too rich for the growth of trees." In the north, as Jefferson reported to Congress, there were great bluffs which were " faced with lime and free stone, carved into various shapes and figures by the hand of nature, and [they] afford the appearance of a multitude of antique towers." While this report was true, since it referred to the strange rock forms of the Bad

LOUISIANA IM RCHASE

Lands of Dakota, it was laughed at by Jeffer- son's opponents. Another story thai Jefferson gravely repeated

to Congress was of a wonderful mountain of

Bai» Lands of Dakota

salt some thousand miles up the Missouri. It was said that this mountain was one hun- dred and eighty miles long and forty-five miles wide; that there were no trees or shrubs on it, but that it was one huge mass of glittering white. If any one doubted this fabulous tale, he was assured that samples of the salt had been shown at St. Louis. Even this failed to

EXPLORING LOUISIANA 99

convince Jefferson's opponents, the Federal- ists. One newspaper writer suggested that the salt mountain was Lot's wife. Another writer imagined a salt eagle on the top and a salt mammoth climbing up the side. There were other stories of giant Indians as mythical as the salt mountain. From these strange reports one can realize how little was known of a part of our country which is now so familiar.

We have seen that Jefferson did not intend to buy the whole Louisiana territory, but he proposed an exploration of the West long be- fore the purchase was made. In 1785 he was appointed minister to France, and in Paris he met John Ledyard, an American traveler. Ledyard had accompanied the famous naviga- tor, Captain Cook, on his last voyage, when Cook sailed up the western coast of North America toward Bering Strait, and then sailed south to Hawaii, where he was slain by the natives. Ledyard was eager to continue his travels, and Jefferson proposed that he should cross northern Europe and Asia to Kamchatka, sail over to the present Alaska, and then go

5 6 2 4 8

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south k "to the latitude of the Missouri and penetrate to and through that to the United States/' Jefferson's language shows how un- certain the knowledge of the time was. No one knew where the Missouri River hegan. Ledyard undertook this adventurous journey, and on his overland route actually arrived within two hundred miles of Kamchatka; but there he was arrested by Russian soldiers and forced to return. This was the end of a plan which might have added a wonderful chapter to the history of American exploration.

But Jefferson's zealous desire for a knowl- edge of the West continued unabated. In 1792 he proposed to the American Philosophical Society to raise money for an exploration of the West. He suggested that some one should do this by " ascending the Missouri, crossing the Stony [Rocky] Mountains, and descend- ing the nearest river to the Pacific." This suggestion brought a prompt application from Captain Meriwether Lewis, of the United States army, who was eager to make the journey. But Captain Lewis's time had not yet come.

Meriwether Lewis

(From a print in the Analectic Magazine (1815) reproducing the drawing by St. Merain, which belonged to Captain Clark)

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The offer of Andre Michaux, a French botanist, was accepted, and he actually started on his journey. But when he had reached Kentucky on his way west he was overtaken by an order from the French minister, directing him to return and engage in other work. Thus Jefferson's second attempt at the exploration of the Louisiana territory also resulted in failure.

But the proverbial third attempt succeeded brilliantly. Before the Louisiana territory had actually passed into our hands Jefferson and others felt that it was quite time to learn more definitely what this strange country contained. In January, 1803, he seized the opportunity offered by the need of regulating trade with the Indians, to send a confidential message to Congress, in which he advised an exploration. Congress approved, and an appropriation of money was made. President Jefferson selected Captain Lewis as leader of the expedition and associated with him Captain William Clark. 1

1 Meriwether Lewis was born near Charlottesville, Vir- ginia, in 1774. At eighteen he was a farmer. In 1794 he

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There were, therefore, two Leaders, but they did their memorable work without jealousy or trouble. Both were men of courage and resolution, fully equipped by character and training for the work which lay before them. Lewis possessed a rare power of discipline and executive ability, and a considerable scientific knowledge. (dark was peculiarly familiar with Indian habits, and his military training had 1 ionic good fruits.

served in the militia during the "whisky insurrection," and later obtained a commission in the regular army. Bet ween 1801 and 1803 he was the private secretary of President Jefferson. In 180(3 he was made governor of Missouri ter- ritory. He died in 18(11).

William Clark, also a Virginian, was born in 1770, the brother of General George Rogers Clark who conquered the old Northwest for the United States in the Revolutionary War. In the boyhood of William Clark his family removed to Kentucky, then "the dark and bloody ground," as it was called from the frequent attacks of the Indians. With such an early experience it was not strange that Clark should become a soldier. But in 170(5 he resigned from the army on account of ill health. He took up his residence in St. Louis, where he lived until President Jefferson offered him, in 1803, a military appointment as second lieutenant in tin- regular army and the joint command of the expe- dition. The title of captain came from his former rank in the militia of the Northwest.

EXPLORING LOUISIANA 103

Among the careful instructions given to Lewis and Clark we find that they were " to explore the Missouri River and such principal streams of it, as by its course and communi- cation with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water-communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce." Since the Missouri rises east of the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado far to the southward, and the Columbia flows to the Pacific on the western side of the mountains, Jefferson's words illustrate the vague knowledge of the time.

The explorers w r ere to take frequent obser- vations of latitude and longitude and to note the courses of the river, points of portage, and all important features. Several copies of these observations were to be made. The thought- ful Jefferson recommended that one copy be on " the cuticular membrane of the paper-birch, as less liable to injury from clamp than common paper."

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Every feature of [ndian life was to be studied with the greatest care. The explorers were to

note the soil and Eace of the country, its vege- table products, its animals, the remains of any animals ••which may be deemed dead or ex- tinct/' ' the mineral productions of every kind, volcanic appearances, and climate. They were to investigate the opportunities for trade and cultivate the friendship of the Indians. On the Pacific coast they were to see whether the fur trade of the far Northwest could not be conducted through the Missouri and the United States instead of by circumnavigation from Nootka Sound on the Pacific coast.

Clearly, the explorers had plenty of work laid out for them. How uncertain the outcome was in Jefferson's mind is shown by his direc- tions that they should return from Oregon by sea, " by the way either of Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope," in case the return overland seemed " imminently dangerous."

1 This is peculiarly interesting in view of the wonderful fossil remains found of late years in the Bad Lands of Dakota and elsewhere in the Northwest.

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Furthermore, he said, the American consuls at Batavia in Java, in the Isle of France, and at the Cape of Good Hope would furnish money. When we think of the present ease and luxury of travel across the continent to Oregon it is hard to realize that these doubts and difficul- ties existed only a hundred years ago.

CHAPTER X PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY

An uninformed Spaniard. A company of picked men. Some curious supplies. The journal of the expedition.

On July 5, 1803, Captain Lewis left Wash- ington for Pittsburg. With Captain Clark he gathered stores and recruited his men from the military stations along the Ohio River. All this took time. It was not until December that they reached St. Louis. They intended to pass the winter at La Charrette, the upper- most settlement on the Missouri. But this was still held by the Spaniards. Although Louisiana by this time had passed from Spain to France and from France to the United States, the Spanish commandant had not yet been officially notified. At that day, when railroads were unknown, it required a month

and a half for letters from eastern cities to 100

PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY 107

reach St. Louis. The commandant refused to allow this armed force to enter Spanish ter- ritory. Lewis and Clark therefore recrossed the Mississippi to the eastern or American side, and passed the winter of 1803-1804 at

Washington One Kindred Years ago

the mouth of Wood River, a little above St. Louis. While they are waiting there we may inspect their force and their equipment for the great journey which lay before them.

Picked men were needed for such perilous work. They were chosen wisely with a view

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to their special fitness for the task. There were fourteen soldiers selected from a large number who had volunteered from the regular army. There were nine young frontiersmen from Kentucky, men who had used the rifle from boyhood in hunting and in Indian warfare. There were two French canoemen, or voya- geurs, one of whom could speak many Indian languages, while the other was a skilled hunter. These men were all enrolled as privates in the army, and with a negro servant of Captain Clark they made up the force. Three of the men were appointed sergeants. In addition, a corporal and six soldiers with nine boatmen were sent to accompany the expedition until they should reach the Mandan Indians, who dwelt near the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota. It was a small force, but a large com- pany would have had difficulties over supplies, and would have excited the suspicions and hos- tility of the Indians.

The first necessities were food, clothing, tools, the flintlock rifles of the time, and a supply of powder, ball, and flints. But it was

French Fort at Saint Louis

PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY 109

necessary also to provide for the Indians who might be encountered. In order to make friends of them there were fourteen bales and one box of gold-laced coats, medals, flags, knives and tomahawks, beads, looking-glasses, and paints, which were to be given as presents. The expedition's own stores were contained in seven bales and a box.

For transportation there was first a keel boat fifty-five feet long and drawing three feet of water. This was decked over at bow and stern, thus forming a forecastle and a cabin. The middle was covered with lockers, which could be raised to form breastworks in case of attack. This boat had one large sail and twenty-two oars. There were two other boats, both open, one with six and one with seven oars. Two horses were to be led along the banks for the use of the hunters.

One of the strange turns of fate which appear so often in the history of Louisiana awaited the records of this expedition. The journals of the explorers were kept most care- fully. President Jefferson used some of this

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material in his messages to Congress, and his citations were republished under a false claim that they gave the complete narrative. The

actual journals were revised and largely re- written by Nicholas Biddle of Philadelphia, but it so happened that another was able to claim the editorship, and they were published in 1814 with the name of Paul Allen on the title-page as editor. This Biddle edition was republished in several foreign countries. The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition, as told in this volume, is taken from the Biddle text. 1

1 There have been many different editions, ranging from the elaborate and carefully annotated edition of Dr. Elliott Coues, to inexpensive small reprints. An abridged edition was published at New York in 1842 and reprinted several times. Mention should be made of William 11. Lighton'a excellent "Lewis and Clark." and the useful condensed narrative prepared by the late Noah Brooks in 1901.

But with all this array of editions it has so happened that the revised Biddle text has always been followed. The original journals have not been reprinted as the explorers wrote them, although Mr. Reuben G. Thwaites is now engaged in preparing them for publication.

CHAPTER XI

STARTING FOR THE WILDERNESS

Trappers and Indians. Across Missouri. The first sight of buffalo. Turning northward. A council with the Indians near Council Bluffs. An odd way of fishing. A country full of game.

On May 14, 1804, the travelers left their camp at the mouth of the Wood (now the Du Bois) River near St. Louis.

The route before them was up the Missouri and the Yellowstone on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, over the mountains and down Lewis's River (now known as Salmon River), the Clearwater, and the Columbia on the western side. The country which they were to pass through has since been divided into Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. The total length of the jour- ney was to be some eight thousand miles. 111

1 L2 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

It was to last from May, L804, to September,

1806. From April. L805, to August, 1806, they were to be wholly shut off from the civilized world.

It was not until four o'clock in the after- noon of the 14th that they finished their pack- ing and pushed off their boats, and they had made only four miles w r hen night forced them to land for the first camp of the journey near Cold Water Creek, just above Bellefontaine.

At St. Charles, which bears the same name to-day, they w T ere overtaken on May 21 by Cap- tain Lewds, who had been detained at St. Louis, and that afternoon they started on in the face of wind and rain.

A few days later they met some canoes laden with furs obtained among the "Mahar," or Omaha, Indians. These meetings are of in- terest because the trappers and the fur traders were the real pioneers of the far West. Their work w T as the chief industry of that great region for the first forty years of the last century.

On June 1 the expedition camped at the mouth of the Osage River, named from the

STARTING FOR THE WILDERNESS 113

Osage Indians. The Dakotan name of these Indians was the Wabashas, from which comes the name Wabash. They believed themselves descended from a snail and a beaver, and for a long time they held the beaver sacred. But the demand for furs proved stronger than the tradition, and in spite of relationship the bea- vers suffered from the fur hunters.

Another camp was made at Moreau Creek, a little below the present Jefferson City. French fur traders were met, and at Little Manitou Creek (now Moniteau Creek in Missouri geog- raphies) the explorers saw a strange figure resembling "the bust of a man with the horns of a stag," which had been painted by the Indians on a projecting rock.

As they went on they entered the country of the Ayauway Indians, which was one of the many ways of spelling Iowas. Here they found deer and bears, and one of the hunters brought in a remarkable story of a small lake where " he heard a snake making a guttural noise like a turkey.' ' The venison which the hunters obtained was frequently "jerked" for

1 11 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

preservation; thai is, it was cut into ribbons

and dried in the sun.

The expedition had now advanced some two hundred and sixty miles up the Missouri,

to a point between Saline and ( JarroU counties, which lies not far from the center of the state of Missouri. Continuing a journey which for the time was comparatively uneventful, they crossed the state of Missouri on their steady way up the river, and on June 26 they reached the mouth of the Kansas River, which flows easterly through the state of Kansas. Here they found a village of Kansas Indians, most of whom were away on the plains " hunting for buffalo, which our hunters have seen for the first time."

This home of buffalo hunters at the mouth of the Kansas River has now given place to Kan- sas City, Missouri, and Wyandotte, Kansas.

At this point the Missouri turns northwest- erly on the ascent, and the explorers were on a straighter course to their destination. On the left, ascending, are now the Kansas coun- ties of Leavenworth. Atchison, and Doniphan,

STARTING FOR THE WILDERNESS 115

and on the right the Missouri counties of Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, and Holt; while above Kansas City they passed the sites of the future cities of Leavenworth, Atchison, and St. Joseph. Nearly all the points men- tioned in their narrative have been identified,

*L* "

In the Days of the Buffalo Hunter

but it will be more interesting to follow the story of their adventures than to go far into geographical details.

By the middle of July they had reached Nebraska and Iowa. The hunters found deer and wild geese, one boat was nearly wrecked on a sand bar in a storm, and there was some

1 L6 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

illness which was thought to be due to their drinking the muddy river water. On July 21 they readied the mouth of the -iv.it Platte River, where at night many wolves were seen

and heard.

Some ten miles above the Platte River the explorers camped on the east side of the Mis- souri, probably about ten miles below the pres- ent cities of Council Bluffs and Omaha. There they dried their provisions and prepared let- ters to be sent to the President when the chance came. The hunters saw deer and tur- keys; there were many wild grapes, and one man caught a white catfish.

Messengers were sent to ask the Pawnee Indians to visit them, but the Indians were away hunting the buffalo. A few days later, however, after the explorers had advanced further northward, they succeeded in reaching them, and their first formal council with them was held on August 3. Some fourteen Ottoe (or Otto) and Missouri Indians were assem- bled under an awning formed of the mainsail. They were informed that the United States

STARTING FOE THE WILDERNESS 117

now ruled the country and promised them pro- tection. The chiefs expressed their joy and asked to be commended to the Great Father (the President). They requested that arms be given them and that they be protected from their enemies, the Omakas, which was prom- ised. Tken followed a distribution of presents, medals, paint, garters, and clotk ornaments, witk a canister of powder and a bottle of whisky, — tke last certainly an unfortunate gift. Tken tke explorers fired their air gun, which astonished the Indians greatly, and this ended the ceremonies of the first council.

The name of the city of Council Bluffs comes from tins meeting, but tke actual council was held on the west side of the river and several miles above the city.

A few days later the travelers saw a large mound with a pole fixed in the center, on a sandstone bluff, and learned that it was the grave of a chief named Blackbird, who died of smallpox, from which the tribe had suf- fered seriously. Blackbird was described by another traveler as a chief whose fame was

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due largely to the fact that he had obtained from a trader some arsenic which he used to poison rivals and enemies.

White the party were camping and waiting for a council with the "Mahar" (Omaha) Indians, an odd form of fishing was practiced. Some of the men made a drag of willows and bark and swept the creek hard by, catching hundreds of pike, bass, fish resembling salmon trout, red horse, buffalo fish, rockfish, perch, and catfish.

The Ottoe Indians of the first council then reappeared with others. They were asked to explain their trouble with the Omahas, which proved to be due to their desire to avenge the death of their brethren of the Missouris. who had been killed by the Omahas while attempt- ing to steal horses. The only result of this conference was the distribution of more pres- ents, since no Omahas had come, and a peace could not be arranged without them.

A little below Sioux City the first death occurred in the expedition. Sergeant Charles Floyd died of colic and was buried on a bluff

STARTING FOR THE WILDERNESS 119

about a mile below Floyd's River. Patrick Gass, who kept a journal of the expedition on his own account which was afterwards pub- lished, was elected sergeant in Floyd's place. Not far from this spot they learned that there was a quarry of red pipestone highly prized by the Indians for pipes.

The abundance of game which was then found in Nebraska, Iowa, and elsewhere along the route, is indicated by the record of August 23. "On the north side [this is properly the east side of the river] is an exten- sive and delightful prairie, which we called Buffalo prairie, from our having here killed our first buffalo. Two elk swam the river to-day and were fired at, but escaped ; a deer was killed from the boat; one beaver was killed, and several prairie-wolves were seen."

CHAPTER XII

IN SOUTH DAKOTA

A haunted mountain. Among the Sioux. A curious frater- nity. Some new animals. Trouble with the Tetons. The first meeting with the grizzly hear. Reaching the Ank- ara ' Indians. The approach of cold weather.

By late August the explorers were entering the present South Dakota. There they exam- ined a singularly symmetrical mound in the middle of the plains. The Indians believed this mound to be the abode of little spirits or devils not over eighteen inches in height, with large heads, and armed with bows and arrows which were always ready for use against any one who should approach. But Lewis and Clark " saw none of these wicked little spirits,

1 " Aricaris, commonly called Rickarees, Rickrees, or Rees. The accepted spelling is now Ankara." — Coues's "Lewis and Clark," Vol. I, p. 143. In the journal this is spelled Rickara.

120

IX SOUTH DAKOTA

121

or any place for thern except some small holes, scattered over the top." This tradition is preserved in the modern name of Spirit Mound, which is in Clay County, South Dakota.

They were in the country of the formidable Sioux Indians, and the travelers set the prairie on fire as a notifica- tion of their coming. A few days later Ser- geant Pry or and oth- ers were sent to the Sioux. On his return Pry or reported that the Sioux received them well and wished to carry them on a buffalo robe, an honor

which they declined. They were also feasted on " a fat dog, already cooked, of which they partook heartily." This feast of dog meat was to be a frequent experience.

On August 30 Lewis and Clark received the Sioux chiefs and warriors in state, and gave

Totem of the Sioux

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them good advice regarding their relations

with the United States. In addition t<> the usual presents the head chief received a richly laced artillery coat, and a cocked hat with a red leather. Then they all smoked the pipe of peace, and the young men shot at marks. At night the Indians held a dance, which was a new and striking spectacle for the white men.

The next day the Sionx chiefs made speeches in reply, which were peaceful, but their main

£**)«%% ^ Calumet ' ou Pipbof

*'l W *5 PEACE

point was that they wanted powder and ball, and presents for their squaws. More presents were given, and they promised to make peace with the Ottoes and Missonris.

In describing these Yankton Sionx the jour- nal speaks of an association of young men among them who are bound never to retreat before any danger or give way to their enemies.

IN SOUTH DAKOTA 123

"In war they go forward without sheltering themselves behind trees. This determination not to be turned aside became heroic, or ridic- ulous, a short time since when the Yanktons were crossing the Missouri on the ice. A hole lay immediately in their course which might easily have been avoided by going around. This the leader of the band disdained to do, but went straight forward and was lost. The others would have followed his example but were forcibly prevented. 1 '

Above Yankton the explorers found great sand ridges so regular in their formation that they are described and mapped out in the jour- nals as fortifications made by the hand of man. These were really only sand drifts, formed by the action of the river.

Another experience was the first glimpse of an antelope, which was called a goat. The Americans had never seen a prairie dog, and when they discovered a prairie-dog village they u poured five barrels of water into one of the holes without filling it, but we dislodged and caught the owner."

[24 LOUISIANA ITKCHASE

A noteworthy relic of a dead animal was

I'ou in I in the form of a " backbone of a fish forty-five feet long, in a perfect state of petri- faction." This was not a fish, but the remains of one of the extinct giant reptiles of the Cre- taceous period.

The travelers saw buffalo, elk, "goats,"; — or rather antelopes, — black-tailed deer, prairie wolves, coyotes, porcupines, rabbits, and bark- ing squirrels, as they advanced. Captain Lewis tried to approach and shoot some antelopes,

but in spite of *»,;» ,.,„¦„„. ¦'...:=» his care they

Stone Hatchet "fled with a

speed equal to that of the most distinguished race horse."

Although still within the present South Dakota the explorers by late September had reached the country of the Teton Sioux. While they were in Presho County a horse was stolen by the Sioux, and this annoyance was followed by a council meeting, which was very different from those held before. After the usual talk and present giving, the ungrateful

IN SOUTH DAKOTA 125

Sioux chief exclaimed that he had not received presents enough, and would stop the explorers. He " was proceeding to offer personal violence to Captain Clark, who immediately drew his sword and made a signal to the boat to pre- pare for action. The Indians who surrounded him drew their arrows from their quivers, and were bending their bows when the swivel [gun] was instantly pointed towards them and twelve of our most determined men jumped into the pirogue [small boat] and joined Cap- tain Clark. This movement made an impres- sion on them, for the grand chief ordered the young men away."

The courage and tact of the Americans resulted in a reconciliation. The next day Lewis and Clark were carried by the Sioux in a buffalo robe to the council house, where they smoked the pipe of peace ; and a repast was served which consisted of dog and "pem- itigon [pemmican], — a dish made of buffalo meat dried or jerked and then pounded and mixed raw with grease, — and a kind of ground potato dressed like the preparation of Indian

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corn called hominy, to which it is little inferior. Of all these luxuries which were placed before us in platters, with horn spoons, we took the pemitigon and the potato, which we found good; but we could as yet partake but spar- ingly of the dog."

Here they saw a scalp dance, and were fairly deafened by the noise of the drums. They noted every detail of Sioux life about them; saw the buffalo-skin lodges, the punishment of wrongdoers by officers appointed by the chief, noted the Indians themselves, with their heads shaven except for the scalp lock, their faces painted with grease and coal, and their robes of buffalo skin adorned with porcupine quills.

In spite of the Sioux professions of friend- ship they became troublesome again. They held the boat until the soldiers made ready to fire ; then followed with others along the bank, alternately threatening and begging, un- til finally this rascally tribe was left behind and the expedition passed into the country of the Arikaras.

Nature's "Fortifications'* (From the plan drawn by Lewis and Clark)

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Here there were not only "goats" and "prairie cocks" but "white bear." This was the famous grizzly bear. The explorers also saw " a species of animal which resembled a small elk, with large, circular horns." This was the Rocky Mountain sheep, or bighorn. French fur traders were found as far in the wilderness as this, and they aided the travelers in calling a council, which differed from the others in one respect, — the Arikaras very sensibly refused whisky, saying that it would make them fools.

It was now October, and the weather was growing cold. The friendly Arikaras were left behind them, and on October 21 they reached a creek then called " Chisshetaw," and now Heart River, which joins the Missouri oppo- site the city of Bismarck, North Dakota, where the Northern Pacific Railroad now crosses the Missouri. The future site of Bismarck was then occupied by villages of the Mandan Indians. Since the cold weather would soon stop their progress it had been decided that they would winter among the Mandans.

CHAPTEB XIII

AT THE MANDAN VILLAGES

The winter camp. Hunting the buffalo. The journey onward. Finding the Yellowstone River. Adventures with grizzly bears. Hunting in Montana.

On the north bank of the Missouri, in the present McLean County, North Dakota, about eight miles below the mouth of Big Knife

A Mandan Hit

River, where the town of Stanton is now sit- uated, the explorers built two rows of log huts. protected by a stockade, for their winter camp. The roofs were rudely thatched with grass and

128

AT THE MAXDAN VILLAGES 129

clay, and in spite of the bitter weather they " passed the winter comfortably."

Here they secured an Indian interpreter named Chaboneau. His wife, Sacajawea (Bird Woman), had been captured from the Snake Indians and sold to her husband. The jour- nal speaks of her as " a good creature, of a mild and gentle disposition, greatly attached to the whites." She and her husband accom- panied the travelers throughout the remainder of their journey, and her patience, courage, and helpfulness were unfailing.

The Sioux and other Indians were con- stantly engaged in warfare, and the Manclans suffered so much that Captain Clark once mustered twenty-four men and offered to lead the Mandans against the Sioux. The deep snow prevented, but the offer was gratefully received and remembered. The friendliest relations prevailed between these Indians and the explorers.

In December, Clark and others joined the Mandans in a great buffalo hunt. " The hunt- ers, mounted on horseback and armed with

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bows and arrows, encircle the herd and grad- ually drive them into a plain. . . . They then

ride in and singling out a buffalo, a female being preferred, go as close as possible and wound her with arrows till they think they have given the mortal stroke, when they pursue another. If, which rarely happens, the wounded buffalo attacks the hunter, he evades his blow by the agility of his horse, which is trained for the combat with great dexterity."

In spite of weather so cold that the mercury often went thirty-two degrees below zero, the Indians kept up outdoor sports. Even the white men enjoyed a merry Christmas. Later, when their meat supply grew low, a hunting expedition was sent out, which killed forty deer, sixteen elk, and three buffalo. Although the game was lean and the wolves stole much of it, they gathered, in all, some three thou- sand pounds of meat.

Visits from white fur traders and the in- roads of the Sioux were among the incidents of a winter which must, after all, have passed

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PUBLIC LIBRARY

A8TOR, LENOX AHB TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.

AT THE MANDAN VILLAGES 131

slowly. In late February, however, it was pos- sible to cut the boats free from the ice and to begin preparing them for the onward journey. On April 7, 1805, the soldiers who had been sent as escort, with the boatmen and one

Interior or Deserted Mam>\n Hut

interpreter, started back. They carried reports for President Jefferson, with stuffed animals, and skeletons, horns, skins, and articles of Indian dress. All these reached the President safely in course of time, and the specimens were exhibited at his home in Monticello.

132 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

On the same day, April 7. the expedition, now consisting of thirty-two persons, embarked in two large boats, or pirogues, and six canoes, and started on their way into a region practically unknown to white men. The mes- sages which the explorers sent hack at this point were the last word received from them until they returned in September, 1806. But Captain Lewis wrote, " Entertaining as I do the most confident hope of succeeding in a voyage which had formed a darling project of mine for the last ten years, I could but esteem this moment of our departure as among the most happy of my life."

As they advanced they saw quantities of " brant" (snow geese), and they found an ani- mal strange to them, the gopher. The squaw Sacajawea dug into some of the gopher holes and obtained wild artichokes collected by the gophers. The statement of Lewis and Clark that the wild geese which they saw built their nests in the tops of tall cottonwood trees was doubted at the time, but was nevertheless true. The travelers were now in the country of the

AT THE MANDAN VILLAGES 133

sagebrush and alkali dust, — both unknown to them, and the latter very painful to their eyes.

They had heard of a large river as rising in the mountains and emptying into the Mis- souri, and on April 25 Captain Lewis and four men left the party and found the river, which was already known to French trappers, who called it La Roche Jaime. Captain Lewis named it the Yellowstone. It has kept the name, which is familiar also as the name of the National Park, in which the river rises. The wonders of the Yellowstone Park were discovered later by John Colter, then with the expedition.

They saw numbers of wild animals ; and one day Captain Lewis, who was on shore with one hunter, encountered two of the for- midable grizzly bears of which the Indians had given dreadful accounts. Both men " fired, and each wounded a bear ; one of them made his escape ; the other turned upon Captain Lewis and pursued him seventy or eighty yards, but being badly wounded could not run so fast as

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to prevent him from reloading his piece, which he again aimed ;ii the bear, and a third shot from the hunter brought him to the ground."

A little later it was Captain Clark's turn. The huge hear which he met is called " brown," but the grizzly is called both "white" and ** brown " in the journal. As the hunters fired, kk the bear fled with a most tremendous roar, and such was his extraordinary tenacity of life that, although he had live halls passed through his lungs, and five other wounds, he swam more than half across the river to a sand bar and survived twenty minutes. He weighed between five and six hundred pounds at least, and measured eight feet seven inches and a half from the nose to the extremity of the hind feet."

At another time one of the men shot a grizzly through the lungs ; but in spite of this wound the bear " pursued him furiously for over half a mile, then returned more than twice that distance and with his talons pre- pared himself a bed in the earth," where he was found and killed.

AT THE MAXDAN VILLAGES 135

Another wounded grizzly pursued two hun- ters so closely that " they threw aside their guns and pouches, and jumped down a per- pendicular bank of twenty feet into the river ; the bear sprang after thern and was within a few feet of the hindmost when one of the hunters on shore shot him in the head and finally killed him. They found that eight balls had passed through him in different directions."

When these exciting adventures happened they were journeying through Montana. They passed Porcupine River, named from the prev- alence of those animals. This is now Poplar River, and there is an Indian agency at its mouth. They discovered Milk River, which keeps the name that they gave it on account of the whiteness of its water. They found a river bed without water, which they called " Big Dry," a name which is also preserved.

Again and again they speak of the quan- tities of buffalo and of elk. Now the few buffalo in the United States are guarded in the Yellowstone 'National Park and in

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zoological gardens and private preserves. Lewis and Clark Found over a hundred skele- tons of buffalo under a precipice over which they had been driven by the Indians.

There are still many elk in parts of the Rocky Mountains, but they are in danger of being destroyed like the buffalo. They are exposed not only to the ravages of hunters but also to the danger of starvation. In the winter of 1902-1903, when deep snow covered the grass, elk in Wyoming and else- where fairly stormed the haystacks of ranchers in their eagerness for food, and many died of starvation. The preservation of elk and other " big game " left in the West becomes yearly of greater importance.

CHAPTER XIV ACROSS MONTANA

Discovery of the Musselshell. The first glimpse of the Rock- ies. A buffalo charges the camp. A narrow escape. At the Great Falls of the Missouri. A difficult portage. Reaching the Three Forks of the Missouri. In an un- known country.

This was a journey of incidents and acci- dents. At one time the explorers were startled by the upsetting of the canoe containing their papers, instruments, and medicines ; but these were fortunately saved. Again, they had a narrow escape from being crushed by a fall- ing tree. But they kept steadily on their way, paddling, sailing when the wind per- mitted, and sometimes towing the boats with a line from shore.

On May 20 they reached the mouth of a large river, the " Muscleshell" (Musselshell), twenty-two hundred and seventy miles above

137

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the Missouri's mouth. Tims another important river was discovered, although it was impos- sible to explore it. The information given by

Indian-, that it rose in the mountains near the source of the Yellowstone, was erroneous.

On May 26, 1805, when the party had reached the present Cow Creek, Montana, Captain Lewis, after ascending the highest summit of some hills, - first caught a distant view of the Rock mountains, the object of all our hopes and the reward of all our ambition." It was a thrilling moment for the explorers; but they were not the first, for the Yerendryes had seen the Rocky Mountains many years before.

A few days later a frightened buffalo broke into the camp at night. He galloped close to the heads of the men as they lay asleep by the camp fires, and nearly broke into the officers' lodge. He was turned by the barking of a dog and, wheeling, vanished in the darkness before the men realized what had happened.

Early in June, when the explorers were near the site of the present town of Ophir,

ACROSS MONTANA 130

Montana, they came to a large stream which they called Maria's River. It was so large that they were in doubt as to whether this river from the southwest or the main stream from the north was the real Missouri. " On our right decision," says the journal, " much of the fate of the expedition depends : since if, after ascending to the Rocky Mountains or beyond them, we should find that the river we were following did not come near the Columbia and be obliged to. return, we should not only lose the traveling season, but prob- ably dishearten the men."

To determine this point Captain Lewis started to explore the north fork, and Cap- tain Clark the south. In three days Lewis was persuaded that his fork extended too far north for an approach to the Columbia, and he turned back.

Here there was a narrow escape from a serious accident. While passing along a bluff his foot slipped, and he barely saved himself with his spontoon (pike) from falling ninety feet, over a precipice into the river. Suddenly

140 LOUISIANA l'l'KCHASi;

be heard one of his men cry, "Captain, what shall I do?" and turning saw the man lying on the edge of the precipice, his right arm and leg over the brink. Lewis was self-possessed. He told the man to take out his knife with his right hand and dig a hole in which he could place his right foot. Thus by degrees the poor fellow worked his way to safety.

Lewis and Clark of course were right in deciding that the northerly stream — Marias River — was a tributary, and that the south- western stream was the Missouri. But many of the party thought differently, including Crusatte, an experienced voyageur. So they decided to explore farther. Digging holes in the ground, they concealed many of their goods in caches (the French name for these places for hiding stores from Indians and wild ani- mals). Lewis ascended the south branch, the real Missouri, and on June 13 all doubts were set at rest by his discovery of the Great Falls of the Missouri, which the Indians had de- scribed. Of this wonderful cataract he gives a vivid picture. But his enjoyment of the

ACROSS MONTANA 141

beautiful sight and his further investigations were suddenly interrupted. A large grizzly bear charged upon him while his gun was unloaded, and chased him into the river. There the bear fortunately left him standing in water waist deep, with pike presented. Whatever Captain Lewis's dreams may have been that night his waking must have been equally disturbing, for when he opened his eyes he saw a large rattlesnake coiled about the trunk of the tree under which he had been sleeping.

It was necessary to make a portage to trans- port their boats and baggage around the suc- cession of cataracts and rapids. The south side of the river was selected for a portage path eighteen miles in length. The clearing of this long path was one of the many examples of the hard work clone by the explorers. In addition, Captain Clark made careful surveys and maps of the falls, cascades, and rapids. A few years ago, when a manufacturing com- pany planned a dam at one of the falls, their engineers found Captain Clark's surveys

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entirely accurate. The total fall of the river is 412.o feet, and the Great Falls alone plunges down 75.5 feet.

It was not until June 27 that the portage path was finished, after much hard work, and much annoyance from the prickly pear, which pierced their moccasins. They had other ad- ventures with bears, which, with elk, were plentiful then. At this haunt of wild animals there is to-day Great Falls, — a town of over ten thousand people.

After hiding or caching such articles as could be left behind, the weary task of carrying their supplies over the long portage was begun. Suddenly there was a cloud-burst and a flow of water, from which Sacajawea, the faithful Snake Indian woman who accompanied her husband the guide from the Mandan villages, was barely saved by Clark, who was himself in great danger. But the work was done, in spite of a hailstorm and the annoyances of bears, and swarms of peculiarly active mosquitoes.

'At the head of the falls a disappointment awaited them. An iron frame for a boat had

ACROSS MONTANA 143

been brought all the way from Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Over this frame they fastened the dressed skins of buffaloes and elks, covering the seams with beeswax mixed with powdered charcoal. But on launching the boat they found that this did not protect the seams, and the boat leaked so badly that they were forced to abandon it. It was therefore necessary to make canoes. Trees were scarce, and Clark traveled many miles before he found two cottonwoods which seemed suitable. But on cutting them down they were found to be partly hollow and damaged in falling. With the perseverance and pluck which showed in everything that these men did, they wrought out the best canoes they could, although their ax handles, which were made on the spot, were constantly breaking as they worked.

On July 15 they again set out upon their journey with eight heavily laden canoes. They encountered projecting cliffs, which sometimes made them pass and repass from one side of the river to the other. They noted fields of sunflowers, the seeds of which the Indians used

144 LOUISIANA PURCHASi;

to make bread. They found purple, yellow, and black currants, and many other berries, and on the cliffs they saw bighorns or Rocky Mountain sheep. Advancing through a frown- ing canon which they called the u Gates of the Rocky Mountains," they continued south- ward with the Big Belt Mountains on the east and the main range of the Rockies on the west.

They were anxious to find some Shoshone or Snake Indians in order to obtain guides and horses; but the first Indians that they came near were frightened away by the guns of the hunters, and set the grass on fire as a sign of danger for their companions.

On July 25 Captain Clark, who was ahead, reached the Three Forks of the Missouri. The one flowing northeast, which is the main Mis- souri, was named the Jefferson. The name of Madison, the Secretary of State, was given to the middle branch, and the third was named for Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury. These names have been preserved. At this point the explorers were to the eastward of the present cities of Helena and Butte. Not

ACROSS MONTANA 145

far away, over the divide between southern Montana and Idaho, were the sources of some streams flowing to the Pacific. But this they had yet to learn. They were in a country untrodden by white men, a country of which they could obtain only vague ideas from the Indians, and yet much depended upon getting into communication with them. The explorers wished to find a pass through the mountains, and although Sacajawea was now in her own land, her knowledge of what lay beyond was very slight, and the real guaranty of success lay in the stout hearts, cheerful courage, and dauntless perseverance of the explorers them- selves.

CHAPTER XV THROUGH THE ROCKIES TO THE PACIFIC

Ascending the Jefferson. Reaching the Great Divide. Some friendly Indians. Sacajawea meets old acquaintances. Hardships and disappointments. Struggling across the mountains. Among the Nez Perce's. On toward the sea. Passing the cataracts of the Columbia. The first glimpse of the sea.

It was on the 30th of July that they began the laborious ascent of the Jefferson, or true Missouri. Captain Lewis went ahead to find some Indians and gain information as to the way across the mountains. The others fol- lowed, struggling with rapids and shoals, often wading through the water over slippery stones and dragging the boats, and often puzzled as to the right course by the bewildering forks of the stream. On August 11 Lewis saw a Shoshone on horseback, whom he tried vainly to attract by holding. up a looking-glass and

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THEOUGH THE EOCKIES 147

beads and making friendly signs. Lewis was now traveling near the base of the Bitter Root Mountains, hoping to find an Indian trail leading to a pass. As he kept on, the Jefferson grew smaller and smaller, until it dwindled to a brook, and one of the men, with a foot on each side, "thanked God that he had lived to bestride the Missouri."

They had then found and were following an Indian trail, and at last they came to a gap in the mountains where they drank from the actual source of the great Missouri River, which they had ascended from its mouth.

The Indian trail brought them to the top of a ridge commanding snow-topped mountains to the westward. " The ridge on which they stood formed the dividing line between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The descent was much steeper than on the eastern side, and at the distance of three- quarters of a mile they reached a bold creek of cold, clear water running west, and stopped to taste for the first time the waters of the Columbia."

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LOUISIANA PURCHASE

These were the first white men to cross the " Continental Divide " in our Northwest. In 1 7">li— 1 7l>-) Alexander Mackenzie had crossed British America to the Pacific.

Lewis and his men kept on to the westward and finally made friends with some Indians.

Map of Lewis and Clark Pass

They smoked the pipe of peace and partook of a salmon, — another proof that they were on the Pacific side of the mountains. The chief promised horses but afterward became suspicious of some treachery, and, between the chief's changes of mind and scanty food, Lewis's stay was made most uncomfortable. But at last he and the Indians, with horses,

THROUGH THE ROCKIES 149

started back to meet Captain Clark, who all this time had been laboriously ascending the Jefferson with the boats.

On August 17, after retracing his course across the divide, Captain Lewis and his party found Captain Clark. As they approached each other the faithful Sacajawea, who was with Clark, began to dance with joy, pointing to the - Indians and sucking her fingers to show that they were of her tribe. Presently an Indian woman came to her, and they embraced each other with the most tender affection. " They had been companions in childhood ; in the war with the Minnetarees they had both been taken prisoners in the same battle ; they had shared and softened the rigors of their captivity till one of them had escaped from their enemies with scarce a hope of ever seeing her friend rescued from their hands."

It was arranged that Clark, with eleven men and with tools, should cross the divide to the village of the Shoshonees. He was then to lead his men down the Columbia and, when he found navigable water, to begin to build canoes.

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Lewis was to remain and bring ili» i baggage to the Shoshone village. At the council held here the Indians promised to bring more horses, and showed great astonishment at the

arms and dress of the men, the "strange looks" of the negro, and the air gun.

On August 20 Clark reached the Shoshone village, which since Lewis's visit had been moved two miles up the little river on which it was situated. Here he heard most dis- couraging accounts of the wild country before him and the difficulty of reaching navigable water by which they could descend to the sea. These stories proved too true. Clark passed the junction of the Salmon and Lemhi rivers, where Salmon City, Idaho, is now situated, and he gave the name of Lewis River to the stream below the junction.

The traveling over rocky mountain paths was most trying, and instead of the abundance of game which they had seen in Montana and Dakota there was an absence of deer and other animals. They were obliged to depend largely on such salmon as they could catch, or buy

THROUGH THE ROCKIES 151

from the Indians. Since the Indians them- selves were scant of food, and the white men had no proper fishing tackle, it is not strange that Clark's followers began to fear starva- tion. They explored the Salmon River for fifty-two miles, bnt saw that progress that way was impossible, and, unsuccessful for once, they returned to join Lewis.

Meantime Lewis had had his own troubles. After promising horses and aid, the Indians threatened to leave him for a buffalo hunt on the eastern side of the mountains, and it was only by much tact and patience that he kept them with him.

On August 30 Clark returned from his un- successful search for a water way. A part of the baggage was hidden and the rest was packed on horses. Then the explorers went on slowly through the Bitter Root Mountains. The Indian guide lost his way completely. " The thickets through which we were obliged to cut our way required great labor ; the road itself was over the steep and rocky sides of the hills, where the horses could not move

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without danger of slipping down, while their feet were bruised 1>\ the rocks and stumps." They saw no game, and were obliged to resort to horseflesh for food. The nights were cold, and as they reached greater heights the trail was sometimes covered with snow. A few r cans of son}) and twenty pounds of bears oil were all the food that they had left. No wonder that the men grew weak and ill.

But on September 20, half-starved and sick, after nearly three weeks of hardships in the Bitter Root Mountains, they emerged upon a plain where they found Indians and food. At last the barrier of the mountains had been broken through.

These Indians w T ere the Nez Perces. Among the articles of food which they offered were various roots, including the quamash, which was ground and made into a cake called ixisjieco. This root is still eaten by the Nez Perces, and from quamash comes the name of Camas Prairie. It seemed a relief to have a comparative abundance of food. But this consisted principally of fish and roots, and

THROUGH THE ROCKIES 153

this strange diet, of which they naturally ate heartily after their privations, caused serious illness throughout the party. " Captain Lewis could hardly sit on his horse, while others were obliged to be put on horseback, and some, from extreme weakness and pain, were forced to lie down alongside of the road for some time."

While resting at the Nez Perce village near the present Pierce City, Idaho, they learned all that they could of the country beyond. The Indian chief Twisted-hair drew a rude map of the rivers, showing the forks of the Kooskooskee, now the Clearwater, the junction with the Snake River, and the entrance of another large river, which was the Columbia.

Late in September, after obtaining provi- sions from the Indians, they moved on to a camp on the Kooskooskee River. In spite of continued illness they built five canoes. They concealed some of their goods, left their horses with the Indians, and, undaunted by their suf- ferings, started down the river in their canoes on October 8. One canoe was sunk by strik- ing a rock, and a halt was called to dry the

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Luggage and make repairs. Fish and even doers were bought from the Indians for food.

Always alert for information, the explor- ers noted all the peculiarities of their hosts. There were the baths, or sweat houses, which were hollow squares in the river banks, where the bather steamed himself by pouring water on heated stones. Some of the Indians cooked salmon by putting hot stones into a bucket of water until it would boil the fish. Many of them were frightened by the coining of the white men with their guns. At one place Captain Clark, unperceived by them, shot a white crane, and seeing it fall they believed it to be the white men descending from the clouds. When Clark used his burning glass to light his pipe they were more than ever sure that then visitors were not mortal. But they were finally reassured by presents and the kindness and tact which the travelers showed in all their dealings with the savages. There were " almost inconceivable multitudes of salmon " in the rivers. Many at that season were floating down stream, and the Indians

THKOUGH THE ROCKIES 155

were collecting, splitting, and drying them on scaffolds.

One of the first camps was at the junction of the Kooskooskee and Snake, where the city of Lewiston, Idaho, now stands, — named for Captain Lewis. Then, entering the present state of Washington, they descended the Snake, where the wind and the rapids caused various accidents. On October 16 they reached the mighty Columbia, which had been called by the Indians the " Oregon," or " River of the West." This was to be their pathway to the sea.

They were now among the Sokulk Indians, from whom they purchased more dogs, since the salmon were poor and they had accus- tomed themselves to dog flesh. They noted the deerskin robes of the red men, and their method of gigging (spearing) salmon and dry- ing them ; the prevalence of sore eyes among the Indians, ascribed to the glare from the water; and their bad teeth, which they traced to a diet of gritty roots.

On October 23, two days after their first glimpse of Mt. Hood, they reached the first

[56 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

falls of the Columbia, which they passed suc- cessfully by portages and by letting the canoes down the rapids with lines. At the next fall they managed, after partially unloading the canoes, to run them down through a narrow passage, past a high, black rock, much to the astonishment of the Indians.

Here they were surprised to find that the savages (Echeloots, related to the Upper Chi- nooks) were living in wooden houses, which consisted in large part of an underground room, lined with wood and covered above ground with a roof composed of ridgepole, rafters, and a white cedar covering. Here, as before, the explorers acted the part of peace- makers, and urged the Indians to cease their warfare with neighboring tribes. Lewis and Clark had before this seen flat-headed women and children in certain tribes, but here the men also had been subjected to this cruel practice. The result was often accomplished by binding a board tightly on an infant's forehead, and thus flattening it backward and upward.

THROUGH THE EOCKIES 157

On October 28 they were visited by an Indian " who wore his hair in a que [cue] and had on a round hat and a sailor's jacket which he said he had obtained from the people below the great rapids, who bought thern from the whites." This was a cheering indication of their approach to the mouth of the Columbia, where the fur trade attracted American and English ships. Later they found an English musket and cutlass and some brass teakettles in an Indian hut, and one of the chiefs had cloths and a sword procured from some Eng- lish vessel.

Thus they went on through the present Skamania County, Washington, hunting now and then with some slight success, observing the country, buying roots and dogs, and mak- ing; notes of the habits of the natives and of their burial places, until they came to the "great shoot" or last rapids of the Columbia, which they passed without serious accident.

From Indians below the rapicls they heard the encouraging news that three ships had lately been seen at the mouth of the river.

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As they journeyed toward the sea, the entrance of the Multnomah, now the Willamette River,

was concealed from them by the islands at its mouth. A few miles farther up, the prosperous city of Portland, Oregon, now stands. While they were being piloted down the river by the Indian who had come to them in a sailors jacket, they caught sight of Mt. St. Helens.

Fog and rain, thievish Indians, and the noises of wild fowl at night were among their smaller troubles, but all were forgotten when, on November 7, the fog suddenly cleared away and " we enjoyed the delightful prospect of the ocean, — that ocean, the object of all our labors, the reward of all our anxieties. This cheering view exhilarated the spirits of all the party, w T ho were still more delighted on hearing the distant roar of the breakers."

Remembering what they had undergone, one can understand their joy at success in their perilous task. They had crossed the continent.

CHAPTER XVI ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE

The winter camp. Peculiarities of the Clatsop Indians. A scarcity of supplies. Turning homeward. Surmounting the cascades. Journeying by land. Troublesome Indians. Living on dog flesh. A search for their horses. Indian cooking. Suffering of the explorers.

The sea gave them an inhospitable welcome. As they neared a camping place which they selected on Gray's Bay, in Wahkiakum County, Washington, the waves were so high that some of the men became seasick. Next clay they were beaten back to camp by the rough water, which their canoes, mere dugouts, could not withstand. They were flooded by inces- sant rain and harassed by heavy winds, thiev- ish Indians, and the fleas which were the Indians' constant companions.

At their next camp, on Baker's Bay, they suffered even more from the merciless rain.

159

160 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

They found game, and explored to some extent the mouth of the Columbia. They hoped to encounter a trading ship from which they could replenish their stores, but none appeared. It was necessary to find a place for a winter camp and Lewis finally discovered one, on the south side of the Columbia, not far from their present camp. Before leaving the latter this inscrip- tion was carved on the trunk of a lofty pine:

" Win. Clark December 3d 1805 By Land from the U. States

Some three miles up the Netul River, which empties into a bay named Meriwether's (for Captain Meriwether Lewis), they made their camp on a bluff in a grove of lofty pines. There they built seven log cabins, roofed with rude shingles, or more properly slabs, called "shakes," which were split from pine logs. Their meat house was replenished by hunt> ing elk and deer. In the course of the winter they killed one hundred and thirty-one of the former and twenty of the latter.

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Mouth of the Columbia River (From the plan drawn by Lewis and Clark)

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX ANO TtLDEN FOUNDATIONS.

ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 161

They saw much of the Clatsop Indians, who lived in houses of split pine boards half above and half below the ground. The explorers noted that these Indians were cleanly and fre- quently washed their faces and hands, some- thing which they had rarely seen among other tribes. In their most common game "one of the party had a piece of bone about the size of a large bean, and having agreed with any individual as to the value of the stake, he would pass the bone from one hand to the other with great dexterity, singing at the same time to divert the attention of his adversary ; then holding it in his closed hands, his antag- onist was challenged to guess in which of them the bone was." This seems to have been a variety of the game, " Button, Button, who has the Button?"

These Clatsops are described as wearing hats " made of cedar-bark and bear-grass, interwoven together in the form of a Euro- pean hat, with a small brim of about two inches, and a high crown widening upward. They are light, ornamented with various

L62 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

colors, and being nearly waterproof , are much

more durable than either chip or straw hats. . . . But the most curious workmanship is that of the basket. It is formed of cedar- bark and bear-grass, so closely interwoven that it is water-tight, without the aid of either gum or resin."

These Indians were much more attractive than the dwarfish and ugly Cliinooks. whom they also observed, but with great caution on account of their thievish habit >.

The winter was not eventful. They hunted, studied the Indians, and made salt by evap- orating sea water. There was little snow, but the rain was persistent.

In March they prepared for their long jour- ney homeward. On examining their stores they found a sufficient supply of powder. This was in leaden canisters, which, when they had been emptied, were melted to make bullets. Their goods, however, were nearly exhausted. "All the small merchandise we possess might be tied up in a couple of handkerchiefs. The rest of our stock in trade consists of six blue

OX THE PACIFIC SLOPE 163

robes, one scarlet robe, five robes which we made of our United States flag, a few old clothes trimmed with ribbons, and one artil- lerist's coat and hat, which probably Captain Clark will never wear again. We have to depend entirely upon this meagre outfit for the purchase of such horses and provisions as it will be in our power to obtain — a scant dependence indeed, for such a journey as is before us."

Before they started they made several copies of a list of the party, a map of their route, and a memorandum regarding their travels. These they left with the Clatsops. who were to give them to any white man. One list was given the next summer to Captain Hill of the brig Li/dia, who came to the coast to trade. He took it to China and then sent it to the United States, where it arrived safely.

At this point in the journal there is a long and careful account of all the plants, animals, birds, and fish which they had seen, showing how thoroughly they had studied the natural history of the country during the winter.

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On March 23, 1806, the canoes were loaded and they began the journey eastward. The hunters of the party searched the shores dili- gently for game with some success. They obtained "wappatoo" (arrowhead roots) from the various Indians whom they met, some of whom, the Skilloots, were old acquaintances, and later, dogs were again necessary to help out their fare. On the return, Captain Clark discovered the Multnomah, now the Willamette River, which as we have seen they failed to notice on the descent. They describe Mt. Hood and Mt. Regnier (Rainier), St. Helens, and Mt. Jefferson, and they note the beautiful cas- cades along the rocky walls of the Columbia, among them the superb Multnomah Falls.

On April 9 they reached Beacon Rock on the north side of the river, which marks the head of tide water and the foot of the cas- cades of the Columbia. They had only one towrope, and it was therefore a long and tiresome task to drag the canoes one by one along the shore to the portage. Here they were obliged to unload the canoes and carry

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their effects around. The Indians, Wahclel- lahs, crowded about them and threatened vio- lence. Some of them threw stones. Two attempted to take a dog from Shields, one of the men. " He had no weapon but a long knife, with which he immediately attacked both, hoping to put them to death before they had time to draw their arrows ; but as soon as they saw his design they fled into the woods."

After much labor the company passed the cascades, and presently surmounted the " Long Narrows." These are now known as the Dalles of the Columbia, from a French word meaning; flat stones. At the head is now Celilo City, and at the foot Dalles City, both in Oregon.

By April 16 the party reached the plains stretching away to the foot of the Rockies, and they found that the air was drier and more pure, and that they had emerged from the region of constant rains.

After various efforts a few horses were pro- cured and some of the canoes were broken up, and from the 24th of April they traveled

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wholly by land. Their stock of goods was so low that it was hard to trade for horses, and on the 28th we find Captain Clark obliged to give his sword for a white horse in addition to some powder and ball.

The Skilloot Indians and others proved thievish and disobliging. One of them was kicked out of camp for stealing, but in spite of these troubles bloodshed was avoided by tact and patience. An agreeable contrast was af- forded by the " Walla wollahs " (Walla Wallas), three of whom travelled a whole day to return a steel trap which the explorers had left be- hind. It is pleasant also to know that Lewis and Clark were enabled by their knowledge of medicine and surgery to help these Indians. They set a broken arm and put it into splints, and gave medicines to the sick. They enter- tained other Indians with their violins, which had been carefully preserved throughout their vicissitudes.

They were now crossing the plains where fuel and game were scarce. They passed along the Walla Walla River in Washington

ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 167

on their way toward the Kooskooskee River and their friends the Chopunnish Indians. Early in May they met an old acquaintance, Weahkoonut, who had guided them down the Snake in the previous autumn. The explorers had been living on scanty rations and were half famished, and they found that the Indians themselves were little better off. Dog flesh was their chief reliance until the hunters succeeded in killing some deer.

It will be remembered that they had left their horses with these Indians in the autumn and had hidden their saddles and some of their goods. But there had been quarrels among the Indians, the hiding place had been ex- posed, some of the saddles were gone, and it was only after much trouble that the horses were recovered.

On May 10 there was a heavy snowstorm, and as the mountains were covered the ex- plorers made a camp on the river to await the melting of the snow. They were now on the Kooskooskee. in the Nez Perce County, Idaho, to the eastward of the city of Lewiston.

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Here they held a grand council with the In- dians, explaining the sovereignty and benefi- cent intentions of the United States. It would be hard to say exactly what ideas reached the Indians. The explorers spoke in English to one of their men. He translated the message into French for Chaboneau. He interpreted it to his wife in the Minnetaree language. She put it into Shoshone, and a young Sho- shone prisoner among the Indians explained it to the Chopunnish in their own dialect. Whatever they might have gathered from the talk, the Indians had no difficulty in under- standing the presents which were made them. The hunters encountered grizzly bears again, and some meat was given to the Indians, which they cooked in an odd way. " They immedi- ately prepared a large fire of dried wood, on which was thrown a number of smooth stones from the river. As soon as the fire burned down and the stones were heated, they were laid next to each other in a level position and covered with a quantity of pine branches, on which were placed flitches of the meat, and

ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 169"

then boughs and flesh alternately for several courses, leaving a thick layer of pine on the top. On this heap they then poured a small quantity of water and covered the whole with earth to the depth of four inches. After remaining in this state for about three hours, the meat was taken off, and was really more tender than that which we had boiled or roasted, though the strong flavor of the pine rendered it disagreeable to our palates."

Their stay in this country was made uncom- fortable by a recurrence of the rains. They often slept in pools of rain water. About the middle of May they found that the stores of each man were reduced to one awl, a knitting needle, half an ounce of vermillion, two needles, a few skeins of thread, and a yard of ribbon. This represented their means of trading with the Indians. To increase their store they cut from their ragged uniforms the brass buttons which attracted the Indians, and bought fish, bread, and roots. They also exchanged some of their eyewater and ointment, and tin boxes in which they had kept phosphorus.

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The medical practice of the explorers con- tinued. They treated the Cbopunnish (Nez Perces) for sore eyes and for rheumatism. There was much sickness among their own party. However much they suffered them- selves, they gave the tenderest care to one pathetic little figure, — a strange comrade for such a journey, — the baby of Sacajawea.

It was not a cheerful time that they passed at this camp. They gathered all the food possible, nursed their sick, cared for their horses, and waited as patiently as possible for the deep snow to melt, so that they might cross the mountains.

Once, on June 10, they started, but snow fifteen feet deep forced them to return, after several accidents. It was essential that they should descend the Missouri before winter closed navigation. Salt had given out, they were unable to catch fish, and there was no game until they returned to Quamash (Camas) Flats, where some deer and bears were killed. The explorers recorded these facts in their journal without complaints or despondency.

CHAPTER XVII

ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS

On June 24, after securing some Indian guides, they set out on a second attempt to pass the mountains. This time, in spite of snow, dangerous precipices, and steep ascents, they succeeded in crossing the Bitter Root range. They traveled one hundred and fifty- six miles in this rough journey from Idaho into Montana. On June 30 they reached their old camp on Clark's River, Montana.

They decided that Lewis and nine men should hasten on to the falls of the Missouri and prepare for the portage of canoes and baggage. Clark was to go to the head of the

171

172 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Jefferson River, which Sergeant Ordway and nine men went' to descend, while Clark and ten men were to descend the Yellowstone. This was in order to gain as much knowledge as possible of the country,

Lewis's journey to the falls was uneventful. There were plenty of elk and other game, and also, unfortunately, of mosquitoes. On open- ing their cache at the falls they found the bearskins and specimens of plants spoiled by water. Some of the horses disappeared, and Drewyer, the mightiest hunter of the party, went on a long and fruitless quest for them. Another man, M'Neal, "approached a thicket in which there was a white [grizzly] bear which he did not discover until he was within ten feet of him ; his horse started, and wheel- ing; suddenly round, threw M'Neal almost immediately under the bear. He started up instantly, and finding the bear raising himself on his hind feet to attack him, struck him on the head with the butt of his musket. The blow was so violent that it broke the breech of the musket and knocked the bear to the

ACKOSS THE MOUNTAINS 173

ground, and before he recovered, M'Neal, see- ing a willow tree close by, sprang up it and there stayed, while the bear closely guarded the foot of the tree until late in the after- noon. He then went off and M'Neal, being released, came down."

After preparing the carriages for the boats, Lewis started northward to explore Marias River. They were in a buffalo country, and there were signs of Indians. This was the land of the troublesome Blackfoot and Min- netaree Indians, and the signs were disturb- ing. Lewis followed up the north fork of Marias River, known as the Cut-bank River, in the northwest corner of Montana. He was anxious to find whether its source was in British America or the United States. But cloudy weather prevented them from taking observations, and the chronometer stopped for a time and they found themselves unable to determine the longitude. Without exact observations they could not fix the boundary line. Finally they turned back, after naming the place Camp Disappointment.

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On the same day, July 26, they encoun- tered a band of eight Minnetarees armed with two guns and bows and arrows. At first the meeting was peaceful, but the white men knew that these Indians were treacherous and great horse thieves. They camped together, but Lewis himself kept on watch until a late hour and then woke one of his men. It was fortunate that they were vigilant. Toward morning the Indians quietly rose and seized the rifles. "As soon as Fields [the sentinel, who had carelessly laid aside his rifle] turned round, he saw the Indian running off with the rifles, and instantly calling his brother they pursued him for fifty or sixty yards, and just as they overtook him, in the scuffle for the rifles, R. Fields stabbed him through the heart with his knife ; the Indian ran about fifteen steps and fell dead."

Meantime there was another struggle at the camp. An Indian had seized Drewyer's rifle, but on the instant Drewyer leaped up and wrested it from him. Awakened by the noise Captain Lewis reached for his rifle only to

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see an Indian running off with it. Drawing his pistol he rushed after the Indian, who finally threw the gun down. They had saved their rifles, but their horses were now in dan- ger. Lewis ordered the men to pursue the main party, who were driving off most of the horses. He himself, bareheaded, ran after two Indians who were escaping with another horse. He shouted breathlessly that unless they re- turned it he would shoot, and shoot he did, wounding one of the Indians, who fired at him. " The shot had nearly been fatal, for Captain Lewis felt the wind of the ball very distinctly." The result of this little battle was wholly favorable to the explorers. They lost one horse, but captured four Indian horses and some shields, bows, quivers, and one gun which the Indians left in the camjD. The Indian killed by Fields was the one to whom they had presented a medal the day before, and this they left around his neck, " that they might be informed who we were." The patience and adroitness of the explorers had kept them almost wholly free from serious

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trouble with the Indians. In this case they were forced to act in self-defense.

Very naturally they lost no time in start- ing on, fearing immediate pursuit by a larger band, but they made the journey back to the falls of the Missouri in safety.

Lewis and his reunited party, who had been joined by Sergeant Ordway and his men, passed around the falls and hastened down the river. At the mouth of the Yellowstone they found a note from Captain Clark, who was waiting a few miles below. But before they over- took him their leader, Captain Lewis, narrowly escaped death. Landing with the canoeman, Cruzatte, to hunt some elk, they took different routes. "Just as Captain Lewis was taking aim at an elk, a ball struck him in the left thigh, about an inch below the joint of the hip, and, missing the bone, went through the left thigh, and grazed the right to the depth of the ball. It instantly occurred to him that Cruzatte must have shot him by mistake for an elk, as he was dressed in brown leather, and Cruzatte had not a very good eyesight:'

ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS 177

He called to Cruzatte, but received no an- swer. Fearing an Indian ambush he pluck- ily made his way to the boat, shouting to Cruzatte to retreat. He reached the boat, and, wounded as he was, bravely led the men back to relieve Cruzatte. After a hundred steps his wound made it impossible for him to go on. "Without thought of a guard for himself, he sent the men on, and " limping back to the boat, he prepared himself with his rifle, a pistol, and the air-gun, to sell his life dearly in case the men should be overcome."

After all, it was a false alarm as regarded the Indians. It was Cruzatte himself who had shot Captain Lewis. He had seen the brown suit and had mistaken him for an elk.

The suffering of Captain Lewis was none the less real as he lay in the bottom of the pirogue while they went on to overtake Cap- tain Clark. On August 12 they met two fur traders from Illinois, and on the same day they joined Captain Clark, near the mouth of Little Knife Creek, and the whole party were reunited.

CHAPTER XVIII CAPTAIN CLARK'S ADVENTURES

Crossing to the Yellowstone. The last glimpse of the Kockies. Buffalo and bears. Reaching the Missouri. Attacked by mosquitoes. Pryor loses the horses. Bitten by a wolf. The whole party reunited.

We must go back for more than a month to begin the story of Clark's exploration of the Yellowstone River. He had parted from the others on July 3 at Traveler's Rest Creek in the Bitter Root Mountains in western Mon- tana. With fifteen men and Sacajawea, her child, and fifty horses, they traveled along I "lark's River. On July 4, having made sixteen miles, " we halted at an early hour for the pur- pose of doing honor to the birthday of our coun- try's independence. The festival was not very splendid, for it consisted of a mush made of cows [cowish] roots and a saddle of venison, nor had we anything to tempt us to prolong it."

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CAPTAIN CLARK'S AD VENTURES 179

In passing from the present Missoula County, Montana, into Beaver County they crossed a hill which divides the flow of water to the Atlantic from that to the Pacific. They dis- covered some of the hot sulphur springs which have since become so familiar. At the forks of the Jefferson they opened the cache made in August, 1805, and found the hidden goods and canoes generally in excellent condition. In their descent of the Jefferson they saw "innumerable quantities of beaver and otter, [and] the bushes of the low grounds are a favorite resort for deer, while on the higher parts of the valley are seen scattered groups of antelopes, and still further, on the steep sides of the mountains, we observed many of the big horn which take refuge there from the wolves and bear." This was to the west- ward of the present Bannock City.

When they reached the mouth of Madison River, Clark sent Sergeant Ordway and nine men on down the Missouri to overtake Lewis and the others. Clark himself, with ten men and Sacajawea, her baby, and fifty horses, set

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out from the forks of the Missouri to reach the Yellowstone River. The travelers of to-day who pass through Bozeman Pass from Gallatin City to Livingston by the railroad are following Captain Clark's route for much of the way.

Sacajawea, always helpful, found edible roots, and assisted the travelers by her recol- lections of the country. On July 15 they passed the ridge dividing the waters of the Missouri and the Yellowstone. Some of the horses were stolen by Indians in the night. One of the hunters "fell on a small piece of timber, which ran nearly two inches into the muscular part of his thigh. The w r ound was very painful, and were it not for their great anxiety to reach the United States this season, the party would have remained till he was cured." But it was necessary to place him in a rude litter and to press on. They reached a tributary of the Yellowstone, where they made two dugouts which were lashed together. Sergeant Pryor and two others were sent on with the horses, and the sergeant's experience was most unfortunate. "As soon as they

CAPTAIN CLARK'S ADVENTUEES 181

discovered a herd of buffalo the loose horses, having been trained by the Indians to hunt, immediately set off in pursuit of them, and surrounded the buffalo herd with almost as much skill as their riders could have done. At last he was obliged to send one horseman forward and drive all the buffalo from the route." But the whole party aided in getting most of the horses across the river, and Pryor, with an additional man, was sent on his way to the Mandan villages.

Clark and his party were now descending the Big Horn River. On an island they found a huge Indian lodge, sixty feet in diameter at the base, built of poles covered with bushes. On the tops of the poles were eagle feathers, and from the center hung a stuffed buffalo skin. This was probably a place for councils.

On July 27 they passed from the Big Horn into the Yellowstone and " took a last look at the Rocky Mountains, which had been con- stantly in view from the first of May."

As they floated down the discolored waters of the Yellowstone, buffalo appeared in vast

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numbers. "Such was the multitude of these animals, that, although the river, including an island, over which they passed was a mile in length, the herd stretched as thick as they could swim, completely from one side to the other, and the party was obliged to stop for an hour. They consoled themselves for the delay by killing four of the herd, and then proceeded a distance of forty-five miles on an island, be- low which tw T o other herds of buffalo, as numer- ous as the first, soon after crossed the river."

On August 2 Captain Clark notes that "the bear which gave so much trouble on the head of the Missouri, are equally fierce in this quarter. This morning one of them, which was on a sandbar as the boat passed, raised himself on his hind feet, and after looking at the party, plunged in and swam towards them. He was received with three balls in the body; he then turned round and made for the shore."

On August 3 they reached the junction of the Yellowstone and the Missouri, where they had made their camp on April 26, 1805. But swarms of mosquitoes gave them such a

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reception that they moved their camp farther down the river to await the coming of Cap- tain Lewis. Of Sacajawea's poor little child we read, " The face of the Indian child is considerably puffed up and swollen with the bites of these animals." The men themselves conld procure scarcely any sleep. When Clark tried to hunt he could not keep the mosqui- toes from the barrel of his rifle long enough to take aim.

Sergeant Pry or' s adventures with the horses were most trying. At the outset, as we saw, he lost some and had much difficulty in man- aging the others. He and his companions overtook Clark on August 8, but they had no horses at all. .They could only report that the horses had disappeared in the night. All that they were able to find were the tracks of the Indians who had stolen them.

But Pry or 's troubles did not end here. " On the following night a wolf bit him through the hand as he lay asleep, and made an attempt to seize Windsor, when Shannon dis- covered and shot him."

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The ingenuity of these men was equal to the emergency. When the horses disappeared, they imitated the Mandans by making boats of buffalo skins stretched around hoops and ribbed with sticks, and in these frail vessels they floated safely down the river until they overtook Captain Clark.

On August 11 Clark encountered two white fur traders from the country of the Illinois, and from these adventurers they gathered some news of the lower country. The fur traders and trappers were always among the first pioneers and explorers of the far West.

On August 12 they were overtaken by the boats commanded by Captain Lewis, who was lying wounded in the pirogue.

The party was now reunited, and they started again on their way to the villages of the Minnetarees and the Mandans.

CHAPTER XIX ON THE WAY HOME

At the Mandan villages again. Big White accompanies the explorers. Colter remains in the wilderness. His subse- quent discovery of the Yellowstone Park. Parting with the faithful squaw. Descending the river. The arrival at St. Louis. The news in Washington. The later life of Lewis and Clark.

Since it was near the Mandan villages that the explorers had passed their first winter, they felt comparatively at home. But they learned that their constant admonitions to keep the peace had not been followed by the neigh- bors of the Mandans, the Minnetarees, who also were asked to a grand council. There had been fights with Arikaras and Sioux, and the explorers were obliged to try the part of peacemakers again.

One of the main objects of the council was to persuade some chiefs to accompany the explorers to Washington to see the Great

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Father, as they called the President. This was very desirable, because the sight of the white people and their cities would impress tin- Indians and tend to make them more docile. But the Minnetaree chief excused himself on the plea that he was afraid of being killed by the Sioux, which was simply a pretext to avoid a journey that he did not care to make. The Indians were probably suspicious and preferred their own life to that of the white men. But at last Shahakas (Big White), a Mandan chief, agreed to go to Washington. 1

1 Lewis and CI .ark promised Big White a safe return, and he did return finally, after some curious adventures described in Chittenden's k ' History of the American Fur Trade." In 1807, after his visit to Washington, an expedi- tion was organized at St. Louis to escort Big White, his interpreter, their wives and two children, back to the Man- dan villages. It was commanded by Pryor, who had been promoted to the rank of ensign for his services in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Evidently his loss of the horses was not charged against him. But when the party reached the Arikaras, these Indians demanded goods, and also the sur- render of Big White. Pryor refused to give him up. A battle followed and several were killed and wounded on each side. The party were finally obliged to return, and Big White was carried back to St. Louis. In 1809 Captain

A Mandan Chief

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The party were now well on their way home, but the fascination of the wilderness was so strong that one of the men, John Colter, a most skillful hunter, applied for per- mission to leave the expedition and join some trappers who were going up the river. He had been away many years from the frontiers, but just as he was approaching civilization he turned his back upon it, preferring the wild life of the plains and mountains. 1 His choice

Lewis, then governor of upper Louisiana, or Missouri terri- tory, made a contract in behalf of the United States with the newly organized Missouri Fur Company for the return of Big White under pain of forfeiture of three thousand dollars. This time the effort was successful, and the much- suffering Big White was restored to his friends and home, after an absence of three years. For this it was agreed that the company should receive seven thousand dollars, which made Big White a costly visitor for the government. 1 For Colter this was the beginning of years of strange adventures. In the winter of 1806-1807 he camped in the valley of the Yellowstone River. When returning in the spring of 1807 he met a party directed by Manuel Lisa, the famous fur trader, and turned back to the wilderness a second time. He was sent on a long and perilous journey across the Wind River Mountains and the Teton Range to confer with the Blackfoot nation. But he became involved in an Indian war and was obliged to fight with the Crows

1SS LOUISIANA PURCHASE

brought him a permanent place in the history

of the West. The next year he became the discoverer of the natural wonders now in- cluded in the Yellowstone National Park.

As none of the Minnetarees would accom- pany the explorers to Washington, Chaboneau the interpreter, with his wife Sacajawea and their child, decided to remain here. "This man has been very serviceable to its," says the

against the Blackfeet. In endeavoring to regain Lisa's party lie crossed the Yellowstone National Park alone and saw the geysers. This was a wonderful journey in its extent and its discoveries. The next spring, 1808, he started again for the Blackfeet. His companion was killed. He was captured, stripped naked, and turned loose to run for his life before a multitude of yelling warriors. He ran until the blood burst from his nose and mouth. He out- stripped all the Indians save one. That one he killed, and with a last effort ran on to the river, where he dived under fallen logs. There he hid, while the Indians searched above him, "screeching and yelling like so many devils," until at night he swam down the river and made his way naked and half-starved to Lisa's fort. In 1809 he descended the Missouri to St. Louis, three thousand miles alone. He met Clark and aided him in the preparation of his map, upon which Clark traced Colter's route. The last days of the discoverer of the Yellowstone Park were passed peacefully on a farm above La Charette Creek near St. Louis, where he died, probably in 1813.

ON THE WAY HOME 189

journal, "and his wife particularly useful among the Shoshonees. Indeed, she has borne with a patience truly admirable the fatigues of so long a route, incumbered with the charge of an infant, who is even now only nineteen months old. We therefore paid him his wages, amounting to five hun- dred dollars and thirty-three cents, including the price of a horse and a lodge purchased of him." With this we see the last of this devoted and courageous woman.

It was time to start. Big White, uncon- scious of the many adventures before him, parted with his friends and the weeping squaws. The whole village crowded about the explorers and assured them that they would remember their words and obey the Great Father and keep the peace, except when attacked by the Sioux, and on August 17 they started clown the river on the last long stretch of their homeward journey.

These friendly relations offer a sharp con- trast to the hostile attitude of the early Spanish explorers in the south.

11M) LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Presently they met Arikaras and Cheyennes, with whom they held councils, but these were brief for they wished to press on, and on the 25th they made forty-eight miles with the oars. Their meeting with a band of Teton- Sioux was less pacific. These treacherous savages were forbidden to come to the camp, and the men were kept under arms.

When they encountered traders ascending the river they learned news of the civilized world. General James Wilkinson, afterwards notorious from charges of bribery, and of com- plicity with the treason of which Aaron Burr was accused, had been made governor of Lou- isiana territory. 1 In the diary of Sergeant Gass there is a reference to the death of Alexander Hamilton, who had been killed by Burr at Weehawken, opposite New York, on July 11, 1804, more than two years before. Nothing could more vividly bring out the long and remote isolation of these explorers than the sergeant's prompt note of this belated

1 Wilkinson's escapes from convictions by courts-martial failed to clear his character.

ON THE WAY HOME 191

piece of news : " Mr. Burr & Genl. Hambleton fought a Duel, the latter was killed."

After passing the mouth of the Platte they encountered Gravelines, the interpreter whom they had sent from Fort Mandan in 1805 to convey an Arikara chief (who died in Wash- ington), their reports, and some specimens of natural history to the capital.

On they went, passing through the coun- try of the Kansas Indians without any of the hostilities which they were prepared to meet. They encountered more traders and learned that the general opinion in the United States was that they were lost. Even in this last stretch of the long journey they suffered from scanty supplies, and the journal notes the gathering of pawpaw fruit for food.

On the 20th, near the mouth of the Gascon- ade, above St. Louis, they saw some cows feeding, " and the whole party almost invol- untarily raised a shout of joy at seeing this image of civilization and domestic life."

At the French village of La Charette the inhabitants and traders "were all equally

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surprised and pleased at our arrival, for they had long since abandoned all hopes of ever seeing us return."

On the 21st the village of St. Charles turned out to welcome them. The next day they passed with an encampment of troops at Coldwater Creek, and then, on " Tuesday [September] 23, descended the Mississippi and round to St. Louis, where we arrived at twelve o'clock, and having fired a salute went on shore and received the heartiest and most hospitable welcome from the whole village."

They had successfully completed the great- est of American explorations, a wilderness journey covering eight thousand miles and lasting for two years and four months. 1

1 Great as this journey was, it has sometimes been sub- ject to misconceptions. " First across the Continent " is the title chosen by Mr. Noah Brooks for his narrative of Lewis and Clark. They were not the first. Cabeza de Yaca crossed the continent on the south nearly three hundred years before. Coronado and De Soto between them practi- cally traversed the continent. Of the explorers in British North America on the north, two are preeminent, Samuel Hearne and Alexander Mackenzie. In 1771-1772 Hearne gained the distinction of being the first white man to reach

ON THE WAY HOME 193

Captain Lewis at once sent letters to Presi- dent Jefferson announcing his return, which took nearly a month to reach Washington. Jef- ferson's reply, dated October 20, expressed his "unspeakable joy "at the news, the first that had reached him since Gravelines brought their message from the Mandan villages in 1805.

Early in 1807 the two leaders went to Washington, where they met with a most enthusiastic reception. Congress voted fif- teen hundred acres of public land to Lewis and a thousand to Clark. It is characteris- tic that Lewis did not wish to receive more land than Clark. The officers were voted double pay, and each of the other members

Lake Athabasca and the Coppermine River, which he fol- lowed to the Arctic Ocean. He proved that the belief in a northwest passage from Hudson Bay to the Pacific was unfounded, although the tradition lingered even after his journey. In 1793 a more famous explorer, Alexander Mackenzie, made a successful expedition westward from Lake Athabasca. He passed through the mountains and descended the Fraser River in British Columbia to the sea. This was the first journey across the continent, with the exception of Cabeza de Vaca's flight far to the south. It might well be called a " Northwest Passage by land," to apply a phrase used by a later traveler.

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of the expedition received three hundred acres of land. 1

In telling the story of this wonderful jour- ney it has not been desirable to give the elaborate results of the minute observations made by the explorers. In addition to the

1 Captain Lewis was appointed governor of Louisiana territory in 1807 and resigned from the army. Captain Clark was appointed general of the militia of the territory and Indian agent.

The whole Purchase had been divided into the terri- tory of Orleans, representing roughly the present state of Louisiana, and Louisiana territory, which was all the rest north of the state.

Captain Lewis's end was a sad one. On a journey to Washington in 1809 he stayed for the night at a rough wayside inn near Memphis, Tennessee. In the morning he was found dead, probably by his own hand, for he was subject to attacks of great depression.

Captain Clark was offered a commission as brigadier general in the War of 1812 with the command held by the unsuccessful General Hull on the northwestern frontier, but he declined to serve. In 1813 President Madison appointed him governor of Missouri territory, as upper Louisiana was then called. He served until Missouri became a state in 1821, when he was a candidate for governor, but was defeated. In 1822 President Monroe made him superintendent of Indian affairs, an office which he filled successfully until his death at St. Louis in 1838.

OX THE WAY HOME 195

many notes upon Indians, soil, flora, and fauna in the narrative, the journals are accompanied by a long appendix. This contains tables and notes giving the names and estimated number of the Indian tribes, daily records of weather and wind, notes upon the rivers, and care- ful memoranda regarding soil, vegetation, and animals. These observations and the careful surveys and maps testify to the thoroughness and knowledge with which the explorers did their work, just as the story which we have followed shows their ingenuity and persever- ance, their tact in dealing with obstacles, and their courage in the face of danger. The journey which they made is one of the world's greatest explorations, and its story has become a classic among the travel tales of history.

LOUISIANA

Part III THE EXPLORATION OF THE WEST

CHAPTER XX

PIKE'S EXPLORATIONS

Ascending the Mississippi. A second expedition westward. Hostile Spanish influence. Into Colorado. The first glimpse of Pike's Peak. On the upper Arkansas. Disap- pointment and privation. In Spanish territory. Captured by the Spaniards. Pike's return and death.

While the Lewis and Clark expedition was struggling across the mountains in 1805 an- other explorer was on his way from St. Louis northward. Lewis and Clark were sent by the President, and theirs was the first govern- mental exploration of the Louisiana territory. The second exploration was a military one, and was the first military expedition sent into the new country. It was commanded by Lieuten- ant Zebulon M. Pike, a young army officer, born in Lamberton, New Jersey, in 1779.

In 1805 General James Wilkinson, the com- manding officer of the army, ordered Lieutenant

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200 LOUISIANA PUK'HASE

Pike to ascend the Mississippi to its head waters. He was to make the sovereignty of the United States known to the Indians and Canadian traders. He was to observe

the country, and to ascertain if possible the sources of the Mississippi.

It was on August 9, 1805, that Lieutenant Pike left St. Louis with twenty men to carry out his orders. They traveled in a keel boat seventy feet long. Provisions for four months were carried, but as it turned out nearly nine months passed before they returned. They ascended the river with few adventures and on September 22 they camped near the site of the present city of St. Paul, where they held a council with the Sioux.

From this point, undeterred by cold and scanty supplies, they made a plucky winter journey to Leech Lake (Minnesota), which Pike supposed, erroneously, to be the main source of the Mississippi. He overlooked the real source, Lake Itasca. They reached Leech Lake on February 1, but after various explorations and some negotiations with the Indians, which

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included a treaty with the Sioux, they turned back. Of the Falls of St. Anthony, Pike gives a vivid picture, and his journal is full of interest, although less detailed than that of Lewis and Clark. On April 30 the expedition returned to St. Louis. The lieutenant had learned much about the upper river, although he was mistaken as to its source, and his expedition had succeeded in proclaiming the dominion of the United States.

More important and more closely associated with our narrative was Pike's second expedi- tion. In July. 1806, he left St. Louis with a military party numbering twenty-three, under orders from General Wilkinson to travel west- ward into the interior of Louisiana, to reach the sources of the Arkansas River, and to explore the mountains of the present state of Colorado. He also escorted to their homes fifty -one Osage and Pawnee chiefs and their people who had visited Washington.

The first part of Pike's route was by water up the Missouri, and then up the Osage to the villages of the Osage Indians. Thence

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he traveled overland through Kansas to a Pawnee village.

The cession of Louisiana with its indefinite boundaries had already caused complications with the Spaniards, who held the southwest, including the present state of Texas. They had heard of Pike's expedition and had sent an armed force to turn him back from any territory which they claimed, or to make him a prisoner. Out of this grew trouble later.

The Spaniards had held a council with the Pawnees and had made them presents of flags. Even after Pike had explained to them the American ownership of the country, and an old Pawnee warrior had obediently brought out a Spanish flag and taking it from its staff replaced it with the American flag, the Pawnee chief tried to keep the Americans from con- tinuing westward, saying that he had prom- ised the Spaniards to intercept them. But Pike kept resolutely on.

As they crossed the plains they saw the old camps of the Spanish troops who had preceded

PIKE'S EXPLOEATIONS 203

them. Buffalo, wild horses, and prairie dogs furnished variety to the journey, but between the Indians on the one hand and Spaniards on the other the march was not a cheerful one.

They turned southward and reached the Arkansas River near the present town of Great Bend, Kansas. There Pike sent some of his men down the river, while with the others he ascended into Colorado and camped at the site of the later city of Pueblo.

On November 15, while on the Purgatory River and about a week before they reached Pueblo, Pike made the discovery which has served in a sense as his monument. He writes : " I thought I could distinguish a mountain to our right which appeared like a small blue cloud ; viewed it with the spy- glass and was still more confirmed in my con- jecture ; ... in half an hour they [the moun- tains] appeared in full view before us. When our small party arrived on the hill they with one accord gave three cheers to the Mexican Mountains."

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This was the main range of the Rocky Mountains, and the " blue cloud" is known to this day as Pike's Peak.

On the 24th Pike and a few companions left the camp which they had made at Pueblo, in the hope of climbing the peak. He was not accus- tomed to mountains like these or to the rarefied air, which makes the distance seem much less. The peak w T as really fifty miles away in an air line and a hundred by land. They traveled many miles and climbed lower mountain ridges, only to find the summit of the " Grand Peak " still towering distantly above them. What with snow, thin clothing, and scanty food, the party were in a w r retched condition, and on the 27th they turned back to the camp. Thus ended the first attempt to climb Pike's Peak. 1

Continuing their ascent of the Arkansas, the party reached the present site of Caiion City, where the Grand Canon withheld a pas- sage yielded years later to the railroad.

1 The motto of the later gold seekers in the fifties was " Pike's Peak or Bust." Some of them were forced to change it to "Busted." Piku might have done the same.

PIKE'S EXPLORATIONS 205

Turning aside they ascended Oil Creek to South Park, passed along the South Platte, and, continuing, again reached the Arkansas.

Pike's Peak Trail at Minnehaha Falls

In spite of the bitter cold of a Rocky Moun- tain winter, Pike ascended the Arkansas to its sources near Leadville, and descended it to Canon City . This was another disappointment,

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for lie had thought himself on the Red River,

whose sources he had been instructed to discover.

On January 14, 1807, notwithstanding the midwinter weather, Pike pluckily started out to find the Red River. He made his way up Grape Creek, which flows into the Arkansas, and through the Wet Mountain valley. Food was scarce. The men were frost-bitten and some of them crippled for life. But they kept on over the Sangre de Cristo Range into the San Luis valley. There he descended the Rio Grande. On reaching the entrance of the Rio Conejos on January 31, he built a stockade and encamped. He was now in southern Colo- rado, and his search for the Red River had led him into Spanish territory. As a matter of fact this river was really the Canadian, which rises not far from Santa Fe in New Mexico.

Pike himself was carrying out Wilkinson's orders, but just what these orders were is doubtful. Wilkinson w T as implicated in the plot attributed to Aaron Burr to found a new empire in the valley of the Mississippi.

j&k

Zebulon M. Pike

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AST OK, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATION*.

PIKE'S EXPLORATIONS 207

The historian McMaster thinks that Pike was ordered to descend into Mexico as a part of this plot. But Pike himself denied any knowledge of such motives, and it seems cer- tain that whatever Wilkinson's intentions were, Pike was entirely innocent. There is a certain mystery over the reasons for this invasion of Spanish territory.

Whatever the exact facts were, the result was the arrest of Pike and his party on Febru- ary 26 by a Spanish force. It was done under the guise of a polite invitation to visit the Spanish governor at Santa Fe. Pike was taken into Mexico as- a prisoner, but after many journeys he was escorted through Texas and delivered to his countrymen at Natchi- toches, Louisiana, on July 1, 1807.

Thus the expedition had an unfortunate ending. But the value of Pike's explora- tions of the central part of the Purchase will always be an honor to his memory. 1

1 In the War of 1812 he was made a brigadier general. He died in battle, killed when storming the batteries of York, the capital of Upper Canada.

CHAPTER XXI ROUTES OF EXPLORATION

The great water ways. Importance of the Missouri The Santa IV. < >verland, and Oregon trails. The fur trade the chief industry. Its effect on exploration.

After these pioneer American explorations came the extension of the fur trade, the earlier expeditions to Santa Fe. the overland journey to Astoria in 1811-1813, the exploits of lead- era like William H. Ashley, and the journeys of Wyeth and others. But before the story of exploration is followed farther it will be help- ful to note the bee inn ins of regular routes from the great central valley to the vague con- fines of Louisiana and beyondto the sea.

Nature did much for the explorers and builders of the West in offering them passage on the great rivers flowing from the mountains to the central valley of the continent. Man,

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following in the footsteps of buffalo and elk along land routes where nature had smoothed

Emigrant Train crossing the Plains

the way and cleft the mountains, wore deeper the pathways, which became historic trails.

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Sometimes the paths of animals, of hunters, trappers, gold seekers, and emigrants, became

the route of the railroad, — a route with an almost forgotten history.

Without the water routes the exploration and later development of the vast interior known as Louisiana would have been a differ- ent story. The Great Lakes offered a high- way for the French. The Wisconsin River led them to the first explorations of the Mis- sissippi and the discovery that it flowed to the Gulf of Mexico and not to the western sea. In the early Spanish history the navi- gation of rivers played an insignificant part, but for French explorers, trappers, and traders the water ways were all-important.

East of the Mississippi the Ohio was the greatest of the historic water ways. It was down the Ohio and other tributaries of the Mississippi that there poured the wave of pioneer conquest which was to sweep away any foreign possession of Louisiana.

West of the Mississippi there were the Osage, the Kansas, the Arkansas, the Red

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PUBLIC LIBRARY

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TILW* fCUNPATIOH*.

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River, and the Platte, all early routes of con- sequence, and, by far the greatest from every point of view, there was the Missouri. 1

The water which has its source at the head of the Jefferson fork of the Missouri, on the Rocky Mountain dividing line between Mon- tana and Idaho, reaches the Gulf of Mexico after a journey of forty-two hundred and twenty-one miles. The enormous extent of the Mississippi's drainage basin is illustrated by the fact that the water which passes through the great river's mouth to the sea comes from no fewer than twenty-eight states and the Indian territory. 2 The Missouri-Mis- sissippi reckoned as a continuous water route forms the longest river in the world. Its

1 The mouth of the Missouri was discovered by Mar- quette and Joliet in 1673. The river was entered about 1700 by the French, who ascended farther and farther, until Chittenden estimates that by the time St. Louis was founded in"1761 the river had been explored for a thousand miles. In 1801 Lewis and Clark had been preceded by white men almost up to the mouth of the Yellowstone.

2 Mr. George Cary Eggleston's story, " The Last of the Flat-boats," gives a suggestive popular sketch of the magni- tude, political consequence, and peculiarities of this system.

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tortuous way, its Erequenl changes of course, and its destructive floods have presented prob- lems yet unsolved. The time may come when great reservoirs will gather the surplus waters of floods like those of the spring of 1903, but, in .spite of the attempts of man, the Missouri remains as unfettered as when Marquette and Joliet shrank appalled from the seething tor- rent at its mouth. Historically the part of the Missouri has been of the first importance. " For fully a hundred years " (up to about 1875), says Chittenden, "the history of the Missouri River was the history of the country through which it flowed." The explorer, trap- per and trader, priest and soldier, prospector, miner, and buffalo hunter, and the military forces of the United States 1 swelled the number

1 As early as 1819, when the first steamboat entered the Missouri, arrangements were made, but not carried out, for the transportation of troops to the Yellowstone. In 1825 troops were carried in keel boats propelled "by wheels turned by hand. After 1855 the steamboat played a large pari in military operations along the Missouri and its tribu- taries. Of the various dramatic incidents of the steamboat days in the remote Northwest, one of the most stirring was the run of the Far West after the Custer massacre in

ROUTES OF EXPLORATION 213

of travelers upon this great water way. The early nineteenth century brought a new and most important era in the coming of the steam- boat. 1 Another chapter was opened later in the transportation of troops ; and still another a little later in the northwestern discoveries of gold. 2 Taking the Missouri-Mississippi as

1876. Down the narrow and unknown Big Horn, down the dangerous Yellowstone and the Missouri, the Far West was driven with the speed of a railway train, bring- ing to Bismarck her load of wounded soldiers and the full reports of the battle — a thousand miles in fifty-four hours.

In 1877 General Miles's good fortune in finding a steam- boat near the mouth of the Muscleshell (Musselshell) en- abled him to gain sufficiently on Chief Joseph and the fleeing Nez Perces, who were nearing British soil, to over- take them within fifty miles of the boundary line.

1 A steamboat was built at Pittsburg as early as 1811 and descended to New Orleans.

2 In 1863 came the rich Alder Gulch discovery of gold placers on a branch of the Jefferson fork of the Missouri, and the following year the gold of Last Chance Gulch laid the foundation of the future capital of Montana, — Helena. The discoveries of mineral wealth which followed were the beginnings of Montana's prosperity, and one immediate effect was a vast increase in steamboat traffic. " Prior to 1864," says Chittenden, "there had been only six steam- boat arrivals at Fort Benton. In 1866 and 1867 there were

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a whole, one may well agree with Chittenden that no river on the com incut lias an equal record. As for the Mississippi alone, the great centra] river or trunk line, whose tributaries drain hoth the Alleghenies and the Rocky Mountains, its commanding position in polit- ical as well as economic history is only imper- fectly illustrated in Madison's comment in

seventy. The trade touched highwater mark in 18G7 and at this time presented one of the most extraordinary devel- opments known to the history of commerce. There were times when thirty or forty steamboats were on the river between Fort Benton and the mouth of the Yellowstone."

But just as the steamboat succeeded the pirogues, or " log dugouts," the " bull boats " of buffalo hide, the mack- inaw boats built of planks, and the keel boats worked by oar and sail which formed the representative craft before steam, so the coming of the railroad supplanted the steam- boat after a contest which lasted from about 1859, when the railroad reached St. Joseph, Missouri, to about 1887.

To-day there are probably more steamboats on the Yukon River in Alaska than are to be found on the Mis- sissippi above St. Louis, and several times the number of the Missouri River boats, since the Missouri is nearly aban- doned. One minor practical outcome of American expan- sion and development is shown in the fact that many of the pilots and other steamboat men trained on these rivers have been taken to the Yukon, where, it is said, their skill is making serious accidents a thing of the past.

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1802, that " The Mississippi is everything to the Western people : the Hudson, the Dela- ware, the Potomac, and all the navigable streams of the United States formed into one stream." The great steamboat traffic of the Mississippi and its tributaries, which employed four thousand boats in 1850, forms a history distinctive in its methods, its economics, and its picturesqueness. 1

Even before the great water ways first knew the canoe of the explorer, a Spaniard had made a wonderful land journey which traversed in part a route famous nearly three centuries later as the highway of traders, soldiers, and emigrants. The first association of the Santa Fe trail with white men goes back to the journey of Coronado, but it was not until the early nineteenth century that the path from Independence on the Missouri to Santa Fe,

1 Mark Twain's " Life on the Mississippi " and his " Roughing It " have a distinct historical value as pictures of the past life of the water ways and the interior of the West. The last stage of the contest between the steam- boat and the railroad below St. Louis has been dramatized, as it were, in Mr. G. W. Ogden's novel, " Tennessee Todd."

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New Mexico, became a trading route. 1 Origi- nally the way was wesl by Council Grove and

along the Arkansas to Bent's Fort, which w.is east of La .Junta, and thence south, by the Raton Pass, to Santa F<\ Later the river was left at Cimarron Crossing, near Dodge City, and the route traversed the desert in a nearly direct southwesterly line. In the country of the Missouri-Mississippi there were manufactured goods. In the Spanish Southwest there was a waiting and eager market. 2 Thus, before the close of the first

1 For a time Blue Mills, Missouri, was a starting point. The year 1817 brought the first stage of steamboal naviga- tion of the Mississippi, and two years later the first steamboat reached the Missouri. The appearance of the steamboat brought more traffic for the trail. Later, Independence was found a more convenient point of departure.

2 The first trading expedition from the tipper Mississippi country to Santa Pe" was about 1760, according to Captain Amos Stoddard's "Sketches of Louisiana. 1 ' and resulted in the imprisonment of the would-be traders and confiscation of their goods. Under Spanish rule there was some inter- course but no trade of consequence, and the second trading expedition is noted by Chittenden as that of William Mor- rison of Kaskaskia, Illinois, afterwards a partner of the famous Spanish fur trader, Manuel Lisa. This was in 1807.

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quarter of the century, there began that " commerce of the prairie " which made the Santa Fe trail, down to the coming of the railroad, the greatest land trading route of the West. Traversing as the trail did the haunts of the fiercest Indians of the plains,

Pike's journey, and his involuntary journey to Santa Fe, formed the first visit of an officer of our government. Just before Pike the Spaniards had sent an armed force to the Pawnee villages at Kansas to enlist the interest of the Indians against the Americans. There were various minor expeditions over the trail in the first twenty years of the century, including the journeys of A. P. Chouteau and Julius de Munn in 1815-1817; but William Becknell of Missouri, " the father of the Santa Fe trail," is credited by Chittenden with the founding of this route commercially. Inman gives the date of his first expedition as 1812, but this should probably be later. The earlier traders had caravans of horses and mules. Wheeled vehicles were intro- duced probably about 1825, and Becknell was the first to take wagons over the trail. In that day cheap domestic cotton cloths could be sold for over two dollars a yard in Santa Fe. The possibilities of trade with New Mexico were seen by Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, "the father of the W r est," who introduced a bill in 1824, which became a law, for the survey of a route from the Missouri to New Mexico. But the survey was imperfectly carried out and the traders followed the old wagon route, portions of which are now followed by the main line of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa F£ Railroad.

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commerce was forced to fight its way. The Santa Fe trail was the first great plains route for the interchange of trade between white men. Its history began with the Span- iards. It was a history of traffic rather than of emigrant travel, but a history second to none in its record of peril and adventure. 1

The Oregon as well as the Santa Fe trail had its real beginning at Independence, Mis- souri. From St. Louis the journey was by water. The overland traffic, when the river was left behind for the journey across the plains, led to the foundation of Independence, Missouri, — which preserves its identity, — and Westport, afterwards absorbed into Kansas City which was laid out in 1838. Forty-one miles west from Independence the two trails parted company, and there for a time stood a sign announcing the great journey before the traveler in the simple words, "Road to Oregon." To the northwest the "road"

1 The romance and adventure of this picturesque old trail is well illustrated in Colonel Henry Ininan's " The Old Santa Fe" Trail." Dnfori nnately the author's history is not reliable.

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stretched away to the Columbia, a distance of two thousand miles. 1 The Oregon trail was

1 The trail crossed the Kansas River near the city of Topeka, reached the Platte River in Nebraska, and followed up the Platte along the south and then the north fork to Fort Laramie, which was a station much in use for rest and repairs, since there was no other similar halting place until Fort Bridger was reached, three hun- dred and ninety-four miles beyond. The trail continued along the North Platte, which was forded near Caspar, Wyoming, but was left behind a few miles farther on, since the trail continued westward, passing a famous landmark near the valley of the Sweetwater which was named Inde- pendence Rock, probably by Ashley, before 1830. From the Devil's Gate, a remarkable canon through which the Sweetwater flows, the trail went on to the great South Pass in Wyoming, between the Wind River Mountains and the Sweetwater Range. The first discovery of this pass was due not to Hunt and the Astorians of 1811-1813, but, in Chittenden's opinion, to one of the parties of the fur trader and explorer, Alexander Henry, in 1823. At Fort Bridger, built in 1843 by the famous trapper, explorer, and guide, James Bridger, who discovered Great Salt Lake, the traveler had journeyed over a thousand miles. The trail kept on in a northwesterly direction, passing Fort Hall on the Snake River, and Fort Boise, and near Pen- dleton reaching the Umatilla River, which was followed to the Columbia, eighteen hundred and thirty-five miles from Independence. Two hundred miles down the Columbia the end of the trail was reached at Fort Vancouver, opposite the mouth of the Willamette.

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of peculiar consequence from its relation not only to trade but also to the settlement of the country beyond the mountains, a country which could not have been settled by Ameri- cans without the control of land routes made possible by the acquisition of Louisiana.

Another of the great routes which was partly identical with the Oregon trail ran directly westward, — the Overland trail, as it came to be known, from St. Joseph, Missouri, and also from Council Bluffs along the Platte to Fort Laramie and westward. This route left the Oregon trail near Fort Hall, and crossed the desert to the Truckee River and California. 1 This was the main route of the overland gold seekers and emigrants in '49 and subsequent years. To the south there

1 The trail turned south and west beyond Fort Bridger, and the usual route was known as the Salt Lake Trail, which is described by Colonel Henry Inman in his pictur- esque though not infallible volume, " The Great Salt Lake Trail." There were at least three other early trails of considerable but lesser consequence. The exact identifica- tion of these routes is difficult, but Chittenden's itineraries are recommended for consultation.

ROUTES OF EXPLORATION 221

was, later in the century, a mail route from Fort Smith, Arkansas, southwest through Texas and west to California.

Three great land routes and one vast water way are to be remembered as the most potent earlier means of traversing Louisiana, devel- oping its trade and reaching the country beyond the mountains. On the maps of to-day, while the routes are identical only in part, we find the Santa Fe trail succeeded by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, the Oregon trail by the Oregon Short Line and other railroads, and the Overland trail by the Union and Central Pacific.

Greatest of all industries in the early his- tory of Louisiana was the trade in furs, which centered in St. Louis. It was a traffic inherited from the French, who were far more active in its development than the Spaniards, although certain of the latter, like Manuel Lisa, were traders of renown. The mineral wealth of the mountains lay unrevealecl for nearly half a century after American occupation. Agriculture, save within easy distance of the

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lower Missouri, expanded bul little until after the Civil War. A complete history of upper Louisiana to L843, when emigration to the Wesl began, would be in larger part a his- tory of the Eur trade. In 1847 it was esti- mated that the annual value of the St. Louis fur trade for the preceding forty years had been between two hundred and three hundred thousand dollars. The conduct of the trade from 1806 to 1843 in a country swarming with hostile Indians is estimated 1 to have cost the lives of three hundred traders and the destruction of property valued at over two hundred thousand dollars.

The management of the business was not a question of individuals or firms, but of great companies and of combinations. In the north there had been early exemplars. In Canada there was the far-reaching Hudson Bay Company, organized in 1670 with the picturesque adventurer, Pierre Radisson, as its originator, and Prince Rupert at its head, and there was also its sometime rival, the

1 Chittenden.

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Northwest Fur Company. The Mackinaw Company had the trade of the Great Lakes. From the time of the Louisiana cession to 1845, St. Louis was the headquarters of the fur trade of the far West and the home of various companies with longer or shorter careers — the American, Rocky Mountain, Missouri, and companies and firms whose rivalry in the field, like the hostility of the Hudson Bay and Northwest companies in the North, added some dark pages to the frontier history of the continent. In the Northwest, John Jacob Astor, seeing the possibilities of the fur trade, founded Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia in 1811 — an unsuccessful experiment — and began an effort to reorgan- ize and combine the fur trade.

At once this commercial activity quickened the exploration of the interior. The trappers sent from St. Louis ascended the Osage and Kansas rivers, and the Platte, or went south- ward along the Arkansas. The Missouri be- came the great thoroughfare for the traders and trappers passing to and from the streams

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issuing from the distant mountains. The bourgeois or manager, the clerk, the hunter and trapper, camp-keeper, voyageur or boat- man, the novices or "pork eaters," and the artisans represented the various grades en- rolled on the books of the old fur companies. They were the regular army of the wilderness traffic, and in addition there were the soldiers of fortune, or free trappers, who scorned allegiance to any standard save their own. "Gamesters of the Wilderness" 1 were these adventurers, staking their lives against Indians or rivals as freely as they staked their earn- ings when they returned to St. Louis after months or perhaps years of savage isolation. They were not without reproach, but of fear they knew nothing. Theirs was the work of pioneers and pathfinders, not in the cause of settlement and possession, but for the sake of the commerce afforded by the wild things of the streams and forests. There were the buffalo hunters also, slaughtering fur hides

l An apt title given by Miss A. C. Laut in her vivid narrative, " The Story of the Trapper."

Routes of exploration 225

alone, and at their door is to be laid the larger responsibility for the massacres which have swept the buffalo from the plains in a generation. But these butchers were a race apart from the earlier trappers. The history of the American fur trade holds names like those of Chouteau, Lisa, Ashley, Sublette, Vanderburgh, and Bridger, which are of large significance in the early history of the West. Nor is theirs simply a saga of brave deeds, of wild adventure and wilder license, since the part which they played in the exploration of the West was of immediate and lasting consequence.

CHAPTER XXII TYPICAL PATHFINDERS

Trailc seeking the Northwest. Hunt and the "overland Astorians." Ashley and Wyeth. Bonneville's journeys. Explorations by Fremont.

Of the many adventurous journeys to the vague western boundaries of Louisiana and beyond, the most remarkable for the first decade of the American fur trade was the expedition of Wilson Price Hunt, leader of the "overland Astorians." This expedition was due to the commercial enterprise of John Jacob Astor. The journey of Lewis and Clark had shown that the upper Missouri and the country beyond the mountains was rich in furs. Mr. Astor saw a tempting opportunity for trading posts from the mouth of the Columbia to its source and along the Missouri,

an opportunity which offered not only trade

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TYPICAL PATHFINDERS 227

with our East but a most profitable commerce with China and Japan. In a word, this Ger- man " captain of industry " saw a practicable northwest passage, — a possible means of reaching that rich Oriental trade which had tempted the voyages of Columbus and of later seekers for a route to the Spice Islands and Cathay.

In 1808 Mr. Astor organized the American Fur Company, and later the Pacific Fur Com- pany, the latter merely a name for the branch of the first company which was to operate on the Pacific coast. Two expeditions were planned, one to go by sea and one by land. The ship carrying the former left New York in 1810, reaching the mouth of the Colum- bia the following spring. The foundation of Astoria 1 was accomplished under unfortunate auspices, and the result was a failure that need not be dwelt upon, since our present concern

1 Washington Irving's classic "Astoria " needs no recom- mendation. Chittenden. "History of the American Fnr Trade," Vol. I, chap, xiv, furnishes some judicial com- ments upon Irving's accuracy and answers the criticisms of H. II. Bancroft.

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lies with Hunt's overland journey, which may be said to have opened the Oregon trail.

In March, 1811, Hunt left St. Louis with

his party and ascended the Missouri. His original purpose was to continue up the Mis- souri and the Yellowstone. But tidings of hostile Blackfeet on the route induced him to leave the river at the country of the Arikaras, thirteen hundred and twenty-live miles above the mouth of the Missouri, and to make the journey by land. His party, sixty-four in num- ber, turned westward into an unknown country. They passed near the Black Hills, and made their way through the Big Horn and Wind River mountains to the valley of Green River. Thence they crossed the divide to the Snake River, and after many bitter experiences in the mountain winter they reached the Colum- bia late in January, 1812, and on February 15 arrived at Astoria.

This journey occupied three hundred and forty days, and the distance according to Hunt's estimate w^as thirty-five hundred miles. That summer there was sent back from Astoria

TYPICAL PATHFINDERS 229

a party which, owing to various blunders, spent nearly as long a time on its return journey, so that it was nearly two years before news of Hunt reached St. Louis. These two expeditions showed the way to Oregon. But various mistakes in management, the war with Great Britain, and the approach of an English war vessel resulted in the abandonment of Astoria and the end of Mr. Astor's dream of a northwest trading route to the Orient. 1

The character of the men who were the first to learn the secrets of the Louisiana wil- derness is illustrated in the experiences of General William H. Ashley. A Virginian by birth, he was elected lieutenant governor of Missouri in 1820, but for a time fortune seemed to forsake him. He was the head of the Eocky Mountain Fur Company, but in his first expe- dition he lost a keel boat and cargo of furs valued at ten thousand dollars. In 1823 his men were overwhelmed by hostile Arikaras,

1 Perhaps Mr. J. J. Hill, the father of the Great Northern Railroad, has come nearer the realization of the dream than any of Mr. Astor's successors.

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and in 1824 he was defeated for governor of Missouri. But in the end the indomitable will which conquered the West for Americans brought him substantial results as explorer and trader. He planned and led expeditions into the interior. Once he journeyed to the mouth of the Yellowstone, and again to the country of the Arikaras. In 1824 he led his men to the Green River valley, in 1825 to Great Salt Lake, and the following year he made his way again to the mountains. His adventurous career and romantic journeys have invested his name with a peculiar distinction in the early history of Missouri.

Among the premature prophets of the great- ness of the West was one Hall J. Kelley. a Boston school teacher, who began to preach the rich opportunities of Oregon as early as 1815. Through his influence Nathaniel J. Wyeth of Cambridge learned the fascination of the vaguely known West, and presently there came to him an idea not unlike the Astor plan for a trading company on the Colum- bia. After various difficulties he organized an

TYPICAL PATHFINDERS 231

expedition and started from St. Louis in 1832, under the guidance of the famous fur traders, the Sublettes. They crossed the plains to Pierre's Hole, now Teton Basin in Idaho, and journeyed on to Fort Walla Walla in Washing- ton, reaching Fort Vancouver near the mouth of the Columbia on October 29. Wyeth re- turned to the East and in 1834 led a second expedition across the plains and mountains to Oregon. So far as commercial results were concerned, Wyeth's efforts met with failure. But his journeys, remarkable in themselves, are worth citing to illustrate not only the courage and the spirit of adventure which impelled these explorers and traders, but also because Wyeth attracted public attention to the overland route to Oregon and aided in its early occupation by Americans. 1

In spite of their careful notes on fauna and flora and meteorological and other phenomena,

1 Wyeth's first expedition was described by the orni- thologist, J. K. Townsend, who accompanied him with the botanist, Thomas Nuttall. In 1898 Wyeth's own letters and journals were published by the Oregon Historical Society, edited by Professor F. G. Young.

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Lewis and ('lark were nol professional scien- tists, luit scientific explorers were in the van- guard of Western discovery. As early as 1809-1811, John Bradbury, an English natu- ralist, traveled up the Mississippi and the Mis- souri, frequently risking his life in his search for specimens. Bradbury, Thomas Nuttall, .1. K. Townsend, an ornithologist, and II. M. Brackenridge were with Hunt and Lisa before the former left the Missouri for his overland journey, and they published the results of their studies. The famous painter and student of Indians, George Catlin, ascended the Missouri in 1832, and painted many portraits of Indians which are preserved in the United States National Museum at Washington. In 1833 Maximilian, Prince of Wied, traveled up the Missouri and spent a winter in the Northwest. Bis hook. -Travels in the Interior of North America," remains the most elaborate work published upon this section of the West. Another scientific explorer was J. N. Nicollet, whose studies in the far West between 1836 and 1840 have a permanent value.

TYPICAL PATHFINDERS 233

The explorations of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A., from 1832 to 1835, owe much to the genius of Washington Irving. Bonneville had obtained leave from the War Department to make the journey at his own expense, in order to observe the country and the people. He himself seems to have thought more of the possibilities of trade.

He ascended the Platte to Green River, fol- lowing the usual route of the trappers, and made a camp on Green River, west of South Pass, but his trapping was a failure. He sent out an expedition, which was the second party of American trappers to cross from the neigh- borhood of Great Salt Lake to California. Bonneville himself, after much journeying in the mountains, crossed into Oregon, but the Hudson Bay Company controlled the trade. After another winter in the mountains he returned in the summer of 1835.

Bonneville's long stay in the mountains yielded scanty results. He made a map of the head waters of the Missouri, Yellowstone, Snake, and other rivers and the country around

234 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Great Salt Lake, and another map of the country westward to the Pacific. In many of their features, however, Gallatin had antici- pated him. Captain Chittenden credits Bonne- ville with the discovery of Humboldt River and lakes, the location of San Joaquin River, California, and the mapping out of the country around the sources of the Big Horn and Green rivers. He was the first to take wagons through South Pass to Green River. But, through his meeting with Washington Irving, Bonneville was enabled to be more useful to literature than to science or commerce.

Although the government was prompt in organizing the first exploration of the Loui- siana territory under Lewis and Clark, and another under Pike, it was not until 1842 that official explorations were resumed. Lieuten- ant J. C. Fremont, U.S.A., who had already traveled with Nicollet in the West, was com- missioned to explore the mountains. Most of his work lay to the westward of the Louisiana Purchase, but it is inseparably connected with it. since his object was largely to find the

TYPICAL PATHFINDERS 235

best routes from Louisiana territory west- ward through the mountains. In June, 1842, he started from the mouth of the Kansas River and made his way up the Platte, through a country alive with hostile Indians, to the South Pass. He explored the Wind River Mountains, and the highest bears his name.

In 1843 he led a second expedition to the heart of the mountains. He found the head waters of the Colorado, reached Salt Lake, and ascended to the Columbia. He returned through the mountains in winter, and after many hardships led his exhausted followers west to Sutter's Fort on the Sacramento in California. In the spring he returned through the mountains.

In 1845-1846 he made another journey through the midst of the Rockies. At this time there was trouble with the Mexicans, who held California. Congress, on May 13, 1846, had declared that war with Mexico existed, but long before government troops reached California, Fremont led the settlers in an uprising which resulted in the freedom

23G LOUISIANA PUECHASE

of northern California. Fremont was elected governor. His troubles with General Kearny, who commanded the American troops, his arrest, and his enthusiastic reception on his return east form no part of this history. Subsequently he led two more expeditions, one in 1848 along the upper Rio Grande in a finally successful effort to find a route to California, and another in 1853, when he crossed the continent, finding passes through the mountains on the lines of latitude 38° and 39°.

The glamour of Fremont's " pathfinding," which brought him the first Republican nomi- nation for the presidency in 1856, has not sus- tained the more critical examination of later years. In some of his discoveries Fremont had been anticipated, but the knowledge of passes and mountain routes which he in a sense popularized has proved of value in many different ways. Aside from this and the fact that he really explored much new territory, the courage, endurance, and on the whole the good management shown in his

TYPICAL PATHFINDERS 237

various expeditions are sufficient to make them memorable in Western annals.

After Fremont came an era of government explorations, reconnaissances, and surveys which established routes, indicated the lines of future railroads, and chose the sites of the forts — the frontier posts of order and of law. The West was becoming better known, but before Fremont there was a literature of Western exploration, English and Amer- ican, which may be roughly described as beginning with Jonathan Carver's " Travels," published in 1778. This curious literature 1 was rare and fragmentary before the Biddle

1 In 1823 John D. Hunter published in Philadelphia his "Manners and Customs of Several Indian Tribes located West of the Mississippi." The author was a captive among the Kickapoos, and claimed to have crossed the continent with some Osage Indians and to have seen the Pacific. Samuel Parker's " Journal of an Exploring Tour across the Rocky Mountains " appeared in 1838. Wyeth's Memoir was included in Cushing's Report in 1 830. J. K. Townsend's " Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains " was published in 1830. Farnham's well-known "Travels in the Great Western Prairies." etc.. was issued in 1843. and was followed in 1840 by G. F. Ruxton's "Life in the Far West." The early memoirs of travelers and hunters, the tales of Indians, the various personal narratives, and the

238 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

edition of Lewis and Clark and the meetings of Bradbury and Brackenridge upon the first stages of the overland Astorian expedition, but it expanded to considerable proportions later. All these additions to knowledge of the West stimulated curiosity in the older states.

recollections of Colonel R. B. Marcy and other army officers afford an inviting field for the curious. Among the num- ber may be cited Jacob Fowler's "Journal," relating this surveyor's journey to the sources of the Rio Grande and his varied adventures in 1821-1822 ; Josiah Gregg's " Com- merce of the Prairies," an account of the Santa Fe' trail, published in 18-14 ; Charles Larpenteur's " Forty Years a Fur Trader" (1833-1872); and Father Pierre Jean de Smet's "Oregon Missions" (1847). The library of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, the Mercantile Library in St. Louis, the Lenox Library (now a branch of the New York Public Library), and certain private libraries like those of Edward E. Aver of Chicago, H. H. Bancroft of San Francisco, and the Hon. Peter Koch of Bozeman, Montana, are rich in examples of this early literature. The introduction to " Tales of an Indian Camp," published in London in 1829, offers this quaint passage : " In the year 1695 a number of savants associated in Paris for the purpose of procuring information regarding the Western Indians. They were called shortly ' The Theoretical and Speculative Society of Paris,' but their title at large was 'The Society for prose- cuting Researches in the Western Hemisphere and for pro- curing Speculations to be made and History drawn up of the Origin and History of the Ancient and Present Inhab- itants.' Madame Maintenon became a member, forbidding, however, the Society to speculate upon her affairs."

LOUISIANA

Part IV

THE BUILDING OF THE WEST

CHAPTER XXIII

A FORMATIVE PEEIOD

In the era of exploration, which may he roughly defined as the first half of the last cen- tury, the interior commerce of upper Louisiana was represented for the most part by the wares of trappers and by the traders of the Santa Fe trail.

But the history of the West was unfolding rapidly. In the lower country there were the increasing settlement and business interests of the state of Louisiana, 1 admitted in 1812,

1 The picturesque history of Louisiana may be gathered from a study of B. F. French's " Historical Collections of Louisiana " and Gayarre's " History of Louisiana." More 241

242 LOUISIANA Pi K< IHASE

of the Southern territories to the east of the Mississippi, and of Arkansas, which became a territory in L819. Eas1 of the greal river the pressure of settlement was increased by the European immigration which followed the close of tin- Napoleonic wars. There were for- eign as well as domestic reason- for the fact that the population of Ohio increased from 230,760 to 581,295 between 1810 and 1820, and that of Indiana from 24,520 to 197,108.

By 1820 eight states had been formed in the Mississippi valley and the center of popu- lation had moved from a point east of Balti- more in 1789 over a hundred and twenty miles westward. The commerce of the Ohio and the lower Mississippi was quickened not only by the productiveness of new settlers but also and immeasurably by the introduction and rapid expansion of steamboat transportation. The influence of the steamboat is empha- sized in the history of St. Louis. In 1800, nearly forty years after its foundation, the

popular and more accessible are the writings of G. W. Cable, Miss Grace King, and the references in McMaster.

A FORMATIVE PERIOD 243

population was only 925. Hardly more than a thousand residents were to be credited to St. Louis in the year of the Louisiana Pur- chase. In 1810 it was a village of only 1400 souls. But in 1817 the first steamboat reached St. Louis and marked the opening of a traffic imperial in its range. From the upper navi- gable waters of the Mississippi and Missouri, from the Ohio and the Illinois, and from New Orleans, the steamboat brought the trade of the vast region bounded by the Alleghenies and Rocky Mountains, and in addition the com- merce of the eastern seaboard and traffic with foreign countries found their way up the Mis- sissippi and centered in St. Louis. With such a history it is inevitable that the possibility of sending the modern traffic of the West by water to the sea, and reopening the once vig- orous life of this great water way, should be a subject of perennial interest. A century after the Louisiana Purchase finds the West concerned with the possibilities of various canal routes, the improvement of river naviga- tion, and the possibilities of deep-sea traffic

2U LOUISIANA PURCHASE

direct to St. Louis, while the East, so far as New York may be held representative, has been debating the value of an improved Erie Canal in holding the commerce of the West. History repeats itself, but there is no repeti- tion of the argument of Eastern Eederalists that the purchase of Louisiana was a waste of money upon a profitless wilderness.

On the North and East in the early years of the last century there were multiplying factors of growth. The War of 1812 settled finally the ownership of the whole "Old Northwest," comprising Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and a portion of Minnesota. The swift growth of this great section swelled the commerce of the river, although the comple- tion of the Erie Canal in 1825 gave the Northwest an outlet directly east.

In the South the introduction of the cot- ton gin stimulated a movement of Southern planters toward virgin fields farther west. In the Southwest there developed the stormy early history of Texas, with its American invasion and possession, and its admission as

A FORMATIVE PERIOD 245

a state in 1845. From the British possessions to the Gulf the American pressure westward was everywhere in evidence.

The movement of pioneer settlers across the plains to Oregon, whose definition and posses- sion afforded so acute an issue between the United States and Great Britain, 1 began in the thirties. In 1846 came our war with Mexico and another expansion westward which in- cluded the distant Southwest and California, the goal of treasure seekers during the years following 1848.

Many of the conditions and changes sketched so summarily affected the old Louisiana ter- ritory only indirectly so far as settlement was concerned, save for the growth of the states of Louisiana and Missouri and of Arkansas. The interior of the Louisiana Purchase was occupied more slowly, but from the date of acquisition the cities of New Orleans and

1 The rival claims of England and America to Oregon in 1845-1846 gave rise to the historic watchword "Fifty- four forty or right."' but this line was sensibly abandoned in favor of a compromise on the line of 49° — a continua- tion of the dividing line east of the mountains.

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St. Louis showed a swiftly increasing com- mercial consequence. The tide of settlement overleapt the Missouri-Mississippi and showed

itself in eastern Kansas in the thirties. Of this settlement and its later political relations something remains to be said in another chapter. The purpose of this rapid summary is merely to indicate the general conditions surrounding the formative period of the old Louisiana Purchase.

Throughout all the changing scenes of our early Western history one figure remains con- stant — the American regular soldier, whose close relation to Louisiana began with the expe- dition of Lewis and Clark. From that time to the last of our Indian campaigns, the unfortu- nate trouble with the Sioux at Wounded Knee in 1890, the soldier has done heroic work in the building and safeguarding of the West. He has watched over wagon trains and railroad builders, protected settlers, and faced every form of danger, under the burning sun of Texas deserts and the icy skies of mountain winters, for the preservation of order, law, and life.

A FORMATIVE PERIOD 247

The military history opened by Lewis and Clark was continuous. St. Louis was an early headquarters. There was an attempt to send troops up the Missouri in 1819. Fort Leav- enworth was made a military post in 1832, and as the overland travel grew, a line of forts was established which began with Fort Kearny at Grand Island on the Platte, three hundred miles northwest of Fort Leavenworth, and was continued with Fort Laramie in Wyo- ming, Fort Bridger and Fort Hall in Idaho, — the latter at the entrance to the Oregon country, — and other forts. Out of this line of posts grew the system of old forts, each with a moving history, that formerly dotted the entire West.

The English soldier has received a meed of recognition for his deeds which to the Ameri- can regular is practically unknown. From the time of the American Revolution a repub- lic's jealousy of a professional soldiery has inured to the disadvantage of the gallant men who have had so large a part in the westward advance of the American frontier. What

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their purely military part has been in this work beyond the Missouri can be inferred from a few illustrations. A journey of a thousand miles from his base of supplies into a hostile country was the record of Colonel Kearny of the First Dragoons, who on the breaking out of the war with Mexico in 1846 marched from Fort Leavenworth to Santa F6 with seventeen hundred men and seized the town. -A little later he pushed on to Cali- fornia with three hundred wilderness-worn dragoons in shabby and patched clothing who had long been on a short allowance of food.' 1 After him Colonel St. George Cooke led the half-starved volunteers of the Mormon Bat- talion, who after infinite hardships opened a wagon road to California.

The Utah expedition of 1857 from Fort Leavenworth against the Mormons proved fruitless, but the splendid endurance of starva- tion and the rigors of a Rocky Mountain winter showed the mettle of the American soldier.

The Indian wars which accompanied and followed the building of the Union Pacific

A FOEMATIVE PERIOD 249

and the slaughter of the buffalo furnished years of active army life. In 1866 Colonel Carrington defied the Sioux and built, in the north near the Big Horn Mountains, a new fort — Phil. Kearny — an outpost of civiliza- tion. His march and the building of the fort were accompanied by ceaseless attacks from the Sioux. The fort was finished, but it was assailed again and again. The massacre of Colonel Fetterman, Captain Brown, and sixty- five men was one of the bloody episodes. But the next year Captain James Powell with some thirty men repulsed probably three thou- sand Indians, who then learned for the first time the murderous effect of breech-loading rifles.

In 1868 General G. A. Forsyth held a sand- bar on the Republican River in Kansas against perhaps one thousand Indians — his command numbering originally fifty men. It was not until the eighth clay that relief came to the remnant of this gallant band. Custer's cam- paign against Black Kettle in the bitter win- ter of 1868, Crook's conquest of the Apaches

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in 1871 and 1872, the Sioux campaigns of 187G and the Custer massacre, the pursuit of Chief Joseph and the Nez Percys, covering

some fourteen hundred miles through Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana to Dakota, and the Apache campaigns of 1881-1883, are only a few examples of the active service of the soldier in the West. 1

Like the soldier, the missionary was an early figure in the history of the West. Fray Juan de Padilla, who yielded his life on the plains of Kansas after Coronado's return, was the first of a long line of heroic priests and Protestant missionaries who accompanied, or followed close behind, the Western pioneers. Their first field within the Louisiana Purchase lay in the lower country and along the eastern borders. A full history of their work, which will never be written, would afford many inspiring and touching pages.

Amonp* the Roman Catholic missionaries the most conspicuous figure is Father Pierre

1 " The Story of the Soldier," by (General G. A. Forsyth. furnishes a needed picture of the work done in the West.

A FORMATIVE PERIOD 251

Jean cle Smet. Between 1820 and 1830 he was engaged in mission work in lower Lou- isiana. In 1838 he went northward to minis- ter to the Pottawattomie Indians near Council Bluffs, but in 1840 he was sent to the Flathead Indians of the Northwest. His life among them and his frequent journeys up and down the western country have fortunately been preserved in his letters, which form a most valuable record of his period.

The early thirties witnessed the beginning of the Oregon missions, which were the first Protestant efforts in the interior. A Metho- dist delegation under Jason and Daniel Lee accompanied Wyeth as far as Snake River in 1834, and continued on alone to found missions in Oregon. In 1835 Dr. Marcus Whitman of Wheeler, New York, and the Rev. Samuel Parker were first sent out by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Missions were ultimately established at Waii- latpu 1 and elsewhere. In the winter of 1843 Dr. Whitman made a remarkable journey from

1 Now Walla Walla, Washington.

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LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Waiilatpu down the mountains to Taos. New- Mexico, and thence to St. Louis and eastward. This journey lias been the subject of an unfor- tunately bitter discussion. It has been claimed

Whitman's Journey to save hi* Mission

that Whitman made this journey to present the case of Oregon as against the claims of Great Britain in the dispute over the northern boundary, and that by efforts at Washington

A FORMATIVE PERIOD 253

and by gathering emigrants he saved Oregon to the United States. The whole matter has been subjected to close analysis in recent years, and it may be accepted that Whitman's journey east was primarily for the purpose of preserv- ing his mission, which the Board had intended to close, and that he exercised no political influence. It is obvious, of course, that he desired to increase American immigration, but his practical results in this direction were lim- ited. Of his bravery his journey gave suffi- cient proof, and his devotion to his work was sealed by his death at the hands of Indians in 1847. 1

In view of the adventurous character of " Whitman's ride," it is not strange that it

i The legend of Whitman as " the savior of Oregon " assumed tangible form some years after his death, and was first made public by a former colleague in 1864. The popularity of the legend may be said to date from 1882-1883, and particularly from the publication of " Ore- gon : The Struggle for Possession," by the Rev. William Barrows. In spite of H. H. Bancroft's carefully verified narrative of the facts, published about the same time, the legend obtained acceptance not only in popular literature but also in school histories and encyclopedias. The output

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became invested with a romantic interest which Whitman himself would probably have disclaimed in Large measure could he have

lived to see sonic of the later literature upon his journey.

of books and periodical literature upon the subject has developed to surprising proportions and involves a contro- versy often acrimonious. Of recent years O. W. Nixon, author of "How Marcus Whitman saved Oregon," and Dr. W. A. Mowry, author of " Marcus Whitman, " have been among the leading popular exponents of the legend. Fortunately the subject attracted the attention of a trained historical student, Professor Edward G. Bourne of Yale, who examined the sources and subjected the evidence to a critical examination. In an address before the American Historical Association in December, 1900, he demonstrated the baselessness of the claim that "Whitman saved Oregon." Another student of the subject, Mr. W. I. Marshall, added some instructive testimony. For a final analysis of the subject the reader may consult Professor Bourne's address, which appears, revised, enlarged, and annotated, in his 11 Essays in Historical Criticism." An article by Mr. Mar- shall in the School Weekly of Chicago, February 22, 1901, cites the following authors of school histories as ex- pressing themselves convinced of the falsity of the Whit- man legend : II. E. Scudder, J. 15. McMaster, W. F. Gordy, A. F. BlaisdeU, and Mrs. A. H. Burton. He also quotes Edward Eggleston and John Fiske as at that time disavow- ing belief in the legend, which Fiske had accepted earlier from Barrows.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE COMING OF INDUSTRIES

The search for mineral wealth. Louisiana ignored for Cali- fornia. Later developments. The day of the "pony- express." The great cattle industry. Opening of the interior by the first transcontinental railroad.

The treasure seeking of the Spaniards in the Southwest and various quests of the French belong to early history, but it was less than sixty years ago that Americans began to write the story of the mine in the West. A few pioneers knew something of the mineral riches of the West — trappers, scouts, fur hunters like Bridger, Ashley, or Peter Ogden famous in the annals of the Hudson Bay Company, or, later, William Sub- lette, Walker, and Kit Carson. These men had penetrated the mountains and knew the Great Basin. Some of them brought back tales of placer gold, and even showed specimens.

255

256 LulTSIAXA I'lKCHASE

But it was not until 1848 that the age of gold was opened to Ajiglo-Saxons iii the West. The digging of a mill race for J. A.Sutter at New Helvetia, California, brought the dis- covery of gold and the opening of one of the most eventful chapters in the record of the world's pursuit of mineral wealth. The Argo- nauts who crowded vessels bound for the Isthmus or the Horn, or painfully traversed the well-worn trails ! from Independence or St. Joseph, made a history of their own. The number of men in the California gold fields rose from a handful at the time of the dis- covery to six thousand at the end of 1848, and thirty-five thousand by the close of the following year. Not until 1855 was a railroad opened across the Isthmus of Panama, but in the first twelve years of its existence it carried

1 " Along this line [the overland trail] the « prairie schooners' stretched for miles. ... A traveler counted four hundred and fifty-nine wagons in ten miles along the Platte. . . . The cholera epidemic of 1849 carried off over five thousand of these immigrants gathered along the Missouri." — Sparks's "Expansion of the American People."

Sutter's Mill

THE NE W YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATION!,

THE COMING OF INDUSTRIES 257

eastward gold valued at seven hundred and fifty million dollars.

For this wonderful tide of overland migra- tion the old Louisiana territory was but a country to be traversed. Yet the increased knowledge of the West had its influence, although the gold seekers neglected treasures which were developed later. The early fifties brought some beginnings of placer mining in Nevada and Utah, as , did also the sudden and disastrous excitement over gold at Pike's Peak. The later fifties witnessed the dis- covery of the stupendous Comstock lode in Nevada, which was followed within a few years by the disclosure of mineral riches hidden within the confines of Louisiana. In the early sixties came discoveries of gold in Idaho and Montana, and later copper was added to swell an output beside which the initial cost of Louisiana sinks into insignifi- cance, without reckoning the products of Da- kota, the zinc and coal of Missouri, or the other mineral resources of a land crossed by the Argonauts with eyes open only to the

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LOUISIANA PURCHASE

gold of the Pacific coast. The first placers of Colorado were followed by the long list of discoveries which have given such names as

Indians attacking the "Overland Mail"

Leadville, Cripple Creek, and Creede a fairly historic character.

In 1803 a month and a half was required for the transit of letters from the eastern

THE COMING OF INDUSTRIES 259

seaboard to St. Louis. Half a century later the best time for government dispatches from the eastern border of the old Louisiana terri- tory to California was three weeks. In 1859 St. Joseph, Missouri, was the most western rail- road point, two thousand miles from California. There were only wagon trains and stages over thirteen hundred miles of trail to the moun- tains and seven hundred miles of mountain roads. The plains were held by hostile In- dians. For those who shrank from the pri- vations and dangers of the overland trail there was left a choice between the Isthmus route and passage around Cape Horn. The need of quicker communication with California, which had been felt since the migration of gold seekers began, was made more imperative by political conditions. Out of this need grew the " pony express." 1

1 " Of all the expresses, the most romantic and pictur- esque was the pony express, inaugurated by William II. Russell and B. F. Ficklin in 1860, absorbed later by Wells, Fargo & Co., and abandoned in 1862, when the telegraph line was completed across the continent." — "The Story of the Railroad," by Cy Warrnan.

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At the outset, as at the outset of most new departures, the idea was ridiculed. It was deemed impossible that a successful mail serv- ice could be maintained by relays of single riders over two thousand miles of practically hostile country. But the government and

A "Poxy Express" Rider

business men assured the organizers of patron- age. Some six hundred bronchos were pur- chased. A corps of seventy-five light-weight riders was enrolled, and relay stations were established at intervals of a hundred miles on the plains and forty miles in the mountains, each station equipped with a few men, several

THE COMING OF INDUSTRIES 261

horses, and a generous supply of arms and ammunition.

At noon of April 3, 1860, came the open- ing of the "pony express" route, which was awaited on the Pacific coast with an interest second only to that caused by the driving of the spike which a few years later joined the Union and Central Pacific railroads at Promon- tory Point, Nevada. The pioneer rider started westward from St. Joseph, Missouri, followed by music and cheers, carrying a message from President Buchanan to the governor of Cali- fornia, with bank drafts, letters, and papers. The rider s distance was a hundred miles, and then his mail bag was carried on by his waiting relief.

So the mail sped on, across plains and alkali deserts, through canons and over mountain passes, through the lands of a dozen hostile tribes, until ten days later the last rider reached Sacramento and the President's mes- sage was telegraphed to San Francisco. On April 3 also a rider started east from Sacra- mento with the first express pouch for the

262 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

East, which went through to St. Joseph in eleven and. a half clays. This was the begin- ning of the "pony express." l Every week day riders left St. Joseph and Sacramento. The charge for letters was five dollars an ounce, and later bonuses were paid for war news. The fastest time was in December, 1860, when President Buchanan's message reached Sacra- mento in eight and a half days from Wash- ington. The news of the attack on Fort Sumter came through in eight days and four- teen hours — two thousand miles. On the western part of the route five riders were killed by Indians, tw r o were frozen to death, and several were shot on the plains. One man, finding the Indians had killed every one at the relay station, rode two hundred and eighty-four miles without rest, averaging six- teen miles an hour. Another covered two hundred and eighteen miles with six horses, one of which carried him seventy miles at

1 " The Great Salt Lake Trail," by Colonel Henry Inman, ami Mark Twain's " Roughing Tt," afford some picturesque sketches of the " pony express."

THE COMING OF INDUSTRIES 263

high speed. The " pony express " lived a life brief but crowded with thrilling episodes. It was ended in 1862, when the first telegraph line was built across the plains.

From the time of the " hunchbacked cows" of Cabeza de Yaca to the decade following the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, every traveler through the plains of Louisiana territory was impressed first by their extent, and next by the vast herds of buffalo. Then, they seemed countless. Now, the census of the handful preserved in the Yellowstone National Park and in private keeping can be taken all too readily. They were the mainstay of the flesh-eating In- dians of the plains ; but the slaughter by the Indians, barbarous as it was, counted as noth- ing beside that of the white hide-hunters and other merciless slayers — sometimes miscalled sportsmen. The completion of the Union Pacific Railroad divided the buffalo into the northern and southern herds, and ease of transit for hunters and the increasing pres- sure of newcomers hastened the work of

26^ LOUISIANA PURCHASE

extermination. The story of the buffalo forms a page melancholy but inevitable in the history of the West.

But the buffalo had their successors. The descendants of the Spaniards in Mexico owned cattle by the tens of thousands. Their cattle entered Texas, — sometimes by fair means, sometimes by foul, — and it was found that these sharp-horned, thin-limbed, muscular creatures throve on the buffalo grass of northern Texas. Seeing this, and eager for a market which did not exist in the distant Southwest, the owners drove the cattle northward. Even before the Civil War, Texas cattle were driven to Illinois. Soon after the war, experiments were made in driving cattle to Nevada, and even California was attempted. But the great route finally clearly marked out was almost directly north. It was found that the cattle gained weight in northern latitudes, and they were also brought nearer to a market. The opening of the first transcontinental road was an important factor. Thus the "Long Trail" was developed, as distinctive in its way as the

THE COMING OF INDUSTKIES 265

trails worn by the pioneers, gold seekers, and emigrants. 1 In 1871, over six hundred thou- sand cattle were driven across the Red River toward the north. Out of all this grew the era of the cowboy and his reign from Texas to Montana. The cattle towns where he held his court when free from the labors of the drive or range afforded another distinctive page in the history of the West. But at length there came the invasion of settlers and farmers, the private ownership of land and water rights, and the opposition of barbed-wire fences. The "Long Trail" was ended, and the cowboy 2 of

1 " The braiding of a hundred minor pathways, the Long Trail lay like a vast rope connecting the cattle country of the South with that of the North. Lying loose or coiling, it ran for more than two thousand miles. ... It traversed in a fair line the vast land of Texas, curled over the Indian Nations, over Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, and bent in wide overlapping circles as far west as Utah and Nevada ; as far east as Missouri, Iowa and Illinois, and as far north as the British possessions." — Emerson Hough, in " The Story of the Cowboy."

2 " There, jaunty, erect, was the virile figure of a mounted man. He stood straight in the stirrups of his heavy saddle, but lightly and well poised. A coil of rope hung at his saddle bow. A loose belt swung a revolver low down upon

206 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

the days of wild herding has nearly passed away or is transformed into the milder herds- man of a more elosely regulated industry.

The great trails of the West were worn by the feet of countless thousands for decades be- fore the dream of a transcontinental railroad took practical shape. But the idea ! found

his hip. A wide hat blew up and back a bit with the air of his traveling, and a deep kerchief fluttered at his neck. His arm, held lax and high, offered support to the slack reins so little needed in his riding. The small and sinewy steed beneath him was alert and vigorous as he. It was a figure vivid, keen, remarkable. . . .

" The story of the West is a story of the time of heroes. Of all those who appear large upon the fading page of that day, none may claim greater stature than the chief figure of the cattle range. Cowboy, cattle man, cow-puncher, it matters not what name others have given him, he has remained — himself. From the half-tropic to the half- arctic country he has ridden, his type, his costume, his characteristics practically unchanged, one of the most dom- inant and self-sufficient figures in the history of the land. He never dreamed he was a hero, therefore perhaps he was one. He would scoff at monument or record, therefore perhaps he deserves them." — "The Story of the Cowboy."

1 Mr. J. P. Davis, in « The Union Pacific Railway." mentions an editorial in The Emigrant, a paper published in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the first public expression of the idea. But this was not until 1832. Various other

THE COMING OF INDUSTRIES 267

vague expression as early as 1819, when Robert Mills, in his book on the internal improvements of Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, argued for the connection of the Atlantic and Pacific by a steam road " from the head navi- gable waters of the noble rivers disemboguing into each ocean." Mills's plan, however, as shown by his memorial to Congress in 1845, was for a road for steam carriages rather than for a railway. 1

Of all the early advocates of a transcon- tinental railway the most enthusiastic and persistent was Asa Whitney, a New York merchant, whose life from 1840 to 1850, and much of his later time, was spent in urging upon Congress, upon capitalists, and the pub- lic, the necessity for surveys and the bene- fits to be derived from a railroad across the continent. But any practical result from the

claims are recorded, including Senator Thomas H. Benton's declaration at St. Louis in 1844 that men full grown at the time would live to see Asiatic commerce crossing the Rocky Mountains by rail.

1 Perhaps the reign of the automobile will yet show Mills a true prophet, though far in advance of his time.

268 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

surveys undertaken in the fifties was delayed by the Civil War and I>v the hesitation of private capitalists, and yet the war itself made plain the need of a railroad to the western coast. It was not until 1804, after the govern- ment had doubled its land grant and increased its inducements, that ground was broken at Omaha for the first transcontinental railroad. In 1869 the Union Pacific advancing from the East met the Central Pacific coming from the West, and the last spike was driven at Promon- tory Point in Utah, completing the first iron highway across the continent.

The .Union Pacific presented some typical features which have never been surpassed. 1 In the abundance of Indians and buffalo on the plains, and of the thugs and thieves who invested Julesburg, Cheyenne, and other points with an evil reputation, the building

1 Some features of this life are sketched in " The Story of the Railroad." " The Union Pacific Railroad," by John P. Davis, and Mr. E. V. Smalley's " History of the Northern Pacific Railroad," are useful for reference. A comparison of a map of the old trails and a recent map of the numerous transcontinental lines tells an interesting story.

COMPLETION OF THE FlRST TrAXSCOXTIXEXTAL RAILROAD

(Redrawn from a photograph)

THE NEW YORK

PU3LIC LIBRARY

AST OH, LENOX AND TlLO£N FOUNDATION*.

THE COMING OF INDUSTRIES 269

of the Union Pacific held a certain preemi- nence. With this road began the work of the railroad surveyor and engineer in the true West, with its perils of all kinds on the plains and in the mountains, which forms in itself one of the epics of Western history. 1

1 Of this wonderful work of construction, Robert Louis Stevenson, in "-Across the Plains," has given a vivid picture : " When I think how the railroad has been pushed through this watered wilderness and haunt of savage tribes ; how, at each stage of the construction, roaring, impromptu cities full of gold and lust and death sprang up and then died away again, and are now but wayside stations in the desert ; how in these uncouth places pigtailed pirates worked side by side with border ruffians and broken- men from Europe, talking together in a mixed dialect, — mostly oaths, — gam- bling, drinking, quarreling, and murdering like wolves ; how the plumed hereditary lord of all America heard in this last fastness the scream of the ' Bad Medicine Wagon ' chariot- ing his foes ; and then when I go on to remember that all this epical turmoil was conducted by gentlemen in frock coats, and with a view to nothing more extraordinary than a fortune and a subsequent visit to Paris, it seems to me, I own, as if this railway were the one typical achievement of the age in which we live ; as if it brought together into one plot all the ends of the world and all the degrees of social rank, and offered the busiest, the most extended, and the most varying subject for an enduring literary work. If it be romance, if it be heroism that we require, what w 7 as Troy town to this ? "

CHAPTER XXV PERMANENT OCCUPATION

The Free Soil issue. Kansas and Nebraska. Distribution of public lands. Louisiana in the Civil War. A glance at later development. Political and economic consequence of the old Louisiana Purchase.

The purchase of Louisiana was opposed by the New England Federalists. Half a cen- tury later their descendants were laboring to secure a result which would mean a political alliance with upper Louisiana. In the long struggle between the slaveholding and the free states the part of the Louisiana territory was one of supreme consequence.

By the act known as the Missouri Compro- mise, passed in 1820, Missouri was admitted into the Union as a slave state, but it was pro- vided that there was to be no slavery in any portion of the Louisiana territory north of lati- tude 36° 30' except in the state of Missouri.

270

PERMANENT OCCUPATION 271

But by the middle of the century the westward movement of settlement reopened an issue which for a time had remained comparatively quiescent. In 1853, under the administration of President Pierce, it became clear that a new territory should be organized west of Iowa and Missouri, which would be within the Pur- chase. The North had believed the question of the extension of slavery into the Pur- chase settled by the Missouri Compromise. The South was fresh from the defeat of the "Wilniot Proviso," a bill forbidding slavery within the territory acquired from Mexico, and the representatives of the South were stimulated by the profits of slave labor on new land. 1 They were unwilling to see slave labor definitely excluded, but it was a senator from Illinois, Stephen A. Douglas, who intro- duced a bill providing for the admission of two territories, Kansas and Nebraska, and

1 The influence of the cotton gin in cheapening produc- tion and the large returns from cotton raising by slave labor were obviously important political factors throughout this long struggle, and yet in the long run slavery was more expensive than freedom — a fact generally conceded now.

272 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

repealing the restriction upon slavery con- tained in the Missouri Compromise. Don-las argued that the Compromise had been super- seded by the legislation of 1850. passed prima- rily with reference to the territory acquired from Texas, which declared a policy of - k non- intervention"; that is, that new territories should be admitted without any regulation regarding slavery. In other words, they were to decide the question for themselves ; and this idea, which was termed " popular" — and later "squatter" — "sovereignty," was embodied in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of May, 1854.

Out of this sprang a bitter struggle for con- trol. It was a question on either side of the greater number of settlers. In Massachusetts, where men were not content with protests, there was organized an Emigrant Aid Society, and there were similar leagues in other north- ern states. The antislavery men strained every nerve to send settlers of their own party to Kansas, and with the coming of open strife the shipment of Bibles and rifles became a watchword of the times. Proslavery

PERMANENT OCCUPATION 273

emigrants were sent from the South, and the Southern cause was aided from Missouri. The first election in 1854 was gained by the pro- slavery men. There followed the period of anarchy and civil war which made the name of " Bleeding Kansas " known throughout the land. But by 1858 the free-state men were in control, although Southern influence in Congress made it impossible for a time to gain admission as a state with a constitution forbidding slavery. 1 Nebraska, lying farther removed from the slave states, and rendered less important for a time by the preoccu- pation of settlers with the territory to her east, escaped the battle for free soil in upper Louisiana of which Kansas bore the shock.

This was but one of a series of events which stimulated the occupation of upper Louisiana. The California gold seekers, and others who

1 It is unnecessary to give references to the voluminous literature of the slavery question which is readily accessi- ble. For the part which concerns this history, however, the reader will find it useful to consult "Kansas," by Leverett W. Spring, a volume in the American Common- wealth Series.

274 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

rushed to Pike's Peak in the fifties to find dis- aster instead of t reasure, had passed by farming

lands which were to enrich future owners by producing the food of America and of foreign

lands. With convalescence from the Califor- nia gold fever came appreciation of the farming lands of the middle West. While the battle for Kansas was in progress, a tide of immigra- tion was sweeping into Iowa, which was pres- ently felt in Nebraska and in Kansas as well. A telegraph line was built at Leavenworth in 1858, and two years more brought the opening of the first railroad in Kansas. To the north the development of Minnesota brought about her admission as a state in 1858. On the east- ward, at least, upper Louisiana was developing its definite and permanent organization.

The vital importance of control of the Mis- sissippi, which the history of the Louisiana Purchase illustrates so constantly, Avas shown again in the Civil War. Of the states formed within the Louisiana Purchase, Louisiana and Arkansas seceded from the Union. Missouri for a time seemed doubtful. Her decision

PERMANENT OCCUPATION 275

influenced large issues not only from the size of the state and its position on the border, but also from Missouri's control of the Mississippi. Captain Lyon's seizure of Camp Jackson at St. Louis in 18G1 represented an initiative action against secession which exerted an immediate effect. This was the first step in a struggle for Missouri which resulted in securing this strategical vantage point for the Union. It was in this struggle that Fremont, the " Path- finder," proved himself more resolute as an explorer than as a soldier. After the earlier border warfare in Missouri and Kentucky came the great campaigns for control of the Missis- sippi and its tributaries, including Farragut's capture of New Orleans and a wonderful chap- ter of military and naval operations on the Mississippi and its tributaries. All this culmi- nated in the surrender of Yicksburg to Grant on July 4, 1863, an event which ranks with Gettysburg as a turning point in the devel- opment of the war. The "great river" was returned to the control of the Federal gov- ernment. The Confederacy was divided and

270 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

its left flank turned. In President Lincoln's words, "the Father of Waters rolled unvexed to the sea." l

If the Civil War checked the process of per- manent organization for a time, yet its close and the release of great armies of men to peace- ful labors quickened immeasurably the devel- opment of the West. North and South met within the confines of upper Louisiana. Less picturesque than this reunion of veterans on the prairies but of large practical consequence was the increase of immigration from Europe which followed the ending of the war. To all pos- sible settlers there were held out the tempting inducements offered by readily acquired land.

The history of negotiations with the origi- nal occupants of Louisiana, the Indians, 2 and

1 This mere suggestion of the political and military con- sequence of the Mississippi in the Civil War. which is all that is possible in this history, may very well turn the attention of readers to " The Mississippi Valley in the Civil War." by John Fiske. Snead's " The Fight for Missouri " is, of course, more local in its interest.

2 One view of our treatment of the Indians is presented in Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson's "A Century of Dishonor." A comparatively brief study, largely from an ethnological

PERMANENT OCCUPATION 277

their subsequent treatment, is too often a his- ¦tory of mistakes and worse. A peculiarly difficult question was presented by the char- acter of the buffalo-hunting Indians of the plains, who included Comanches and Lipans in Texas and Indian Territory, and Pawnees, Kiowas, Cheye nnes, and the great Sioux tribe on the north. There were the Blackfeet and Crows west of the Sioux, and in Colorado were the Utes. These were the chief tribes of many with whom the government made treaties for the alienation of the lands which they had occupied, and for their retirement to reservations, in order that the wild country might be opened to settlement.

Whether or not the paternalism of the government was wise in its disposition of the public lands, its course stimulated the devel- opment of the Louisiana Purchase. By the

point of view, is afforded in the late Major J. W. Powell's discussion of the subject contained in kk The United States of America," edited by Professor N. S. Shaler. For an understanding of the Indian on the personal side, there is no better popular work than " The Story of the Indian " by Mr. George Bird Grinnell.

LOUISIANA PURCHAS

einption A I : "1841 any genuine settler could take up one hundred and sixty acres

public land and make his payments, on long time and easy terms, at a rate tixed in l v - _ one dollar and twenty-live cents an acre. The railroad land-grant system had its origin in 9 "'. The transcontinental roads received i si tracts of land along their lines. Over one hun- dred and fifty million acres were given to rail- s Btween 1850 and 1870. The Union and the Central Pacific received twenty-five million s 3 the Northern Pacific forty-seven million, and other roads obtained large amounts, far as th 2 rnment is concerned, the public domain has represented a loss ; as regards the quickening of settlement and development and actual benefit to settlers, this disposition of public lands, with all its faults and flagrant abuses, has had certain practical advantages. 1

1 Donaldson's •• Public Domain " may be consulted.

There is a coi.~ literature dealing with the public

lands, which has l»een increased of late years by such events

•klahoma and Indian Territory, and the

increu- . national parks and for - - : es in

PERMANENT OCCUPATION

In the se : the first ti ins mtinental I the railroad was pushed ahead of settlement. It was not a case of a demand for a railroad business due to increasing population, but advance across long sti bee : unoec country. Under ordinary circumstances would have been wiser to advance the road step with the advance of population and of business : but in tl± 3 )f the Union Pacific there was a necessity for a com overland route. The Atchison. Topeka. and Santa F^ aimed at the mining business : Colorado, and. when checked at the Royal ge after an actual war with the Denver and Rio Grande, it turned southward through New Mexi . —eking a slowly realized outlet to the Pacific. TLr Nc : :hern Pacific, after a long and eventful sh __ . - pushed through to Qreg n in l vv o. although at its opening it ran through long stiel hes : :upied country. For many of the trans- continental roads, granting the desirability building them when they were built, the paternalism involved in Jan-:". _ nts

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necessity. But there are features of this railroad building and of the government's distribution of the public domain which are creditable to neither side. All that can be said is, that, in spite of dishonesty, blundering, and waste, certain practical benefits have been realized and the settlement of the country lias been accelerated. The part which the steam- boat bore in opening and enriching the central valley of the West has been surpassed by the influence of the railroad in the development of the interior of the Louisiana Purchase — a development which without the railroad would have been impossible.

As to the later and comparatively recent history of the states formed within the Loui- siana Purchase, the statistics provided in an appendix speak with a certain eloquence of their own. This narrative aims only to pre- sent a story of purchase and exploration, and the earlier phases of a domain less obviously a unit than the "Old Northwest" but pecul- iarly impressive and picturesque.

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The history of Louisiana is crowded with possibilities fateful for the United States. In the struggle over the treaty of 1783, in which Spain and France were concerned as well as England, the United States refused to be con- fined to the eastern seaboard and secured an expansion to the Mississippi. Had the pro- posed restriction been enforced, it has been argued that a foreign power holding the whole middle West might have strengthened itself and alienated the American pioneers already beyond the Alleghenies. and have established a great colonial empire like that cherished by Talleyrand in his dreams. In the critical period of Louisiana after the Revolution there were possibilities of war with Spain and France and entanglements with England. It is profitless, perhaps, to consider past possi- bilities, and yet their consideration helps to measure the real significance of history.

The purchase closed a long contest for ascendency in the valley of the Mississippi. With the purchase the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere began to incline

282 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

toward the United States. The acquisitions of

Florida. Texas. California, Porto Rico and the Philippines, and presumably Hawaii as well. are termed by Professor F. J. Turner the corol- Lariesof the Louisiana Purchase. "The Monroe

Doctrine," to quote his words. " would not have been possible except for the Louisiana Pur- chase. It was the logical outcome of that acqui- sition. Having taken her decisive stride across the Mississippi, the United States enlarged the horizon of her views and marched steadily for- ward to the possession of the Pacific Ocean. From this event dates the rise of the United States into the position of a world power." l

On the economic side the acquisition of Lou- isiana meant first the ownership of a great system of water ways, whose control furnished

1 Professor Turner's idea has an eloquence of its own, but with all deference to one whom every student of Ameri- can history holds in high respect, it might be argued that there is a distinction between contiguous and practically inseparable Louisiana and the distant Philippines. A full recognition of the United States as a world power was apparently not brought home to European diplomats until the Spanish war.

PERMANENT OCCUPATION 283

the key that opened the interior of this conti- nent. What that transportation was to the pioneer settlers west of the Alleghenies, to the fur traders of the interior, to the mer- chants of New Orleans and St. Louis, and to the development of the upper country, has been suggested in the course of this narrative.

The mineral resources of the purchase, ran- ging from the coal and iron of Missouri to the gold of Idaho, are indicated by statistics given elsewhere. It was the irony of fate that the Spaniards, whose keen scent for treasure was so richly rewarded in Peru, in Mexico, and even within our own borders, should have left Colorado practically unexploited and Montana unexplored.

An even more important part which Louisi- ana has assumed is that of the granary of the world. 1 The phrase is large but not uncalled

1 Kansas leads the wheat-growing states with an acreage increased in forty years from 185,379 acres to 5,355,638. The production amounted to 82,488,655 bushels in 1900, while the second state, Minnesota, raised 51,509,252. In 1901 Kansas surpassed her own record with a yield of 99,079,304 bushels.

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for. The vaguely described "American desert "

of the middle of the nineteenth century has shrunk into narrower limits year by year with the pressure of settlement, The tilling of new lands has been accompanied by a pal- pable increase in rainfall, and the influence of irrigate >n. yet in an imperfect stage, has gained more and more land from a desert which is no longer feared. The present consequence of the wheat and corn of the Louisiana Purchase can- not be easily exaggerated. These cereals repre- sent a question not only of food but of finance. Their success or failure is vital to great rail- roads and steamship companies, and influences the stock markets of the world. In other days cotton ruled as king, but the scepter has passed to the grain of the Louisiana Purchase. Out of the productiveness of the Louisiana Purchase has grown an independence of mind as of estate. The lean years of subservience to Eastern capital have passed. The crum- bling stock markets of 1903 found the West at first comparatively unconcerned, save for the effect upon the market for wheat, and occupied

PEKMAXEXT OCCUPATION 285

with its crops, its irrigation companies, and its development of local industries fostered by the money of its own people. The meeting of the Irrigation Congress, the influence of the Interstate Mississippi Improvement and Levee Association, the ways of expending national funds in the irrigation of desert lands, the possibilities of shipping southward by the Mississippi instead of eastward, and a thousand practical domestic subjects have maintained their interest in spite of Eastern absorption in the stock market. Years of bad crops may lie in the future, but the centennial year of the Louisiana Purchase has brought the development of an independence which can never w 7 holly disappear.

Of greater consequence than richness of production is the effect of any great national undertaking upon the character of a people. In the acquisition of the vast plains, great rivers, and lofty mountains of Louisiana, there lay an influence more subtle than that of mere space and size. It was an expansion of our country which meant a larger character

286 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

ami broader outlook for its men. Whatever vagaries may have harbored temporarily in Louisiana in the past, its influence has sup- plied a manhood and a love of soil and country which crown the long, strange his- tory woven through the centuries since the first coming of the Spaniard.

APPENDIX I

Treaty of Purchase between the United States and the French Republic l

The President of the United States of America, and the First Consul of the French Republic, in the name of the French people, desiring to remove all sources of misunderstanding relative to objects of discussion mentioned in the second and fifth articles of the Con- vention of (the 8th Vendemiaire, an 9,) September 30, 1800, relative to the rights claimed by the United States, in virtue of the Treaty concluded at Madrid, the 27th October, 1795, between His Catholic Majesty and the said United States, and willing to strengthen the union and friendship, which at the time of the said Convention was happily re-established between the two nations, have respectively named their Plenipo- tentiaries, to wit : The President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the said States, Eobert R. Livingston, Min- ister Plenipotentiary of the United States, and James Monroe, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraor- dinary of the said States, near the Government of

1 This treaty, which has been often reprinted, was officially published in the annals of Congress, 1802-1803, pp. 100G-1008, which give an official current history of the negotiations. 287

288 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

the French Republic ; and the First Consul, in the name of the French people, the French citizen Barbe Marbois, .Minister of the Public Treasury, who, after having respectively exchanged their full powers, have agreed to the following articles :

Art. 1. Whereas, by the article the third of the Treaty concluded at St. Ildefonso, (the 9th Vende- miaire, an 9.) October 1, 1800, between the First Consul of the French Republic and His Catholic Majesty, it was agreed as follows : His Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part to cede to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire execution of the conditions and stipulations herein, relative to his Royal Highness the Duke of Parma, the Colony or Province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it ; and such as it should be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States : And whereas, in pursuance of the Treaty, particularly of the third article, the French Republic has an incon- testable title to the domain and to the possession of the said territory, the First Consul of the French Re- public, desiring to give to the United States a strong proof of friendship, doth hereby cede to the said United States, in the name of the French Republic, for ever and in full sovereignty, the said territory, with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and in the same manner as they might have been acquired by the French Republic, in value of the above-men- tioned treaty, concluded with His Catholic Majesty.

APPEXDIX I 289

Art. 2. In the cession made by the preceding article, are included the adjacent islands belonging to Louisiana, all public lots and squares, vacant lands, and all public buildings, fortifications, barracks, and other edifices, which are not private property. The archives, papers, and documents, relative to the domain and sovereignty of Louisiana and its dependencies, will be left in the possession of the Commissaries of the United States, and copies will be afterwards given in due form to the magistrates and municipal officers, of such of the said papers and documents as may be necessary to them.

Art. 3. The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States, and admitted, as soon as possible, according to the principles of the Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages, and immu- nities, of citizens of the United States ; and, in the mean time, they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess.

Art. 4. There shall be sent by the Government of France a Commissary to Louisiana, to the end that he do every act necessary, as well to receive from the officers of His Catholic Majesty the said country and its dependencies in the name of the French Republic, if it has not been already done, as to transmit it, in the name of the French Republic, to the Commissary or agent of the United States.

Art. 5. Immediately after the ratification of the present treaty by the President of the Ignited States,

290 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

and in case that of the First Consul shall have been previously obtained, the Commissary of the French

Republic shall remit all the military posts of New- Orleans, and other parts of the ceded territory, to the Commissary or Commissaries named by the President to take possession ; the troops, whether of France or Spain, who may be there, shall cease to occupy any military post from the time of taking possession, and shall be embarked as soon as possible in the course of three months after the ratification of this treaty.

Art. 6. The United States promise to execute such treaties and articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the tribes and nations of Indians, until, by mutual consent of the United States and the said tribes or nations, other suitable articles shall have been agreed upon.

Art. 7. As it is reciprocally advantageous to the commerce of France and the United States, to encourage the communication of both nations, for a limited time, in the country ceded by the present treaty, until general arrangements relative to the commerce of both nations may be agreed on, it has been agreed between the contracting parties, that the French ships coming directly from France or any of her Colonies, loaded only with the produce or manu- factures of France or her said Colonies, and the ships of Spain coming directly from Spain or any of her Colonies, loaded only with the produce or manu- factures of Spain or her Colonies, shall be admitted during the space of twelve years in the port of New

APPENDIX I 291

Orleans, and in all other legal ports of entry within the ceded territory, in the same manner as the ships of the United States coming directly from France or Spain, or any of their Colonies, without being subject to any other or greater duty on the merchandise, or other or greater tonnage than those paid by the citi- zens of the United States.

During the space of time above-mentioned, no other nation shall have a right to the same privileges in the ports of the ceded territory. The twelve years shall commence three months after the exchange of ratifications, if it shall take place in France, or three months after it shall have been notified at Paris to the French Government, if it shall take place in the United States ; it is, however, well understood, that the object of the above article is to favor the manu- factures, commerce, freight, and navigation of France and Spain, so far as relates to the importations that the French and Spanish shall make into the said ports of the United States, without in any sort affect- ing the regulations that the United States may make concerning the exportation of the produce and mer- chandise of the United States, or any right they may have to make such regulations.

Art. 8. In future and forever, after the expiration of the twelve years, the ships of France shall be treated upon the footing of the most favored nations in the ports above-mentioned.

Art. 9. The particular convention signed this day by the respective Ministers, having for its object to

292 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

provide the payment of debts due to the citizens of the United States by the French Republic, prior to the 30th of September, 1800, (8th Vendemiaire, an 9,) is approved, and to have its execution in the same manner as if it had been inserted in the present treaty ; and it shall be ratified in the same form and in the same time, so that the one shall not be ratified distinct from the other. Another particular conven- tion, signed at the same date as the present treaty, relative to a definitive rule between the contracting parties is, in the like manner, approved, and will be ratified in the same form and in the same time, and jointly.

Art. 10. The present treaty shall be ratified in good and due form, and the ratification shall be exchanged in the space of six months after the date of the signature by the Ministers Plenipotentiary, or sooner if possible.

In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed these articles in the French and English languages, declaring, nevertheless, that the present treaty was originally agreed to in the French lan- guage, and have thereunto put their seals.

Done at Paris, the 10th day of Floreal, in the 11th year of the French Republic, and the 30th April, 1803.

R. R. Livingston, James Monroe, Barbe Marbois.

APPENDIX I 293

A Convention between the United States of America and the French Republic

The President of the United States of America, and the First Consul of the French Republic, in the name of the French people, in consequence of the Treaty of Cession of Louisiana, which has been signed this day, wishing to regulate definitively everything which has relation to the said cession, have authorized, to this effect, the Plenipotentiaries, that is to say : the President of the United States has, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the said States, nominated for their Plenipoten- tiaries, Kobert R. Livingston, Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, and James Monroe, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary of the said United States, near the Government of the French Republic ; and the First Consul of the French Repub- lic, in the name of the French people, has named, as Plenipotentiary of the said Republic, the French citi- zen Barbe Marbois, who, in virtue of their full powers, which have been exchanged this day, have agreed to the following articles :

Art. 1. The Government of the United States engages to pay to the French Government, in the manner specified in the following articles, the sum of sixty millions of francs, independent of the sum which shall be fixed by any other convention for the payment of the debts due by France to citizens of the United States.

294 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Art. 2. For the payment of the sum of sixty mil- lions of francs, mentioned in the preceding article, the United States shall create a stock of eleven million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, bear- ing an interest of six per cent, per annum, payable half-yearly, in London, Amsterdam, or Paris, amount- ing, by the half-year to three hundred and thirty- seven thousand five hundred dollars, according to the proportions which shall be determined by the French Government, to be paid at either place : the principal of the said stock to be reimbursed at the Treasury of the United States, in annual payments of not less than three millions of dollars each ; of which the first payment shall commence fifteen years after the date of the exchange of ratifications : this stock shall be transferred to the Government of France, or to such person or persons as shall be authorized to receive it, in three months, at most, after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, and after Louisiana shall be taken possession of in the name of the Govern- ment of the United States.

It is further agreed that, if the French Govern- ment should be desirous of disposing of the said stock, to receive the capital in Europe at shorter terms, that its measures, for that purpose, shall be taken so as to favor, in the greatest degree possible, the credit of the United States, and to raise to the highest price the said stock.

Art. 3. It is agreed that the dollar of the United States, specified in the present convention, shall be

APPENDIX I 295

fixed at five francs 3333-10000ths or five livres eight sous tournoise.

The present convention shall be ratified in good and true form, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in the space of six months, to date from this day, or sooner if possible.

In faith of which, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the above articles, both in the French and English languages, declaring, nevertheless, that the present treaty has been originally agreed on and written in the French language, to which they have hereunto affixed their seals.

Done at Paris, the tenth day of Floreal, eleventh year of the French Pvepublic, (30th April, 1803.)

Kobert R. Livingston, James Monroe, Barbe Marbois.

APPENDIX II

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE TO-DAY

Its vast area. Statistical summary 1 of the states and territories formed from the Purchase. Fifteen millions of people. Wealth four hundred times the purchase money. The empire which we gained.

Figures are dry, but they can be helped by com- parisons. The Louisiana Purchase contains 863,072 square miles, or 565,106,080 acres. This means an area more than seven times that of Great Britain and Ireland, and more than four times that of Germany. The Purchase is larger than Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal combined.

LOUISIANA

This was the first state formed within Louisiana territory.

I. Area

45,420 square miles.

1 From the Reports of the 12th Census and Yearbooks of the Department of Agriculture, except where otherwise stated. The 1000 census figures for agriculture are for the year 1899. 296

APPENDIX II 297

II. Population

Louisiana (1900) 1,381,625. New Orleans (1900) 287,104. (1810) 76,556. (1803) 49,475. (1803) 8,056.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Louisiana is chiefly an agricultural state, the leading products being cotton, sugar, and rice. In the world's production of sugar the state holds third place, being led only by Cuba and Java. Sugar culture was intro- duced into Louisiana by the Jesuits in 1751. The phe- nomenal development of the rice industry in southwest Louisiana by means of irrigation has caused the con- struction of hundreds of miles of irrigating canals and the application of irrigation to more than one hun- dred thousand acres of prairie land which a few years ago had but a nominal value. These lands are now classed among the most valuable in the state.

In recent years manufactures, which were formerly practically neglected on account of the unfitness of slave labor for that form of production, have made considerable headway. In the years between 1850 and 1900, while the total population increased 166.8%, that portion of it dependent upon the manufacturing industries increased 579.9%.

In 1900 the value of manufactured products was $121,181,683, and the value of real and personal property was $189,099,050; the value of farm prod- ucts was $72,667,302 in 1899, as against $54,343,- 953 in 1890 and $42,883,522 in 1880.

298 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

The most important industries are sugar refining, lumbering, and the manufacture of cotton-seed oil and cake. An interesting feature of the sugar refining has been the establishment of large central refineries thoroughly equipped with the most efficient modern machinery. The planters, who used to do their own refining, now sell their raw produce to the refineries and are spared the cost of the installation and main- tenance of refining machinery.

IV. Products

Cotton (1900) 709,041 commercial bales (about 500 lbs.). Value 123,523,143.

(1890) 659,180 commercial bales.

(1880) 508,569 Lumber (1900) value of product 817.408.513.

(1890) « « « 5.745.194.

(1880) " " " 1.764.044.

Timber cut in 1900, 1,214,387 (M feet. B. M.). Rice (1900) 172,732,430 lbs. Value 814.044.489.

(1890) 75.015.433 "

(1880) 23,188,311 " Cane (1900) 3.137,388 tons. Farm value $14,627,282.

Sugar (1900) 319.106.396 lbs. Value 813.099,559.

(1890) 292,124.050 «

(1880) 171,706,000 " Syrup and molasses

(1900) 14,184,733 gals. Value $1,842,226.

(1890) 14.341. 081 « 380) 11,696,248 "

APPENDIX II 299

Corn (1900) 22,062,580 bu. Value 610,327.723.

(1890) 13,081,954 " (1880) 72,852.263 «

Tobacco (1900) 102,100 lbs. Value 820,488. (1890) 46,815 » (1880) 55,934 ••

Sheep (1900) 169,234.

(1890) 186,167. (1880) 135,631.

Wool (1900) 547.641 lbs. Value 890,317.

(1890) 440.686 " (1880) 406,678 "

V. Historical Events

1803. Xapoleon sold the province of Louisiana to the

United States.

1804. Xew Orleans was incorporated.

1807. Orleans territory was divided into nineteen parishes

or counties. 1812. Louisiana was admitted to the Union, and that part

of West Florida lying west of Pearl River was

added to the new state. 1812. The first steamboat on the Mississippi arrived at

Xew Orleans. 1815. The battle of Xew Orleans. Jackson defeated the

British. 1831. The first railroad was opened in the state. It was

four and a half miles long. 1861. Louisiana seceded from the L'nion. 1868. Louisiana was restored to the L'nion.

300 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

1870. James B. Bads completed his jetties in the South Pass, which opened the mouth of the Mississippi to vessels of the heaviest draught.

1880. Bureau of Agriculture and I mini- rat ion established. l*s i. World's Imltisi rial Cotton Exposil ion at New Orleans. 1890. Overflow of Mississippi River causes loss of $1,213,-

040. 1902. East Louisiana and Southern Louisiana railways

established. Total number of miles in state,

2,898.

ARKANSAS

The name has been attributed to a compound of French and Indian words meaning " Bow of smoky- water," and refers to the Arkansas River.

I. Area

53,850 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 1,311,564. (1820) 14,255.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Arkansas is an agricultural state, but manufactures are rapidly increasing. The principal products are cotton, cereals, and tobacco. Fruit growing is very successful, and the state is famous for its apples.

APPENDIX II 301

Arkansas is rated as one of the four states or terri- tories having the greatest comparative gains in coal production in the past decade. Building stone is abun- dant, and a great deposit of liquid asphalt has been opened in Pike County. Beneath it has been found a stratum of fuller's earth. Some three thousand people are engaged in the pearl industry near Newport. There are also great zinc deposits in the state.

The manufactures of lumber and timber products are by far the most important. There are 1199 establish- ments, representing a capital of $21,727,710, which in 1900 gave employment to 15,895 wage earners, or sixty per cent of the wage earners of the entire state. The value of their product was $23,959,983, or fifty- three per cent of the value of all the products of Arkan- sas. The flour and grist milling industry ranks second, the manufacture of cotton-seed oil and cake ranks third, and cotton ginning is of fourth importance.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $79,649,- 490, as compared with $53,128,155 in 1890 and $43,- 796,261 in 1880.

The value of real and personal property for 1900 was $189,999,050. The value of manufactured prod- ucts for 1900 was $45,197,731.

IV. Products

Cotton (1900) 709,880 commercial bales. Value $24,-

671,445. (1890) 691,494 . « (1880) 608,256

302 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Corn (1900) I LI 1 1,098 bu. Value 117,572,170.

i L890) 33,982,318 •• (1880) 24,156,4 17 "

Wheat (1900) 2,449,970 bu. Value $1,383,916. (1890) 955,668 - (1880) 1,269,715 "

Oats (1900) 3,909,000 bu. Value #1,263,101.

(1890) 4,180,877 " (1880) 2,219,822 ••

I lav and forage

(1900) 271,011) tons. Value $1,913,163. (1890) 164,399 « (1880) 20,630 »

Live stock (1900) value $37,483,771. (1890) " 30,772,880. (1880) " 20,472,425.

Sheep (1900) 108,761.

(1890) 243,999. (1880) 246,757.

Wool (19OO)03G,474 1bs. Value $118,922.

(1890) 512,396 " (1880) 557,368 «

Milk (1900) 109,861,393 gals. Value of dairy prod-

ucts *0.9 12 J •")!). (1890) 54,325,673 gals.

Tobacco (1900) 831,700 lbs. Value $85,395. (1890) 954,790 « (1880) 970,220 «

Timber cut (1900) 1,605,158 (M feet, B. M.).

Lumber (1900) value of product $23,957,983.

APPENDIX II 303

Lumber (1890) value of product $8,943,052. (1880) " " " 1,793,848.

Coal 1 (1899) 843,554 short tons. Value 8989,383.

Flouring and grist mills

(1900) value of product $3,708,709. (1890) « " " 2.498,168.

V. Historical Events

1670. Arkansas was first settled by the French, near St.

Francis River. 1812. Louisiana became a state, and Arkansas was included

in Missouri territory. 1819. Organized as Arkansas territory. 1836. Organized as a state, Indian Territory being cut off. 1861. Seceded from the Union. 1868. Readmitted as a state. 1892. High-grade silver and lead ores were discovered about

fifteen miles from Little Rock. 1898. Federal debt settled. 1902. 1,694 militia, regularly organized, uniformed, and in

actual service of the state.

COLORADO

The Spanish gave the name of Colorado, which means ruddy or red, to the Colorado River. It is frequently called the " Centennial State," because it

1 International Yearbook (1900). Census Report on Mineral Industries not issued. The product for 1899 is not representa- tive, the production having been interfered with by serious strikes.

304 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

was admitted in 1876. The country was partially explored by Pike in 1807 and by Long in 1820.

The discovery of gold brought a small army of treas- ure seekers to Tike's Peak and the surrounding coun- try in 1S.V.I. and this began to draw the attention of the world to Colorado's vast mineral resources.

I. Area

103,645 square miles.

II. Population

Colorado (1000) 539,700. Denver (1900) 133,859. (1880) 194,327. (1880) 35,629.

(I860) 31,277. (1800) 4,749.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Irrigation holds an important relation to Colorado agriculture ; the soil is rich, but needs water to make it fruitful. Cereals and fruit are the chief agricul- tural products. Stock raising is an important occu- pation, but mining is the leading industry; gold, silver, lead, copper, and coal are produced in abun- dance. The state produces more than one third of the yearly output of silver in the United States.

The acreage irrigated in 1900 was 1,611,271.

The value of irrigated crops for 1900 was $15,- 100,690.

The acreage of improved land under cultivation in 1900 was about 2,000,000.

APPENDIX II 305

1900. Value of farm products was $33,018,576. 1890. " " " » « 13,136,810.

1880. » " " " " 5,035,228.

The value of all manufactured products for 1900 was $102,830,137.

IV. Products

Gold (1900) 71,396 fine ounces. Value 879,000,000.

Silver (1900) 728,334 fine ounces.

Lead (1900) 82,137 short tons. Value $19,937,006.

Copper (1900) 8,000,000 lbs. Value $3,893,031.

Iron and steel

(1900) manufactured product 232.815 tons.

(1890) « " 30,207 »

(1880) " " 4,018 «

Coal (1900) 4,626,943 tons.

(1880) 462,747 « Coke (1900) 503,543 tons.

(1890) 199,638 «

(1880) 18,000 " Wheat (1900) 5,587,770 bu. Value $2,809,370.

(1890) 2,845,439 "

(1880) 1,425,014 " Corn (1900) 1,275,680 bu. Value $508,488.

(1890) 1,511,907 "

(1880) 455,968 " Oats (1900) 3,080,130 bu. Value $1,121,745.

Sheep (1900) 1,352,823.

(1890) 896,810.

(1880) 1,091,443.

300 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Wool (1900)8,543,937 lbs. Value 11,115,331.

(1890) 1,544,332 ••

(1880)3,197,391 - Hay and forage

£1900) 1,643,347 tons. Value $8,159,279.

(1890) 714,555 "

(1880) 86,562 « Live stock

(1900) vain.- $49,954,311.

(1890) " 29,675,528.

(1880) « 15,927,342. Dairy products (1900) value $3,778,901. Milk (1900) 38,440,111 gals.

(1890) 19,680,761 «

V. Historical Events

1852. Gold was discovered.

1857. Civilized Cherokees attempted to explore Colorado

but were driven back by hostile Indians.

1858. Colorado explored at two points, — near Pike's Peak

by a company from Kansas, and in the southwest by Georgians under Baker. Both found gold.

1859. Gold was discovered at Boulder Creek, Clear Creek,

and Leadville. There were in the same year important discoveries of silver. The great dis- coveries of carbonate-silver ore at Leadville did not come until 1877.

1861. The territory was formed from parts of Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, and Nebraska.

1876. Colorado was admitted to the Union.

APPENDIX II 307

1878. Gold and silver production to date : 80 tons pure gold, 770 tons silver ; and large quantities of copper and lead.

1891. The first passenger train ascended Pike's Peak.

1892. Pike's Peak set apart as a forest reserve. Gold found

in large quantities in Squaw Gulch.

1893. Rich gold ores, yielding at rate of $120,000 per ton,

were found at Cripple Creek in El Paso County. 1899. Southern Ute Indian lands opened to settlement. 1901. Colorado first in beet-sugar industry.

INDIAN TERRITORY

A part of Indian Territory was included in the Purchase.

I. Area 31,000 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 392,060.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Agriculture, grazing, and lumbering are the chief occupations. Indian corn and cotton are the princi- pal products. It is estimated that there are twenty thousand square miles of coal fields. Since 1890 the manufacture of cotton-seed oil and cake has become one of the most important industries.

308 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

In 1900 the value of farm products was $27,672,- 002, the value of manufactured products was s.'j.N'.rj.- L81, and the value of real and personal property was $94,000,000.

IV. Produ< i -

Corn (1900) 30,709,420 bu. Value $6,999,018.

Cotton (1900) 154,850 commercial bales. Value $4,- 809,929.

(1890) 34,115

(1880) 17,000 Oats (1900) 4,423,810 bu. Value $889,053.

Wheat (1900) 2.203,780 bu. Value $1, 121, 259. Hay and forage (1900) 480,009 tons. Value 81,139,079. Tobacco (1900) 97,030 lbs. Value $10,284. Live stock (1900) value $41,378,695.

(1S90) « 5,976,729.

(1880) " 10,499.

Sheep (1900) 12,648.

Wool (1900) 50,711 lbs. Value $7,499.

Flouring and grist mills (1900) value of product $1,198,472. Timber cut in 1900, 15,000 (M feet, B. M.). Lumber (1900) value of product $199,879. Coal 1 (1899) 1,537.127 tons. Value $2,199,785.

Coke (1900) 24,339 tons.

1 International Yearbook. Increase of over ten per cent in spite of strikes.

APPENDIX II 309

V. Historical Events

1832. Indian Territory, including Oklahoma, was set apart as an Indian reservation.

1834. Definite reservations were assigned to the five civi- lized tribes.

1838. The beginning of their gradual removal.

1892. The reservations of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes,

having been ceded to the United States, were opened for white settlement.

1893. The Cherokee strip was opened and incorporated

with Oklahoma. 1901. Opening of Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache reserva- tions to white settlers.

IOWA

The name Iowa means " across beyond," and it was given by the Indians to a district west of the Missis- sippi, which formed part of Michigan territory and afterward of Wisconsin, becoming later the territory of Iowa.

I. Area

55,475 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 2,231,853. (1850) 192,214. (1840) 43,112.

310 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

III. Agriculture am. Manufactures

Iowa is one of the leading agricultural states, less than one per cent of the soil being unfit for culti- vation. Meat packing, the factory manufacture of butter, cheese, and condensed milk, and flour milling are the principal manufactures. Coal is found under about one third of the state. An industry peculiar to Iowa is the manufacture of pearl buttons from the shells of fresh-water mussels found along the Missis- sippi and other rivers. The manufacture of lumber and timber products, which was once important, has now declined.

The value of all farm products for 1900 was $365,- 411,528, as compared with $159,347,844 in 1890 and $136,103,473 in 1880.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $164,617,877.

The value of real and personal property for 1900 was $2,106,615,620.

IV. Products

Live stock

(1000) value $278,830,096.

(1890) " 206,436,212.

(1880) " 124,715,103. Com (1900) 383,453,190 bu. Value $97,297,707.

(1890) 313,130,782 «

(1880) 275,014,217 «

APPENDIX II 311

Oats (1900) 168,364,170 bu. Value $33,254,987.

(1890) 146,679,289 « (1880) 50,610,591 "

Wheat (1900) 22,769,440 bu. Value $11,457,808. (1890) 8,249,786 « (1880) 31,154,205 «

Potatoes (1900) 17,305,919 bu. Value $3,870,746. (1890) 18,068,311 » (1880) 9,962,537 "

Milk (1900) 535,872,240 gals. Value of dairy products

$27,516,870. (1890) 486,961,411 gals.

Hay and forage

(1900) 6,600,169 tons. Value $30,042,246. (1890) 7,264,700 » (1880) 3,613,941 «

Sheep (1900) 657,868. (1890) 547,394. (1880) 455,359.

Wool (1900) 5,015,965 lbs. Value $992,334. (1890) 2,649,652 « (1880) 2,971,975 «

Coal 1 (1900) 4,645,481 tons.

(1899)5,177,479 « Value $6,397,338. (1880) 1,442,333 »

Slaughtering and meat packing

(1900) value of product $25,695,044. (1890) « « « 23,425,576.

1 Statistical Abstract, 12th Census. Value of output in 1899 was the largest in the history of the state.

312

LOUISIANA

PURCHASE

Flour:

ing

mid grist mills

(1900) \;tlu.- of pro

iucl 113,823,083.

(1890) " "

11,833,737.

V. Historical Events

1833. The first permanent settlements were made at

Dubuque, Fort Madison, and Burlington. 1 B38. Territory of [owa organized.

1846. Iowa was admitted to statehood.

1855. Tin' first railway was built in Iowa.

1850. The first locomotive to cross the Mississippi passed

over the first railroad bridge across the river,

between Rock Island and Davenport. 1857. The Spirit Lake massacre occurred, which greatly

retarded the development of the state in the region

of Okoboji and Spirit Lake.

1870. Geological Survey of State published.

1871. Corner stone for State Capitol laid at Des Moines. 1*77. Canal around the Des Moines rapids opened. Length,

7^ miles; cost, $4,500,000. 1890. A rich lead mine discovered near Dubuque.

KANSAS

The first white men to enter the present limits of Kansas were Coronado and other Spanish adelantados. In 1S04 Lewis and Clark, the American explorers, kept the Fourth of July on Independence Creek, near the site of the present city of Atchison. Three years later Zebulon Pike crossed Kansas to Colorado and discovered Pike's Peak.

APPENDIX II 313

The bloody conflict to keep Kansas a free state and to exclude slavery forms a thrilling chapter in our national history.

I. Area

81,700 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 1,470,495. (I860) 107,206. (1854) about 8,000.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Agriculture and grazing are the leading pursuits. The state is among the first in the production of wheat and corn. Tobacco, castor beans, and cotton are also important staples. Silk culture is becoming a notable industry. Horticulture is being success- fully developed, and in 1900 there were over eleven million apple trees in the state. The chief industries are meat packing, flour milling, and car construction. Zinc is mined in large quantities, and coal underlies about a fifth of the state.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $209,865,- 542, as against $95,070,080 in 1890 and $52,240,361 in 1880.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $172,129,398, and the value of real and personal prop- erty was $1,021,833,294.

314 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

IV. Products

Corn (1900) 229,937,430 bu. Value $58,079,738.

(1890) 259,57 1,568 "

(188ii) 105,729,325 " Wheat (1900) 38,778,450 bu. Value $19,132,455.

(1800) 30,399,871 " (1880) 17,324,141 "

Oats (1900) 24,469,980 bu. Value $1,915,896.

(1890) 44,029,034 "

(1880) 8,180,385 " Potatoes (1900) 8,091,745 bu. Value $2,485,800.

(1890) 8,242,953 "

(1880) 2,894,198 " Milk (1900) 244,909,123 gals. Value of dairy prod-

ucts ^11,782,902.

(1890) 201,608,099 gals. Hay and forage

(1900) 7,066,671 tons. Value $18,499,287.

(1890) 4,854,960 "

(1880) 1,601,932 " Sheep (1900) 179,907.

(1890) 401,192.

(1880) 629,671. Wool (1900) 1,599,374 lbs. Value $247,895.

(1890) 2,253,240 «

(1880) 2,855,832 « Live stock

(1900) value $190,956,936.

(1890) " 128,068,305.

(1880) " 62,704,149.

APPENDIX II 315

Slaughtering and meat packing

(1900) value of product $77,411,883. (1890) " " " 11,696,077.

Flouring and grist mills

(1900) value of product $21,926,768. (1890) " " " 17,120,175.

Coal 1 (1900) 3,989,170 tons. Value $1,178,112. (1880) 763,597 «

Zinc (1900) value of product $5,790,144.

V. Historical Events

1820. The first white settlements of any importance were made by Osage missionaries.

1854. The territory was organized.

1861. After prolonged conflict between the free-soil and proslavery parties, Kansas was admitted to the Union. In the same year the first overland stage- coach arrived at Leavenworth, seventeen days from San Francisco.

1874. Mennonites purchase 100,000 acres of railroad lands.

1877. Lead discovered in Cherokee County.

1889. Legislature appropriates $13,000 to encourage silk industry.

1898. Lands taken from Indians by United States restored by United States Supreme Court. Value $1,250,- 000.

1902. 652 rural free-delivery routes in operation.

i International Yearbook.

316 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

MINNESOTA

The name means " cloudy water." About one third of Minnesota was not included in the Purchase. It is known as the " Gopher State."

I. Area 79,205 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 1,751,394. (1860) 172,023. (1850) 6,077.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Two thirds of the state are devoted to agricul- ture. Horticulture is an important industry, as is also stock raising. Flour and grist milling, lumber- ing, meat packing, and brewing are the most impor- tant occupations. Building stone is abundant, and Minnesota is at the head of the list for the production of iron ore.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $161,217,- 304, as against $71,238,230 in 1890 and $49,468,591 in 1880.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $262,655,881, and of real and personal property $585,083,328.

APPENDIX II 317

IV. Products

Wheat (1900) 95,278,660 bu. Value $50,601,948.

(1890) 52,300,297 »

(1880) 34,601,030 " Oats (1900) 74,054,150 bu. Value $15,829,804.

(1890) 49,958,791 «

(1880) 23,382,158 « Corn (1900) 47,256,920 bu. Value $11,337,105.

(1890) 24,696,446 "

(1880) 14,831,741 « Potatoes (1900) 14,463,327 bu. Value $3,408,997.

(1890) 11,155,707 "

(1880) 5,184,676 « Hay and forage

(1900) 4,339,328 tons. Value $14,585,281.

(1890) 3,135,241 "

(1880) 1,637,109 « Milk (1900) 304,017,106 gals. Value of dairy products

$16,623,460.

(1890) 182,968,973 gals. Sheep (1900) 359,328.

(1890) 399,049.

(1880) 267,598. Wool (1900) 2,612,737 lbs. Value $460,305.

(1890) 1,945,249 "

(1880) 1,352,124 «

Live stock

(1900) value $89,063,097. (1890) " 57,725,683. (1880) " 31,904,821.

318 LOUISIANA PUECHASE

Flouring and grist mills

(1900) value of product $83,877,709. (1890) " " " 60,158,088.

Timber cut (1000) 2,441,198 (M feet, B. M.).

Lumber (1000) value of product |43,585,161. (1800) « » « 25,075,132. (1880) « » « 7,306,038.

Iron ore (1900) 8,000,000 tons.

Iron and steel

(1900) manufactured product 42,528 tons. (1890) " » 2,290 »

V. Historical Events.

1680. The Falls of St. Anthony were discovered and named by Father Hennepin, the most important of the early explorers of the state.

1783. The part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi became United States territory by treaty, and was included in the Northwest Territory organ- ized under the ordinance of 1787. It was later part of Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin terri- tories successively.

1803. The lands west of the Mississippi came into pos- session of the United States by the Louisiana Purchase, and belonged successively to the terri- tories of upper Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa.

1805. The expedition of Zebulon Pike furnished the first information as to climate, soil, and natural resources.

APPENDIX II 319

1818. Fort Snelling was founded.

1821. The first manufactory in Minnesota, a sawmill at Fort Snelling, was established.

1827. The first white settlers, Swiss refugees, appeared at Fort Snelling, and were allowed to cultivate lands belonging to the fort.

1849. Minnesota was organized as a territory.

1851. Twenty -one million acres of land were acquired from the Dakotas by treaty with Traverse, the Sioux.

1858. The territory was admitted as a state.

1860. At about this time a French millwright, M. N. La Croix, settled Faribault, and introduced the new process of flour milling which has since caused the prosperity of Minneapolis and spread over the United States. After its adoption large exports of flour were made from the United States, whereas previous exports had been in the form of grain.

1870. Northern Pacific Railroad begun.

1883. Completion of Northern Pacific Railroad.

1898. Outbreak of Indians at Bear Lake.

1902. Land values increased in a year from $5.76 to $9.78.

320 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

MISSOURI

This name formed two Indian words meaning " big muddy," and referred to the Missouri River.

I. Area

68,735 square miles.

II. Population

Missouri (1900) 3,106,665. St. Louis (1900) 575,238. (1820) 66,587. (1810) 20,845.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

The principal agricultural productions are cereals, tobacco, and fruit, horticulture being one of the most profitable occupations in the state. Stock raising and dairy farming are also extensively followed. The state has a vast wealth in manufacturing busi- ness, being one of the largest manufacturing centers of the country and holding the first place for tobacco manufacture. Meat packing, flour milling, and brew- ing are the leading industries.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $219,296,- 970, as against $109,751,024 in 1890 and $95,912,- 660 in 1880.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $385,492,784, and that of real and personal property was $1,093,091,264.

APPENDIX II 321

IV. Products

Corn (1900) 208,814,870 bu. Value $61,246,305.

(1890) 196,999,016 « (1880) 202,214,413 »

Wheat (1900) 23,072,768 bu. Value $13,520,012. (1890) 30,113,821 " (1880) 24,966,627 "

Hay and forage

(1900) 4,062,199 tons. Value $20,467,501. (1890) 3,135,241 « (1880) 1,083,929 "

Milk (1900) 258,207.755 gals. Value of dairy products

$15,042,360. (1890) 193,931,103 gals.

Sheep (1900) 663,703. (1890) 950,562. (1880) 1,411,298.

Wool (1900) 4,145,137 lbs. Value $822,871. (1890) 4,040,084 « (1880)7,313,924 »

Live stock

(1900) value $160,540,004. (1890) « 138,701,173. (1880) « 95,785,282.

Timber cut (1900) 721,632 (M feet, B. M.).

Lumber (1900) value of product $11,177,529. (1880) " " " 5,265,617.

322 LOUISIANA PUBCHASE

Tobacco l (1900) 8,041,996 Lbs. Value 1218,991.

(1890) 9,424,823 "

(1880) 12,015,657 " Slaughtering and meal packing

(l'MMi) value of product $43,040,885.

(1890) " " " 18,320,1!*:;. Flouring and grisl mills

(1900) value of product $26,393,928.

(1890) " " " 31,408,765. Coal (1000) 3,160,806 tons.

(1880) 543,990 " Iron and steel

(1900) product of manufactures 100,001 tons.

(1890) « « « 114,945 «

(1880) » " " 112,284 «

Lead (1900) value of product $3,852,435.

Zinc (1900) value of product $2,01 1,72 1.

V. Historical Events

17<>7. Pierre Laclede founded a trading post on the river, and named it in honor of Louis XV.

1775. St. Louis had become a well-known fur depot and trading station and had about eight hundred inhabitants.

1804. Captain Stoddard of the United States army suc- ceeded the Spanish commandant at St. Louis, and the region was organized into the territory of Louisiana. St. Louis was made the capital.

1 While the production of tobacco has greatly decreased, the manufacture has greatly increased.

APPENDIX II 323

1812. Louisiana became a state, and the name of the ter- ritory was changed to Missouri territory. 1817. The beginning of the Missouri Compromise agitation. 1817. The first steamboat arrived at St. Louis.

1821. Missouri was admitted as a state to the Union.

1822. St. Louis received a city charter.

1852. The first railway in the state was opened, with thirty-eight miles of track.

1873. Opening of tubular steel bridge across the Missis- sippi River at St. Louis, erected by J. B. Eads.

1901-1902. Expenditure of $900,000 in buildings for public institutions.

MONTANA

The name is taken from the French word for

mountain.

I. Area

145,310 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 243,329. (1864) about 11,000.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Agriculture is handicapped by need of irrigation, 1 the acreage under cultivation being 1,151,674, of which the acreage irrigated is 951,154. The value

1 The greatly increased recognition of the importance of irrigation as shown in legislation, in appropriations, and in such action as the meeting of the Irrigation Congress in 1903, argues favorably for the increased utilization of Western lands.

824 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

¦v

of irrigated crops in 1900 was $7,281,567. Wheat yields about thirty bushels to the acre. Stock raising is an important occupation, and the state is one of the first in sheep raising and the production of raw wool. The chief industry of the state, however, is mining.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $28,616,957, as against $6,273,415 in 1890 and $2,024,923 in 1880.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $57,075,824, and that of real and personal property was $153,441,154.

IV. Products

Oats (1900) 4,746,231 bu. Value $1,790,938.

(1890) 1,535,615 »

(1880) 900,915 « Wheat (1900) 1,899,683 bu. Value $1,077,210.

(1890) 457,607 "

(1880) 469,688 "

Hay and forage

(1900) 1,059,268 tons. Value $5,974,850.

(1890) 268,689 "

(1880) 62,709 « Sheep (1900) 4,215,214.

(1890) 2,352,886.

(1880) 279,277. Wool (1900) 30,437,829 lbs. Value $5,136,658.

(1890) 12,177,467 "

(1880) 995,484 » Live stock (1900) value $52,161,833.

(1890) " 33,266,752.

(1880) « 9,170,554.

APPENDIX II 325

Copper (1900) value of product $36,387,063. Silver (1900) coinage value $21,786,874. Lead (1900) value of product $5,261,253. Gold (1900) value of product $4,819,156. Coal (1900) 1,483,728 tons. (1880) 224 »

V. Historical Events

1827. Trading post established on the Yellowstone River.

1852. Gold was discovered.

1861. Discoveries of gold. The growth of the state dates

from this time. 1864. Montana was organized as a territory distinct from

Idaho territory, of which it had been a part. 1880. The first railroad entered Montana. 1892. The surplus lands of the Crow Indian reservation in

southern Montana (about 1,800,000 acres) were

opened to settlement.

NEBRASKA

The name, taken from two Indian words, means "shallow water." The state is often called the "Black Water State."

I. Area

76,840 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 1,006,300. (I860) 28,841.

326 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Nebraska is an agricultural state, and ranks among the first for corn production. The sugar beet is an important product, and horticulture is very successful, apples, plums, and peaches forming the principal crops. It is one of the chief stock-raising and meat-packing states. The principal manufactures are farm imple- ments, foundry products, flour milling, and sugar refining. The acreage of improved land in 1896 was 18,091,936.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $162,696,- 386, as against $66,837,617 in 1890 and $31,708,914 in 1880.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $143,990,102, and that of real and personal property $171,747,593.

IV. Products

Corn (1900) 210,974,710 bu. Value $51,251,213.

(1890) 215,895,996 "

(1880) 65,450,135 " Wheat (1900) 24,801,900 bu. Value $13,145,007.

(1890) 10,571,059 "

(1880) 13,847,007 " Oats (1900) 58,007,140 bu. Value $11,333,393.

(1890) 43,843,640 «

(1880) 6,555,875 « Hay and forage

(1900) 3,502,380 tons. Value $11,230,910.

(1890) 3,115,398 "

(1880) 786,722 «

APPENDIX II 327

Milk (1900) 190,477,911 gals. Value of dairy products

$8,595,408. (1890) 144,768,263 gals.

Sheep (1900) 335,950. (1890) 209,243. (1880) 247,453.

Wool (1900) 2,788,839 lbs. Value $426,344. (1890) 791,534 « (1880) 1,282,656 "

Live stock

(1900) value $145,349,587. (1890) " 92,971,920. (1880) " 40,350,265.

V. Historical Events

1804. The Lewis and Clark expedition passed up the west bank of the Missouri. This was the first important expedition after the early Spanish and French explorers.

1810. The first settlement was made at Bellevue.

1849. The beginning of the great western movement of gold-hunters occurred, which incidentally estab- lished towns in Nebraska along the west bank of the Missouri.

1854. Nebraska was organized as a territory.

1867. The territory was admitted to statehood, the capital being removed from Omaha to Lincoln.

1869. The Union Pacific Railroad was opened for traffic.

1875. Present state constitution framed.

1902. Coal discovered near Jamestown.

328 LOUISIANA PUlirilASE

NORTH DAKOTA

The name Dakota was taken from the general name of the Sioux tribes, and signified "many united tribes."

I. Area

70,105 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 319,146. (1890) 182,719. (1860) 4,837.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Agriculture is the principal occupation, and wheat is cultivated very extensively, great wheat farms of 20,000 acres being not uncommon. Horse and cattle raising is second in importance. The estimated area of grazing lands is 40,000,000 acres. The manufac- tures are for the most part domestic and local.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $64,252,- 494, as against $21,264,938 in 1890 and $5,648,814 in 1880. 1

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $9,183,114, and that of real and personal property $143,000,000.

1 Includes South Dakota.

APPENDIX II 329

IV. Products

Wheat (1900) 59,888,810 bu. Value $31,733,763.

(1890) 26,403,365 »

(1880) 1 2,830,289 « Oats (1900) 22,125,331 bu. Value $5,852,615.

(1890) 5,733,129 " Corn (1900) 1,284,870 bu. Value $397,278.

(1890) 178,729 »

(1880) 1 2,000,864 » Hay and forage

(1900) 1,747,390 tons. Value $5,182,917.

(1890) 531,472 »

(1880) 1 308,036 " Sheep (1900) 451,437.

(1890) 136,413.

(1880) 1 85,244. Wool (1900) 3,030,478 lbs. Value $503,744.

(1890) 510,417 "

(1880) 1 157,025 « Live stock

(1900) value $42,430,491.

(1890) « 18,787,294.

(1880) 1 " 7,555,274.

V. Historical Events

1804 to 1806. Lewis and Clark explored the Dakotas, win- tering near Bismarck, 1804-1805.

1830. The first steamer ascended the Missouri River into the Dakotas.

1 Includes South Dakota.

330 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

1851. The first Land was obtained from the Sioux Indians.

1801. Dakota territory was organized.

1889. North Dakota was admitted as a state.

1S92. The Turtle Indians cede all right and title to lands

in the Devil's Lake District.

1902. New military post established near Bismarck.

OKLAHOMA

In 1889 Oklahoma, up to that time an Indian reservation, was opened for settlement. From 1850, when as " No Man's Land " it was ceded to the United States, until its opening to white settlers, these unoc- cupied lands were the scene of perpetual struggle between the government troops sent to enforce the proclamations against settlement and organized bands of men determined upon taking up the lands. In 1901, 3,000,000 acres of Indian lands were opened. They now contain a population estimated at 80,000. Three counties have been organized, and the county seats have populations of from 8,000 to 12,000. The property of the settlers in this new country is esti- mated to be worth $9,000,000, according to the county clerks, on a basis of one third to one fourth real value. This showing for two years illustrates the rapid development of the last of the available new lands of the West. The total population of Oklahoma (1903) is estimated at 550,000, and with the Indian Territory added there would be about 1,100,000. The admission of these two territories

APPENDIX II 331

into the Union as one or two states lies in the immediate future.

I. Area

38,830 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 398,331. (1890) 61,831.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Agriculture, horticulture, and stock raising are the principal occupations, yet the increase in manufac- tures between 1890 and 1900 was more striking than that in any other state or territory.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $45,447,- 744, as against $440,375 in 1890.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $7,083,938, and that of real and personal property $150,000,000.

IV. Products

Corn (1900) 152,055,390 bu. Value $48,037,895.

(1890) 234,315 « Wheat (1900) 18,124.520 bu. Value ss.989,416.

(1890) 30,175 » '

Oats (1900) 5,087,930 bu. Value 81,079,862.

(1890) 76,194 « Cotton (1900) 70,675 commercial bales. Value $2,217,119.

(1890) 425 «

332 LOUISIANA PUBCHASE

Hay and forage

(1900) 1,137,296 tons. Value S2,883,682.

(1890) 40,473 " Sheep (1900) 18,535.

(1890) L6,565. Wool (1900) 278,425 lbs. Value 837,750.

(1890) 59,114 « Live stock

(1000) value So 1,829,568.

(1890) " 3,206,270.

(1880) " 876,000.

Flouring and grist mills (1900) value of product $3,745,434.

V. Historical Events

1889. Oklahoma separated from Indian Territory and

opened for settlement.

1890. Oklahoma territory organized.

1891. Cession of lands was made by Sac and Fox, Pot-

tawattomie, Shawnee, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe Indians, which opened 300,000 more acres to white settlement. 1900. The governor claimed that Oklahoma was entitled to admission as a state.

APPENDIX II 3o3

SOUTH DAKOTA

This has been called the " Coyote State."

I. Area

76,850 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 410,570. (1890) 328,808.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

Two thirds of the population are engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. Wheat, corn, and oats are the leading products, and stock raising is very profitable. Milling is an important industry, and the state is very rich in minerals, gold and silver leading.

The value of farm products for 1900 was $66,082,- 419, as against $22,047,279 in 1890.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $12,213,239, and that of real and personal property $172,225,085.

IV. Products

Wheat (1900) 41,889,380 bu. Value 820,957.917.

(1890) 16,541,138 « Corn (1900) 32,402,540 bu. Value $7,263,127.

(1890) 13,152,008 «

334 LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Hay and forage

(1900) 2,378,392 tons. Value |5,9 54,229. (1890) 1,541,524 «

Oats (1900) 19,412,490 bu. Value |4, 114,456.

(181)0) 7,469,846 "

Sheep (1900) 507,338. (1890) 238,518.

Wool (1900) 3,426,945 lbs. Value $525,052.

(1800) 1,074,289 "

Live stock

(1900) value $65,173,432.

(1890) " 29,089,509.

Gold (1900) 84,723 fine ounces.

Silver (1900) 317,263 fine ounces.

Copper (1900) contents of matte 2,175,549 lbs.

V. Historical Events

1857. The first settlement was made at Sioux Falls.

1861. Dakota was organized as a territory.

1872. The first railroad entered the state.

1889. South Dakota was separated from North Dakota and

admitted as a state.

1890. The Sioux reservation, containing 9,000,000 acres,

was opened to white settlers.

1892. The Yankton Sioux ceded part of their reservation

between the Choteau and Missouri rivers.

1893. The state legislature passed an act to promote

irrigation. 1902. Oil discovered thirty miles from Sisseton.

APPENDIX II 335

WYOMING

The name comes from an Indian word, and means " broad plain."

I. Area

97,575 square miles.

II. Population

(1900) 92,531. (1890) 60,705. (1868) 9,118.

III. Agriculture and Manufactures

It is estimated that 12,000,000 acres can be made fit for cultivation by means of irrigation. The ele- vation of the state (average probably 6400 feet) also limits agricultural production, as cereals and other ordinary products of the section will not thrive above 7500 feet. Stock raising is the leading pur- suit. Mineral resources are still to a great extent undeveloped. There are about 13,000,000 acres of coal fields, and large oil districts.

The acreage irrigated in 1900 was 605,878, and its value $2,886,949.

The value of farm products for 1 900 was $11,907,415, as against $2,241,590 in 1890 and $372,391 in 1880.

The value of manufactured products for 1900 was $4,301,240, and that of real and personal property $37,892,303.

336 LuriSlANA l'URCHASK

IV. Products

Oats (1900) 763,370 bu. Value 1292,630.

(1890) 388,505 "

(1880) 2l>,512 «

Wheat (1900) 348,800 bu. Value $101,105. (1800) 74,450 « (1880) 4,674 «

Hay and forage

(1000) 462,101 tons. Value 82,332,028. (1800) 147,963 « (1880) 23,516 "

Sheep (1900) 3,327,185. (1890) 712,520. (1880) 450,225.

Wool (1900) 27,758,309 lbs. Value $4,036,227. (1890) 4,146,733 " (1880) 601,650 »

Live stock

(1900) value $30,145,877. (1890) " 18,785,301. (1880) « 9,182,107.

Coal (1000) 3,584,466 tons.

(1880) 589,595 "

Coke (1900) 15,630 tons.

Iron and steel

(1900) manufactured product 9,422 tons. (1890) " " 8,308 »

(1880) " " 8,741 »

APPENDIX II 337

V. Historical Events

1841. The first emigrant train for Oregon and California crossed Wyoming.

1867. Gold was discovered and Cheyenne city established.

1868. Wyoming territory was organized from Dakota,

Idaho, and Utah.

1876. The battle of the Big Horn.

1890. The territory was admitted into the Union as a state.

1894. A rich gold strike is made in Dutch Tom Gulch.

1902. Completion of the longest aerial tramway in the world, extending from Battle Creek to Grand Encampment, a distance of sixteen miles.

338

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

The following table, based on the last census, sura- marizes the area, population, and taxable property of the states and territories of the Louisiana Purchase.

TI1K LOUISIANA PURCHASE IN 1900

STATES AND 1 1 1:1:1 rOBD -

Aim: \

POPl I. \ I [OH

Wi: \ i i ii

Arkansas. . . ( Colorado . Indian Territory

53,850

103,645

31,000

55.475 81,700 45,420 79,205 68,735 145,310 76,840 TO.lOr, 76,850 38,830 97,575

1,311,564

539,700

302,060

2,231,853

1,740,495

1,381,625

1.7- ',1,394

3,106,665

243,329

1,066,300

319,146

401,570

398,831

92,531

$189,999,050

430,000,000

04,000,000

2,106,615,620

Kansas . . . Louisiana Minnesota . . Missouri . . . Montana .

1.021.833.294 267,723,138 5S5.0S3.32H

1,003. 001. 204 153,441,154

Nebraska. . . North Dakota . South Dakota . Oklahoma . . Wyoming . .

171. 747. 593 143,000,000 172. 225, <is:, 150,000,000 37,892,303

Total . . .

1,024,630

14,887,063 136,616,051,829

The Louisiana territory, once ridiculed as for the most part a barren wilderness, now contains as many inhabitants as there were dollars paid to make the purchase.

The figures of the table show that the wealth which is taxed is more than four times the amount of the original purchase money. More than this, the splen- did courage and energy shown in the development of the territory, and the quality of the citizens whom its opportunities have added to our country, represent a value which is beyond price.

INDEX

Air gun, 117.

Alabama, 12.

Allen, Paul, 109.

American Fur Company, 223,

227. American Philosophical

Society raises funds for

exploration of West, 100. Annapolis, N. S., 17. Antelope, 124.

Ankara Indians, 127, 190, 229. Arkansas, 205, 242 ; statistics

of, 300. Arkansas River, 27, 201, 203. Ashley, William H., 229. Astor, John Jacob, 223, 226. Astoria, 223, 227, 228, 229. Atchison, Topeka, and Santa

Fe" Railroad, 279.

Baker's Bay, 159. Bannock City, 179. Barb^-Marbois, 71, 73, 77. Basel, Treaty of, 56. Baths, Indian, 154. Beacon Rock, 164. Bears, 133-135, 168, 182.

Beaver County, Missouri,

179. Bent's Fort, 216. Biddle, Nicholas, 109. Bienville d' Iberville, 35. Big Belt Mountains, 143. Big Dry River, 135. Big Horn River, 181, 234. Big White, 186, 189. Biloxi, French colony at, 35. Bitter Root Mountains, 147,

151. Blackbird, 117. Blount, Senator, 57. Bonaparte, Lucien and Joseph,

protest against the cession,

74. Bonneville, Captain, explora- tions of, 233. Brackenridge, H. M., 232. Bradbury, John, 232. "Brant" (wild geese), 132. Buffalo, 8, 129, 224, 263;

great herds seen by Lewis

and Clark, 182. "Bullion theory," 18. Burr's conspiracy, 93. 339

o4U

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Cabeza de Vaca, captivity of, among the Indians. 0-9.

Calif ornia, 286, 236 j trail, 220.

Camp Disappointment, 17.'!.

Canadian River, 206.

Canoes made from buffalo skins, 184.

(.'anon City, 205.

Carrington, Colonel Henry, 249.

Carver, Jonathan, attempts to cross the continent, 42.

Catlin, George, 232.

Cattle raising, 204.

Cavelier, Robert . See La Salle.

Central Pacific Railroad, 268.

Chaboneau, interpreter to Lewis and Clark, 120, 188.

Charlevoix, 32.

Cheyenne Indians, 190.

Chicago Ship Canal, 243.

Chickasaw Bluffs, 12, 20.

" Chisshetaw " Creek, 127.

Chopunnish (Nez Perce") Indians, 152, 168.

Cibola, Seven Cities of, 0, 10.

Civil War, importance of the Mississippi in, 274-276.

Claiborne, William, 88, 89.

Clark, Captain William: early life, 102 (note); appointed to joint command with Cap- tain Lewis, 101; offers to lead Mandans against Sioux, 120; makes survey of Falls of the Missouri, 141; saves

Indian woman from cloud- burst, 1 12; trades bia sword for a horse, I66j explores the Yellowstone, 178; grant of land to, 193; later life, 193.

Clark's River, 178.

Clearwater River, 153, 1 65.

Colbert (i.e. Mississippi) River, 29.

Coldwater Creek, 112, 102.

Colonial acquisition, problems involved in, 80.

Colorado, Pike in, 203 ; statis- tics of, 303.

Colorado River, 235.

Colter, John, 187.

Columbia River, 44, 153, 155, 228, 235; Gray's discovery of, 43.

Company of the West, 36.

Constitution of the United States and the Purchase, 80, 82, 83.

Cooke, Colonel St. George, 248.

Coronado, Francisco Vasquez, search of, for Quivira, 10.

Cortes, Hernando, 16.

Cotton gin, 244.

Council Bluffs, 117, 220,,

Council Grove, 216.

Cow Creek, 138.

Crozat, Antoine, obtains trad- ing privileges, 36.

Cruzatte, 140. 176.

Cut-bank River, 173.

IKDEX

341

Dakotas. See North and South Dakotas.

Dalles of the Columbia, 165.

Dauruont de Saint Lusson, 24.

De Soto, Fernando, explora- tions of, 12-16 ; misses Coro- nado, 14.

Docampo, 12.

Dodge City, 216.

Dog-flesh diet, Lewis and Clark's party on, 167.

Drewyer (one of Lewis and Clark's men), 172.

Du Bois River, 111.

Echeloot Indians, 156.

Elk hunting, 176.

Erie Canal, opening of, affects commerce of the Missis- sippi, 244.

Espiritu Santo, Rio de (the Mississippi), discovered by Pineda, 6.

Estevanico, 10.

Expansion of the United States, 47, 48, 65, 81-84, 241-244, 281-283.

Farming, development of, 274, 284.

Federalists oppose the Pur- chase, 80.

Fields (one of Lewis and Clark's men), 174.

Fish catching, 118.

Flat-headed Indians, 156.

Florida, West, annexed to the United States, 79.

Floridas, England contem- plates seizure of, 55 ; United States seeks to acquire, 69 ; not included by Spain in the cession to France, 69, 78.

Floyd, Sergeant, 119.

Forsyth, Colonel G. A., 249.

Fort Bridger, 247.

Fort Hall, 220, 247.

Fort Kearny, 247, 249.

Fort Laramie, 220, 247.

Fort Leavenworth, 247, 274.

Fort Smith, 221.

Fort Vancouver, 231.

Fort Walla- Walla, 231.

Fox River, 26.

France, cedes Louisiana to Spain, 40 ; endeavors to re- gain Louisiana, 54-56 ; suc- ceeds, 58, 59.

Franklin on the control of the Mississippi, 65.

Fremont, J. C, 234, 275.

French exploration in Louisi- ana, 21-33. French settlement in Louisi- ana, 34-39. Fur trade, 39, 102. 221, 227. Fur traders, 112, 113, 130, 177, 184, 191.

Gallatin River, 144. Gasconade, 191.

342

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Patrick, 119.

Geesr, manner oi nesting, 182.

Genet, E. ( '.. French minister to United States, 55; foments trouble in the West, 56 ; re- called. 56,

Georgia, 12.

Godoy, .Manuel, 51, GO.

Gopher, 101.

Grape Creek, •_'<><;.

Gravelines, 191.

Gray, Captain Robert, dis- covers the Columbia River, 43.

Gray's Bay. 159.

Great Bend, Kansas, 203.

Great Lakes a highway for exploration, 210.

Great Platte River, 116.

Great Salt Lake, 230, 235.

Green Bay, 21, 2G.

Green River, 230, 233, 234.

Hamilton, Alexander, urges

acquisition of Floridas and

Louisiana, 65. Heart River, 127. Hennepin, Father, 30. Horseflesh diet, Lewis and

Clark's party on, 152. Horses round up a herd of

buffalo, 181. Hubert, 31. Hudson Bay Company, 222,

233. Humboldt River, 234.

Hunt, William Price, expedi- tion of, 228.

Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne d', 31, 35.

Idaho, gold found in. '1 59.

independence, Missouri, 218.

Independence-Day <Hebration of Lewis and ( 'lark, 178.

Indian cookery, 1G8.

Indian Territory, 11; statis- tics of. 307.

Indian wars, 248.

Indiana, 242.

Indians, 154, 180, 183.

Indians, Arikara, 127, 100,229 ; Cheyenne, 190; Echeloot, 15G; Iowa, 113; Kansas, 114; Mandan, 130; Minne- taree, 174, 185; Missouri. 116, 118; Nez PercC, 152, 178; Omaha, 118; Osage, 113; Ottoe, 116, 118; Taw- nee, 110 ; Shoshone, 148; Sioux, 121 ; Skilloot, 1GG ; Sokulk, 155; Teton Sioux, 124, 190; Yankton Sioux, 121, 122.

Iowa, 309.

Iowa Indians, 309.

Jacmel, G2. Jamestown, Va., 17. Jefferson, Thomas : on control

of the Mississippi, 65 ;

elected President, 66:

INDEX

343

appoints commissioners to purchase New Orleans, 69; considers the purchase of Louisiana unconstitutional, 82 ; his accounts of Louisi- ana, 97, 98 ; urges Ledyard to cross the continent, 99 ; persuades Philosophical So- ciety to raise funds for ex- ploration of the West, 100 ; selects Lewis and Clark to command a government ex- pedition to the Pacific coast, 101.

Jefferson River, 144, 179.

Jerked beef, 114.

Joliet, Louis, 25-27.

Joutel, 30.

Juan dePadilla (Fray), 11.

Kansas, 11, 246, 271-273 ; sta- tistics of, 312.

Kansas City, 218.

Kansas Indians, 114.

Kansas River, 114, 235.

Kearny, Colonel Philip, 248.

Kelley, Hall J., 230.

Kentucky, 48.

Kooskooskee (Clearwater) River, 153, 155, 167.

La Charette, 191.

Laclede, Pierre, obtains trad- ing rights on Missouri, 38 ; founds St. Louis, 38.

Lake Superior, 24, 32.

Lake Winnipeg, 32.

Land grants, 276-278.

La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de : early life, 23 ; de- scends the Ohio, 23 ; jour- neys to mouth of the Mis- sissippi, 27 ; murdered at Matagorda Bay, 30.

Laussat, 86, 88.

La Verendrye family, 33, 34.

Law, John, 36.

Leadville, 205.

Ledyard, James, 99.

Lee, Jason and Daniel, 251.

Leech Lake, 200.

Lemhi River, 150.

Le Moyne d 1 Iberville, 31, 35.

Le Sueur, Pierre, 30.

Lewis, Captain Meriwether : applies for first expedition, 100; appointed to com- mand, 101 ; biography, 101 (note); sees the Rocky Mountains, 138; chased by bears, 133, 141 ; narrow escapes, 139, 141, 175; fight withMinnetarees, 174; acci- dentally shot, 176; congres- sional grant of lands to, 193 ; later life, 193.

Lewis and Clark : appointed to command of expedition, 101 ; preparations, 106 ; com- position of the expedition, 108 ; journals of the expe- dition, 109 ; start from the

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Wood River, 111 j the con- templated journey, 111 ; reach the Kansas River, 114 ; reach the Great Platte,

1 It', ; council w ith Pawnees, 110; in South Dakota, 120; council with the Sioux, 121 ; trouble with the Tetons, 124 ; enter the Ankara country, 126; reach the Mandan Indians, 127; leave the Mandans, 132; in Mon- tana, 135 ; reach the Mus- selshell River, 137 ; in sight of the Rocky Mountains, 138 ; at Marias River, 139 ; at the Great Falls of the Missouri, 141 ; reach the Three Forks of the Missouri, 144 ; ascend the Jefferson, 146 ; at source of the Mis- souri, 147; cross the Rockies, 147; among the Shoshonees, 148 ; scarcity of food, 151 ; among the Nez Perce" Indians, 152 ; re ch the Columbia, 155; on the shores of the Pacific, 158 ; begin the return journey, 164 ; among the Skilloot Indians, 166 ; practice med- icine, 166, 170 ; scarcity of' stores, 169; recross the Bit- ter Root Mountains, 171; party divided to explore Jefferson and Yellowstone

rivers, 172 ; reunited at Lit- tle Knife River, 177 ; again

among the Mandan-. 18C ;

fresh start for home, 189 ; reach St. Louis, 192.

Lewis River, 150.

Lewiston, 167.

Little Knife River, 177.

Little Manitou Creek, 113.

Livingston, Robert R. : learns of the cession to France. 07 ; commissioner to negotiate for purchase of New Orleans and the Floridas, 09; his conversation with Talley- rand, 72 ; a signer of the Purchase treaty, 77.

" Long Trail," 204.

Louis XIV, sanctions Missis- sippi Colony, 35 ; grants trading privileges to Crozat, 3G.

Louisiana : Spanish explo- ration in ; French explora- tion in ; French settlement of; ceded to Spain, 40; England contemplates inva- sion of, in 1790, 55 ; in 1797, 50 ; retrocession to France, 58, 59 ; causes invoking American acquisition, 47- 52 ; dangers from French occupation, 54 ; Napoleon plans French occupation, 59 ; his plans frustrated by Toussaint L'Ouverture, 63;

INDEX

345

he decides to sell Louisiana to the United States, 73 ; Talleyrand offers the terri- tory to Livingston, 72 ; treaty of cession signed, 77; text of treaty of cession, 287 ; cost of the Purchase, 79 ; how the news of the Purchase was received, 80 ; Constitutional questions raised, 82, 83 ; formal trans- fer to France. 8(5 ; formal transfer to the United States, SS ; divided into Territory of Orleans and District of Louisiana, 90 ; form of temporary govern- ment of, 84 ; ignorance re- garding, at time of pur- chase, 97-99 ; influence of water ways on development of, 210 ; railroad as a factor of development, 280 ; statis- tics of the state, 297.

Mackenzie, Alexander, 42, 118.

Mackinac island, 29.

Mackinaw Company, 223.

M'Neal, 172.

Madison, James, on impor- tance of the Mississippi, 215.

Madison River, 144, 179.

Maha (Omaha) Indians, 118.

Mandan Indians. 33.

Marcos de Nizza, Fray, 9.

Marias River, 139-140, 173.

Marquette, Father, 25-27.

Matagorda Bay, 30.

Maximilian, Prince of Wied, 232.

Mendoza, Antonio de, 10.

Meriwether's Bay, 100.

Mexican War. 235, 245.

Michaux, Andre, 101.

Michillimackinac, 29.

Milk River, 135.

Mills, Robert, 2G7.

Mining in the Purchase. 257.

Minnesota, 30, 274 ; statistics of, 316.

Minnetaree Indians, 174, 185.

Missionary explorers, 250- 254.

Mississippi Bubble, 36.

Mississippi Company, 36.

Mississippi River: discovered by Pineda, 6 ; reached by De Soto, 12 ; descended by La Salle, 27 ; Le Sueur's journey on, 30 ; explored by Jolie. ind Marquette, 25-27 ; known as river Colbert, 29; claims of European nations to valley of, 34 ; under Spanish control, 41 ; Span- ish settlements on. 52 ; Spanish authorities close navigation of, 51 ; impor- tance of, to the United States, 64-65, 215; Pike's search for bead waters of,

346

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

200; commerce affected by

the Erie < anal, 244 J in the

Civil War, 274-27(5.

Missoula County, Mont., 170.

Missouri, 270; statistics of, 320.

Missouri Fur Company, 22:;.

Missouri Riter: 211 ; Iberville and Hubert propose explo- ration of, 31; discovery of the Great Falls of, 140; Lewis at the head waters of, 147 ; Lewis and Clark's journey up the, 111-147.

Moniteau Creek, 113.

Monroe, James, commissioner for purchase of New Orleans and the Floridas. 00, 70.

Montana, 207; statistics of, 323.

Morales, Spanish intendant at New Orleans, 08.

Moreau Creek, 113.

Mormons, 248.

Moscoc,o, Luis de, 15.

Mt. Hood, 155, 104.

Mt. Jefferson, 104.

Mt. Rainier, 104.

Mt. Regnier, 104.

Mt St Helens, 158, 104.

Multnomah River, 158, 104.

Musselshell River, 137.

Napoleon I, plans French occupation of Louisiana, 00 ; the war in San Domingo

frustrates his intention, 03 ; determines to sell Louisiana, 73j quarrel with his broth- ers, 74; criticism of his action in regard to Louisiana, 7~>.

Nebraska, 271. 27:); statistics ot. 325.

Netul River, 100.

Nevada, mining in, 257.

New England Federalists op- pose the admission of Lou- isiana, 83.

New Mexico. 10.

New Orleans : founded, 35 ; description of. under Span- ish occupation, 53 ; Spanish customs regulations at, 50 ; American efforts to acquire, 69 ; growth of, 245.

New Orleans, battle of, 02.

Nez Perce" Indians, 152, 108.

Nicollet, J. N.,232.

Nicollet, Jean, 21.

North Dakota, 328.

Northern Pacific Railroad, 278, 270.

Northwest Fur Company, 223.

Northwest territory. 244.

Nuttall, Thomas, 232.

Ohio, 242.

Ohio River, 29, 210.

Oil Creek, 205.

Oklahoma, 330.

Omaha Indians, 118.

Ordway, Sergeant, 170, 179.

INDEX

347

Oregon, 44, 233. Oregon trail, 218. Orleans territory, 90. Osage Indians, 113. Osage River, 112. Overland trail, 220.

Pacific Fur Company, 227. Panama Railroad, 256. Parker, Samuel, 251. Pawnee Indians, 116. Pemmican, 125. Perdido River, 78. Pierre's Hole, Idaho, 231. Pike, Zebulon M., 199, 200-

207. Pike's Peak, 203, 257. Pineda, Alonzo de, 6. Pioneer, the American, 49. Pipestone quarry, 119. Pitt, William, 55. Pizarro, Francisco de, 16. Platte River, 191, 233, 235. Plymouth, 17. "Pony express," 259-263. Poplar River, 135. Porcupine River, 135. Port Royal, 17. Powell, Captain James, 249. Prairie dog, 123. Pryor, Sergeant, 121, 180, 183. Pueblo, Col., 203.

Quamash, 152.

Quivira, legendary city of, 10.

Quivira Indians, 11.

Radisson, Pierre, 222.

Railroads, transcontinental, 266-269, 274, 278-280.

Raton Pass, 216.

Red River, 8, 15, 206.

Right of deposit, 51, 52, 68.

Rio Grande, 206.

Rivers, influence of, on devel- opment of the Purchase, 210.

Rocky Mountains, 34, 42, 138, 144.

Rocky Mountain Fur Com- pany, 223, 229.

Rupert, Prince, 222.

Sacajawea, 129, 132, 142, 145, 149, 168, 179, 180, 188.

St. Augustine, 17.

St. Charles, Mo., 112, 192.

St. Joseph, Mo., 220, 259.

St. Louis, 38, 106, 192, 246, 247, 223, 242, 243.

St. Louis (or Ohio) River, 29.

Saint Lusson, Daumont de, 24.

Salmon, 148, 150, 154, 155.

Salmon River, 150.

San Domingo, French cam- paign in, 60-63.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 206.

San Joaquin River, 234.

Santa Fd, N.M., 20.

Santa Fe - trail, 215.

Seven cities of Cibola, 9, 10.

Shahakas, 186.

Shannon, 183.

348

LOUISIANA PURCHASE

Shoshone Indians, 148. Sioux Indians, 121-126, 249. Skilloot Indians, 166. Slavery, question of, within

the Purchase, 270-274. Smet, Father de, 250. Snake River, l •">:), 155. Snakes, 1 13. Sokulk Indians. 155.

Soldier, the, in the develop- ment of the West, 246-250.

Soto, Fernando de, 12-10.

South Dakota, 120, 333.

South Pass, 233-235.

South Platte, 205.

Spain, acquires Louisiana, 40 ; retrocedes the territory to France, 58, 59, 07.

Spanish American possessions at end of eighteenth cen- tury, 52.

Spanish explorations within the Purchase, 3-20.

Spirit Mound, 120.

Steamboats upon the Missis- sippi. 243.

Sulphur springs in Montana, 179.

Sunflowers, 143.

Sutter's Fort, 235.

Talleyrand, endeavors to get Louisiana for France, 57 ; denies French acquisition of Louisiaua,67; seeks to limit American expansion, 59.

Tennessee, 48.

Teton Basin, 231.

Teton Indians, 124, L90.

Texas, 1. 8.

Tonty, 29, 80.

Toussainl L'Ouverture, 60 63.

Townsend, J. K., "- y; !2.

Trails. Santa IV. 215; < >regon,

218; Overland, 220. Trappers, L23. Traveler's Rest Creek, 178. Truckee River, 220.

Union Pacific Railroad, 268-

269, 278. United States, expansion of,

47, 48, <•»">. 81-84, 211-244,

281-283. Utah, 248, 257.

Vaca, Cabeza de, 0-9. Vancouver, 43. Velasquez, Diego, 6. Violin playing, 166.

Wabashas, 112.

Waiilatpu (Walla Walla), 251.

Walla Walla, 251.

Washington on the control of the Mississippi, 65.

Waterways, influence of, upon development of the West, 210.

Weahkoonut, 167.

Western exploration, litera- ture of, 232, 237.

INDEX

349

West Florida, 79.

Western independence of East- ern capital, 284.

Westport, Mo., 218.

Whitman. Marcus. 251, 252.

Whitney. Asa. 2G7.

Wilkinson, General James, 88, 94, 199, 201, 207.

Willamette River, 158, 104.

Wind River Mountains, 235.

Windsor, 183.

Winnebago Indians, 22.

Wisconsin River. 21,22.20,210. Wood (Du Bois) River, 111. Wooden houses among the

Echeloot Indians, 150. Wyeth. Nathaniel J., 230. Wyoming, 335.

Yankton Indians, 121, 122. Yellowstone River. 170, 181, 230.

Zuni Indians, 10.

Notes

Capuchin A Catholic friar.

Text prepared by:

Than Nguyen
Samantha Patterson
Daisy Peterson

Source

Cable, George Washington. "Posson Jone'" and Père Raphaël: With a New Word Setting Forth How and Why the Two Tales Are One. Illus. Stanley M. Arthurs. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909. Google Books. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://books. google.com/books?id=bzhLAAAAIAAJ>.

L’Anthologie Louisianaise