USA > Idaho > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 3
USA > Montana > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 3
USA > Oregon > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 3
USA > Washington > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 3
USA > Wyoming > Vigilante days and ways : the pioneers of the Rockies, the makers and making of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, Vol. I > Part 3
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While actively engaged in the prosecution of his intrigue with Miro, we learn from a letter written to that official in February, 1789, that in October of the previous year Wilkinson met with Col. Connelly, a British officer, who, he says, "had travelled through the woods to the
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Spanish Intrigues.
mouth of the river Big Miami, from which he came down the Ohio in a boat." He claimed to be an emissary of Lord Dorchester, the governor- general of Canada. Ignorant of Wilkinson's secret negotiations with Miro, he met him by invitation, at his house, and upon Wilkinson's assurance of regard for the interests of His Britannic Majesty, Connelly unfolded to him the object of his mission. He informed Wilkinson that Great Britain was desirous of assisting the Western settlers in their efforts to open the navi- gation of the Mississippi. She would join them to dispossess Spain of Louisiana, and as the forces in Canada were too small to supply de- tachments for the purpose, Lord Dorchester would, in place thereof, supply our men with all the implements of war, and with money, clothing, etc., to equip an army of ten thousand.
Wilkinson, in his letter to Miro, says : " After having pumped out of him all that I wished to know, I began to weaken his hopes by observing that the feelings of animosity engendered by the late Revolution were so recent in the hearts of the Americans that I considered it impos- sible to entice them into an alliance with Great Britain ; that in this district, particularly in that part of it where the inhabitants had suffered so
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Spanish Intrigues.
much from the barbarous hostilities of the In- dians, which were attributed to British influence, the resentment of every individual was much more intense and implacable. In order to justify this opinion of mine I employed a hunter, who feigned attempting his life. The pretext as- sumed by the hunter was the avenging the death of his son, murdered by the Indians at the sup- posed instigation of the English. As I hold the commission of a civil judge, it was of course to be my duty to protect him against the pretended murderer, whom I caused to be arrested and held in custody. I availed myself of this circum- stance to communicate to Connelly my fear of not being able to answer for the security of his person, and I expressed my doubts whether he could escape with his life. It alarmed him so much that he begged me to give him an escort to conduct him out of the territory, which I readily assented to, and on the 20th of Novem- ber he recrossed the Ohio on his way back to Detroit."
Such was the influence of Wilkinson with the people of the districts of Kentucky and Cumber- land, that between the years 1786 and 1792 he thwarted them four times in their designs to invade Louisiana, after preparations had been
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Spanish Intrigues.
made for that purpose. His object was to unite the Western settlements with Spain, - not to maintain the integrity of the Federal Union. Circumstances which had occurred several years before this time gave birth to another intrigue of remarkable character, which developed itself in the fall of 1788. The Western portion of North Carolina, known as the Washington Dis- triet, in 1786 declared itself independent, and organized a government under the name of the State of Frankland. Congress interfered, put an end to the new State, and restored the country to North Carolina. Indignant at the interposi- tion, the secessionists persisted in their designs, and through their displaced governor, on the 12th of September, informed the Spanish minister, Gardoquoi, that they " were unanimous in their vehement desire to form an alliance and treaty of commerce with Spain, and put themselves under her protection." The settlers of Cumber- land river, who were also under the jurisdiction of North Carolina, gave the name of Miro to a district they had formed, as evidence of their partiality for the Spanish Government. The promise of protection which the inhabitants of the two districts received from Gardoquoi was so modified by Miro that the scheme, though prose-
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Spanish Intrigues.
cuted for a time with great vigor, finally failed from inability on the part of the secessionists to comply with the conditions of recognition.
A company composed of Alexander Moultrie, Isaac Huger, Major William Snipes, Colonel Washington, and other distinguished South Caro- linans was formed at Charleston in 1789, which purchased from the State of Georgia 52,900 square miles of territory, extending from the Yazoo to the banks of the Mississippi near Natchez. The Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Spain claimed a portion of this territory. The ulterior designs of the company in the purchase and settlement of the country were carefully concealed for some time. Wilkinson, who was still engaged in the effort to dismember the Union, having heard of this pur- chase, lost no time in communicating his views to the company and expressing a desire to co- operate with them as their agent. At the same time he addressed a letter to Miro, in which, after telling him that he had applied to the company for an agency, he says : -
" If I succeed, I am persuaded that I shall experience no difficulty in adding their establish- ment to the domains of His Majesty, and this they will soon discover to be to their interest.
You will have the opportunity to modify the plan
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Spanish Intrigues.
of the company as your judgment and prudence will suggest, and the interest of the King may re- quire. I will keep you informed of every move- ment which I shall observe, and it will be com- pletely in your power to break up the projected settlement, by inciting the Choctaws to incom- mode the colonists, who will thus be forced to move off and to establish themselves under your government."
Wilkinson's application for an agency was de- clined, because of the appointment of Dr. O'Fallon before it was received. He wrote to Miro on the subject of the company's purposes. After speak- ing of the dissatisfaction of the members of the company with the Federal Government, he states that he has induced them to become subjects of Spain, " under the appearance of a free and inde- pendent state, forming a rampart for the adjoining Spanish territories, and establishing with them an eternal reciprocal alliance offensive and defensive. This," he continues, " for a beginning, when once secured with the greatest secrecy, will serve, I am fully persuaded, as an example to be followed by the settlements on the western side of the moun- tains, which will separate from the Atlantic por- tion of the Confederacy, because, on account of the advantages which they will expect from the
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Spanish Intrigues.
privilege of trading with our colony under the protection of Spain, they will unite with it in the same manner, and as closely as are the Atlantic States with France, receiving from it every assis- tance in war, and relying on its power in the moment of danger."
In a letter written to Miro on the 20th of June, Wilkinson fully endorses the plans of the company. Miro submits to the Court at Madrid the documents unfolding these plans, accom- panied by a despatch in which he sums up the advantages and disadvantages of "taking a foreign state to board with us." When near the conclusion, he explains how he has excited the hostility and secured the opposition of all the Indian tribes to the Americans. " I have recom- mended them," says he, "to remain quiet, and told them if these people presented themselves with a view to settle on their lands, then to make no concessions, and to warn them off; but to attack them in case they refused to withdraw ; and I have promised that I would supply them with powder and ball to defend their legitimate rights."
Both Louisiana and the United States became at this time apprehensive that an invasion of the former would be attempted by the British from
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Spanish Intrigues.
Canada. Such an event would impose upon our Government the necessity of determining a course proper to be pursued, should a passage be asked by Great Britain for his troops through our territory or should that passage be made without permission. The opportunity was deemed favorable to the prosecution of our claim to the navigation of the Mississippi, and negotia- tions were opened with Spain for the purchase of the Island of New Orleans and the Floridas, - but Spain declined our offer of friendship, the only consideration we were then able to give, and the project failed. Miro's administration termin- ated in 1791. He was succeeded by the Baron de Carondelet.
Such was the confidence inspired in the Gov- ernment by the adoption of the Constitution, and the firm and watchful administration of Washington, that, not only in the Eastern States, but in the Western districts also, all intrigues, cabals, and schemes of dismemberment, during the first three years of Carondelet's administra- tion, had seemingly expired. A brighter era had dawned upon the country ; hope had taken the place of doubt in the minds of the people, and the old patriotism, which had borne us through the Revolution, reinstated loyalty in the bosoms
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Spanish Intrigues.
of thousands, whose thoughts had been for years ripening for revolt. But the danger was not all over. Some discontented and some ambitious spirits yet remained in the West. Great Britain east a greedy eye occasionally at the mouth of the Mississippi, and poor torn, bleeding France, which had just murdered her King, sent a suffi- cient number of her maniac population to our shores to keep the spirit of misrule in action.
Early in the year 1794 a society of French Jacobins, established in Philadelphia, sent a cir- cular to Louisiana which was widely distributed among the French population of the province, appealing to them to take up arms and east off the Spanish yoke. The alarm which this gave the Baron de Carondelet was increased by a knowledge of the efforts put forth by Genet, the French minister to the United States, to organize and lead an expedition of French and Americans against Louisiana. Armed bands had assembled upon the Georgia frontier to join it, and French emissaries were everywhere stirring up the West- ern people to aid in the invasion. New Orleans was strongly fortified, and the grim visage of war was again wrinkled for the conflict.
Fear of invasion over, Carondelet addressed himself with great vigor to the unfinished schemes
30
Spanish Intrigues.
of Miro for dismembering the Union and winning over the Western settlements to Spain. Meantime, the negotiations so long pending between our Gov- ernment and Spain, on the 20th of October, 1795, culminated in the Treaty of Madrid. By this treaty a boundary line was established between the United States and the Floridas. Spain also conceded to our people the free navigation of the Mississippi from its source to the sea, and agreed to permit them, "for the term of three years, to use the port of New Orleans as a place of deposit for their produce and merchandise, and export the same free from duty or charge, except a reason- able consideration to be paid for storage and other incidental expenses ; that the term of three years may, by subsequent negotiation be extended ; or, instead of that town, some other point in the island of New Orleans shall be designated as a place of deposit for the American trade."
It was believed by the provincial authorities that this treaty was formed for the purpose of propitiating the neutrality of our Government in the event of a war, at that time imminent be- tween Great Britain and Spain. They had no faith in its permanency, or that its provisions would be observed by Spain after her European embarrassments had been settled. Instead of ar-
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Spanish Intrigues.
resting, it had the effect to stimulate the efforts of Carondelet in his favorite plan for the acquisition of the Western settlements. He made proposals to Sebastian, Innis, and other early associates of Wilkinson, and through his emissaries approached Wilkinson himself with promises, but it was too late. The Union had become consolidated. The wise counsels of Washington allayed discontent, and the successful campaign of Wayne had given assurance of protection. Wilkinson and his as- sociates, foiled in the designs formed and con- ducted under more favorable auspices, whatever their aspirations might have been, were too sagacious to revive an enterprise which neither policy nor necessity could excuse, and which a vigilant government was sure to punish. After a few more struggles the Spanish authorities, on the 26th of May, 1798, surrendered to Wilkinson, who, by the death of Wayne, had been promoted, the territory claimed by the Treaty of Madrid, and the Spanish power in America from that moment began to decline.
Morales, the Spanish intendant, construing the letter of the treaty strictly, on the 17th of July, 1799, chose to consider that three years had elapsed since its ratification, and, for the pur- pose of crippling the commerce of the Western
32
Spanish Intrigues.
people, issued an order prohibiting the use of New Orleans as a place of deposit by them, with- out designating in accordance with the treaty any other suitable point. This measure aroused the indignation of the West. An expedition against New Orleans was openly contemplated. President Adams ordered three regiments of regulars to the Ohio, with instructions to have in readiness a suf- ficient number of boats to convey the troops to New Orleans. Twelve new regiments were added to the army, and an invasion seemed inevitable, and would most certainly have been attempted, had not indications of a popular determination to elect Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency caused the postponement of a project which could not be completed before the close of Mr. Adams' ad- ministration.
No public documents of the period, accessible to me, speak of the suspension by the Spaniards of this prohibitory order, but from the fact that it was renewed afterwards, as we shall have occasion to notice, there can be no doubt that terms of accommodation satisfactory to the Western people were for the time agreed upon.
Napoleon, at this time First Consul, cast a long- ing eye at the mouth of the Mississippi. His min- isters had been instructed to obtain all possible
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Spanish Intrigues.
information concerning Louisiana. M. de Pont- alba, who had passed an official residence of many years in Louisiana, prepared at their request a very remarkable memoir on the history and re- sources of that province, which was presented to the French Directory on the 15th of September, 1800. On the 1st of October following, a treaty between France and Spain was concluded at St. Ildephonso, of which the third article is in the following words : -
" His Catholic Majesty promises and engages to retrocede to the French Republic, six months after the full and entire execution of the above condi- tions and stipulations, relative to His Royal High- ness 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 ought to be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and the other States."
France being at war with England when this treaty was concluded, it was carefully concealed, lest England, then mistress of the seas, should take the country from her.
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Louisiana Purchase.
CHAPTER II.
LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
ALARM OF OUR GOVERNMENT AT THIE CESSION TO FRANCE - MR. LIVINGSTON APPOINTED MINISTER TO FRANCE -TALLEYRAND - HIS RETICENCE - TEDIOUS DELAY -RIGHT OF DEPOSIT PROHIBITED - EFFECT UPON WESTERN PEOPLE - MR. JEFFERSON APPOINTS MR. MONROE EXTRAORDINARY MINISTER - CONGRESS - DEBATE - FEDERAL OPPOSITION - WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND ENGLAND AGAIN IMMINENT - BONA- PARTE'S PROPOSITION - TREATY AGREED UPON AND SIGNED- ACTION OF CONGRESS - EXTENT OF TERRI- TORY PURCHASED.
THE retrocession of Louisiana to France was not suspected by our Government until March, 1801, six months after the treaty of St. Ildephonso was concluded. It was then brought to the notice of Mr. Madison, the secretary of State, by Mr. Rufus King, our minister at the Court of St. James. Mr. Madison seems to have shared the incredulity of England and other powers regarding the event, for he took no notice of
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Louisiana Purchase.
the intimation conveyed by Mr. King's despatch until it was partially confirmed by another from the same source on the Ist of June thereafter. In the first letter on the subject, Mr. King had deemed it of sufficient importance to recommend the appointment of a minister to represent the interests of our Government near the Court of France. In the last he depicted as a possible effect of the acquisition that "it might enable France to extend her influence and perhaps her dominion up the Mississippi and through the lakes, even to Canada."
Our Government took the alarm instantly. The negotiations it had effected with Spain, though still embarrassed with some offensive conditions, had produced a state of comparative quiescence in the West; all dangerous intrigues were at an end, and a further settlement had been projected which would harmonize all oppos- ing interests and forever secure to our Western possessions the uninterrupted enjoyment of free navigation of the Mississippi to the ocean. Such an arrangement with France was deemed impos- sible. In the hands of Napoleon, Louisiana would be at once transformed into a powerful empire, and the Mississippi would be used as a highway to transport troops on errands of meditated inva-
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Louisiana Purchase.
sion all over the continent of North America. In her eager desire to regain the Canadian pos- sessions taken from her by Great Britain, she would march her armies through our territories and inevitably embroil us in a war which would prove in the end fatal to the liberties we had just established. Heavy duties would necessarily be imposed upon our Western population, and all the prejudices now so fortunately allayed would be revived against the Government because of its powerlessness to relieve them.
Mr. Madison addressed a despatch to Mr. Pinckney, our minister at Madrid, requesting him to ascertain whether a treaty had been made, and if so, the extent of the cession made by it. The Government appointed Mr. Robert R. Liv- ingston minister to France.
In October, 1801, Mr. King succeeded in pro- curing a copy of the secret treaty and forwarded it to Mr. Madison. In the midst of the alarm occasioned by this intelligence the war between France and England was terminated and articles of peace signed on the 1st of October, 1801. France commenced secret preparations to avail herself of the treaty and take early possession of Louisiana. In the meantime Mr. Livingston had arrived in Paris. On the 12th of December,
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Louisiana Purchase.
in a despatch to Mr. Madison, he informed him that he had hinted to one of the ministers that a cession of Louisiana would afford them the means of paying their debts, -to which the minister replied : " None but spendthrifts satisfy their debts by selling their lands," adding, how- ever, after a short pause, "but it is not ours to give."
Talleyrand was the Minister of Exterior Rela- tions. In all his interviews with Mr. Livingston relative to the purchase of Louisiana he fully exemplified one of the maxims of his life, that " language was made to enable people to conceal their ideas." All of Mr. Livingston's inquiries respecting the treaty were met with studied reserve, duplicity, and positive denial. Often when he sought an interview the minister was pre- occupied or absent. He not only failed to obtain information of the extent of the cession, whether it included the Floridas, but so undemonstrative were the communications of the minister upon the subject, that often he left him doubtful of the intention of France to comply with the terms of the treaty at all. His despatches to Mr. Mad- ison, while they show no lack of exertion or expedient on his part to obtain the desired infor- mation, bear evidence of the subtlety, cunning,
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Louisiana Purchase
and artifice of one of the greatest masters of state- craft the world has yet produced. At one time he expresses his concern at the reserve of the French Government, and importunes Talleyrand to inform him " whether East and West Florida or either of them are included in the treaty, and afford him such assurances, with respect to the limits of their territory, and the navigation of the Mississippi, heretofore agreed upon between Spain and the United States, as may prove satisfactory to the latter."
" If," he continues in the same note, "the territories of East and West Florida be included within the limits of the cession obtained by France, the undersigned desires to be informed how far it would be practicable to make such arrangements between their respective govern- ments, as would at the same time aid the finan- cial operations of France and remove by a strong natural boundary all future causes of discontent between her and the United States."
Six days afterwards he writes to Mr. Madison that he has received no reply to the above note. A month later in a despatch he says : " They have as yet not thought it proper to give me any explanations." One month afterwards he writes : " The business most interesting to us, that of
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Louisiana Purchase.
Louisiana, still remains in the state it was. The minister will give no answer to any inquiries I make on the subject. He will not say what their boundaries are, what are their intentions, and when they are to take possession."
Meantime the treaty of Amiens opened the ocean to Bonaparte's contemplated expedition to Louisiana. The anxiety of our Government was greatly increased. Mr. Madison, in a despatch full of complaint at the ominous silence of the French minister, among other intimations, con- veys the following : -
"Since the receipt of your last communication, no hope remains but from the accumulating diffi- culties of going through with the undertaking, and from the conviction you may be able to impress that it must have an instant and power- ful effect in changing the relations between France and the United States."
Fears were entertained that the British Gov- ernment might have acquiesced in the treaty, so as to impair the stipulations concerning the free navigation of the Mississippi, but these were dis- sipated by the assurance of Lord Hawkesbury, in reply to a letter addressed to him on the subject by Mr. King, that " His Majesty had not in any manner directly or indirectly acquiesced in or sanctioned the cession."
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Louisiana Purchase.
Nearly one month after this last despatch to Mr. Madison, Mr. Livingston again informs him that " the French Government still continues to hold the same conduct with respect to his inquir- ies in relation to the designs on Louisiana," but assures him that nothing shall be done to impair the friendly relations between America and France. Eight days after this despatch was written, he writes again that he has acquired information on which he can depend, in relation to the intention of the French Government. " Bernadotte," says he, "is to command, Collot second in command ; Adet is to be prefect ; " but the expedition is delayed until about September, on account of some difficulty, which Mr. Living- ston conceives to have " arisen from the different apprehensions of France and Spain relative to the meaning of the term Louisiana, which has been understood by France to include the Flor- idas, but probably by Spain to have been con- fined to the strict meaning of the term."
On the 30th of July, 1802, Mr. Livingston informs Mr. Madison that he is preparing a lengthy memorial on the subject of the mutual interest of France and the United States relative to Louisiana; and that he has received the explicit assurance of the Spanish ambassador
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Louisiana Purchase.
that the Floridas are not included in the ces- sion.
On the 10th of August following he again writes the secretary that he has put his essay in such hands as he thinks will best serve our pur- poses. " Talleyrand," he says, " has promised to give it an attentive perusal ; after which, when I find how it works, I will come forward with some proposition. I am very much at a loss, however, as to what terms you would consider it allowable to offer, if they can be brought to sale of the Floridas, either with or without New Orleans, which last place will be of little consequence if we possess the Floridas, because a much better passage may be found on the east side of the river."
Mr. Livingston now followed up his inter- rupted negotiation with activity. He made sev- eral propositions for the purchase of Louisiana, but was informed by the minister that all offers were premature. " There never," says Mr. Liv- ingston in a despatch to the secretary of state, " was a Government in which less could be done by negotiation than here. There is no people, no legislature, no counsellors. One man is everything. He seldom asks advice, and never hears it unasked. His ministers are mere clerks ;
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