USA > Louisiana > A history of Louisiana, Volume II > Part 22
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On this important acquisition, so favorable to the immediate interests of our Western citizens, so auspicious to the peace and security of the nation in general, which adds to our country territories so extensive and fertile, and to our citizens new brethren to partake of the blessings of freedom and self-govern- ment, I offer to Congress and our country my sincere con- gratulations.
TH : JEFFERSON.
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, December 20, 1803.
SIR : We have the satisfaction to announce to you, that the province of Louisiana was this day surrendered to the United States by the commissioner of France, and to add that the flag of our country was raised in this city amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. The inclosed is a copy of an instrument of writing, which was signed and exchanged by the commissioners of the
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two governments, and is designed as a record of this interesting transaction.
Accept assurances of our respectful consideration.
WILLIAM C. C. CLAIBORNE. JAMES WILKINSON.
The Hon. JAMES MADISON, Secretary of State, City of Washington.
The undersigned, William C. C. Claiborne and James Wilkin- son, commissioners or agents of the United States, agreeable to the full powers they have received from Thomas Jefferson, Presi- dent of the United States, under date of the thirty-first of Octo- ber eighteen hundred and three, and the twenty-eighth year of the Independence of the United States of America (Eighth Bru- maire, twelfth year, of the French Republic) countersigned by the Secretary of State James Madison, and Citizen Peter Clement Laussat, colonial prefect and commissioner of the French Gov- ernment for the delivery, in the name of the French Republic, of the country, territories, and dependencies of Louisiana to the commissioners or agents of the United States, conformably to the powers, commission, and special mandate which he has re- ceived in the name of the French people from Citizen Bonaparte, First Consul, under date of the sixth of June eighteen hundred and three (Seventeenth Prairial, eleventh year of the French Republic), countersigned by the Secretary of State Hugues Maret and by his Excellency the minister of marine and colonies Decrès :-
Do certify by these presents that on this day, Tuesday the twentieth December eighteen hundred and three of the Christian era (Twenty-eighth Frimaire, twelfth year of the French Repub- lic), being convened in the Hall of the Hotel de Ville of New Or- leans, accompanied on both sides by the chiefs and officers of the army and navy, by the municipality and divers respectable citizens of their respective Republics, the said William C. C. Claiborne and James Wilkinson delivered to the said Citizen
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Laussat their aforesaid full powers by which it evidently appears that full power and authority has been given them jointly and severally to take possession of and to occupy the territories ceded by France to the United States by the treaty concluded at Paris on the thirtieth day of April last past (Tenth Floréal), and for that purpose to repair to the said Territory and there to execute and perform all such acts and things touching the premises as may be necessary for fulfilling their appointments, conformably to the said treaty and the laws of the United States.
And therefore the said Citizen Laussat declared that in virtue of and in the terms of the powers, commission, and special man- date dated at St. Cloud the sixth of June eighteen hundred and three of the Christian era (Seventeenth Prairial eleventh year of the French Republic) he put from that moment the said com- missioners of the United States in possession of the country, territories, and dependencies of Louisiana, conformably to the first, second, fourth, and fifth articles of the treaty and the two conventions concluded and signed the thirtieth of April eighteen hundred and three (Tenth Floréal, eleventh year of the French Republic) between the French Republic and the United States of America, by Citizen François Barbé-Marbois, Minister of the Public Treasury, and Messieurs Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe, Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, all three furnished with full powers, of which treaty and two conventions the ratifications made by the First Consul of the French Republic on the one part and the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, on the other part, have been exchanged and mutually received at the city of Washington, the twenty-first of October eighteen hundred and three (the twenty-eighth Vendémiaire, twelfth year of the French Republic) by Citizen Louis André Pichon, chargé d'affaires of the French Republic near the United States on the part of France, and by James Madison, Secretary of State of the United States, accord- ing to the procès-verbal drawn up on the same day.
And the present delivery of the country is made to them to the end that, in conformity with the object of the said treaty, the
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sovereignty and property of the colony or province of Louisiana may pass to the said United States under the same clauses and con- ditions as it had been ceded by Spain to France in virtue of the treaty concluded at St. Ildefonso on the first of October eighteen hundred (ninth Vendémiaire, ninth year of the French Republic) between these two last powers, which has since received its execu- tion by the French Republic into possession of the said colony or province.
And the said Citizen Laussat has in consequence at this present time delivered to the said commissioners of the United States in this public sitting the keys of the city of New Orleans, declaring that he discharges from their oaths of fidelity towards the French Republic the citizens and inhabitants of Louisiana who shall choose to remain under the dominion of the United States.
And that it may forever appear, the undersigned have signed this procès-verbal of this important and solemn act in the French and English languages, and have sealed it with their seals, and have caused it to be countersigned by their secretaries of com- mission, the day, month, and year above written.
WILLIAM C. C. CLAIBORNE. JAS. WILKINSON.
By order of the Commissioners on the part of the United States,
D. WADSWORTH, Secretary of the American Commission.
LAUSSAT.
Le Secrétaire de la com- missaire du Gouvt. français Par le Préfet Colonial Com- mission, DAUGEROT.
PROCLAMATION.
By His Excellency William C. C. Claiborne, Governor of the Mis- sissippi Territory, exercising the powers of Governor-General and Intendant of the province of Louisiana.
Whereas, By stipulations between the Governments of France and Spain, the latter ceded to the former the colony and province
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PROCLAMATION
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of Louisiana, with the same extent which it had at the date of the above-mentioned treaty 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 other States ; and whereas the Government of France has ceded the same to the United States by a treaty duly ratified and bearing date the 30th of April, in the present year, and the possession of said colony and province is now in the United States, according to the tenor of the last-mentioned treaty; and whereas the Congress of the United States, on the 31st day of October, in the present year, did enact that until the expiration of the session of Con- gress then sitting (unless provisions for the temporary govern- ment of the said Territories be sooner made by Congress), all the military, civil, and judicial powers, exercised by the then ex- isting government of the same shall be vested in such person or persons, and shall be exercised in such manner, as the President of the United States shall direct, for the maintaining and protect- ing the inhabitants of Louisiana in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion ; and the President of the United States has by his commission, bearing date the same 31st day of October, invested me with all the powers, and charged me with the several duties heretofore held and exercised by the Governor- General and Intendant of the province.
I have, therefore, thought fit to issue this my proclamation, making known the premises, and to declare that the Government heretofore exercised over the said province of Louisiana, as well under the authority of Spain as of the French Republic, has ceased, and that of the United States of America is established over the same; that the inhabitants thereof will be incorporated in the union of the United States; that, in the mean time, they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and the religion which they profess; that all laws and municipal regulations which were in existence at the cessation of the late Government remain in full force ; and all civil officers charged with their execution, except those whose powers
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have been especially vested in me, and except also such officers as have been intrusted with the collection of the revenue, are con- tinued in their functions, during the pleasure of the Governor for the time being, or until provision shall otherwise be made.
And I do hereby exhort and enjoin all the inhabitants, and other persons within the said province, to be faithful and true in their allegiance to the United States, and obedient to the laws and authorities of the same, under full assurance that their just rights will be under the guardianship of the United States, and will be maintained from all force or violence from without or within.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. Given at the city of New Orleans the 20th day of December, 1803, and of the independence of the United States of America the 28th.
WM. C. C. CLAIBORNE.
THE GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS TO THE CITIZENS OF LOUISIANA.
NEW ORLEANS, December 20, 1803.
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF LOUISIANA: On the great and interesting event now finally consummated-an event so advantageous to yourselves, and so glorious to united America-I cannot forbear offering you my warmest congratulations. The wise policy of the Consul of France has, by the cession of Louisiana to the United States, secured to you a connection beyond the reach of change, and to your posterity the sure inheritance of freedom. The American people receive you as brothers; and will hasten to extend to you a participation in those inestimable rights which have formed the basis of their own unexampled prosperity. Un- der the auspices of the American Government, you may confidently rely upon the security of your liberty, your property, and the religion of your choice. You may with equal certainty rest as- sured that your commerce will be promoted and your agriculture cherished; in a word, that your true interests will be among the primary objects of our national Legislature. In return for these
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benefits, the United States will be amply remunerated, if your growing attachment to the constitution of our country, and your veneration for the principles on which it is founded, be duly pro- portioned to the blessings which they will confer. Among your first duties, therefore, you should cultivate with assiduity among yourselves the advancement of political information ; you should guide the rising generation in the paths of republican economy and virtue; you should encourage literature; for without the ad- vantages of education, your descendants will be unable to appre- ciate the intrinsic worth of the Government transmitted to them.
As for myself, fellow-citizens, accept a sincere assurance, that, during my continuance in the situation in which the President of the United States has been pleased to place me, every exertion will be made on my part to foster your internal happiness, and forward your general welfare; for it is only by such means that I can secure to myself the approbation of those great and just men who preside in the councils of our nation.
WILLIAM C. C. CLAIBORNE.
Judge Martin gives the following census made in 1803 by the consul of the United States at New Orleans, from the best documents he could procure: " In the city of New Orleans, 8056; from the Balize to the city, 2388; at Terre- aux-Bœufs, 661; Bayou St. John and Gentilly, 489; Barataria, 101; Tchoupitoulas, 7444; parish of St. Charles, 2421; parish of St. John the Baptist, 1950; parish of St. James, 2200; Lafourche, 1094; Lafourche, Interior, 2064; Valenzuela, 1057; Iberville, 1300; Gal- veztown, 247; Baton Rouge, 1513; Pointe Coupée, 2150; Attakapas, 1447; Opelousas, 2454; Washita, 361; Avoy- elles, 432; Rapides, 753; Natchitoches, 1631; Arkansas, 368; Illinois, St. Louis, etc., 6028; Mobile, 810; Pensa-
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cola, 404; total, 49,473." This census did not include the Indians, and was not thoroughly reliable. The number of Indians in the whole province was still considerable. In what is now the State of Louisiana the tribes existing in 1803, but greatly reduced in number, according to Martin, were as follows: The Oumas, the Tunicas, the Chilimackas, the Chetimachas, the Attakapas, the Choc- taws, the Biloxis, the Pascagoulas, the Alibamons, the Cunhates, the Cadodaquious or Cados, the Arkansas, and wandering parties of Creeks. The Choctaws were by far the most numerous tribe.
Robin, who was present at the ceremonies attending the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, expresses eloquently what he felt when he heard Laussat absolving all who desired it from their allegiance to France.1º He asks how it was possible that a man's own native land might ever cease to be his fatherland, that he might be- come an enemy to his country and no longer think of it. This remark of Robin's indicates what must have been the feelings of the Louisianians when they saw themselves tossed about from one country to another, becoming Spaniards, Frenchmen, Americans, without being con- sulted, without any regard for the most sacred feelings of mankind. They were required three times to tear from their hearts their love for their country, and yet they were always found loyal to their oath of allegiance. Whether under the French, the Spanish, or the Ameri- can domination, they were always in the front rank when called upon to defend their beautiful and beloved Loui- siana.
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A SECURE HAVEN
Our ancestors were indeed tossed about by the caprice of kings and rulers from one domination to another, just as a ship is thrown by the tempest from one insecure haven to another. Fortunately, our ship of state, our Louisiana, has at last found a deep and broad harbor in which to cast her anchor; and there, in these United States, will her children see to it that no storm shall ever break the cable and turn the ship adrift again. Our pilot is no longer a European despot; we guide our vessel ourselves, and, with the help of God, we shall continue to do so to the end of time.
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CHAPTER XII
UPPER LOUISIANA-ST. LOUIS
Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres-The six early settlements-The British take possession of Fort Chartres-Expedition of Colonel Clark in 1778-Ter- ritory east of the Mississippi ceded to the United States in 1783-Founda- tion of St. Louis-The Spaniards arrive-The early houses-Customs- Fortifications-Floods-The government mansion-Laussat authorizes Cap- tain Stoddard to take possession-Arrival of the American troops- Address of De Lassus to the Indians-Population in 1803 and 1804-Con- clusion of the history of colonial Louisiana.
N the course of this narrative we have frequently had occasion to refer to the Illinois country and to Upper Louisiana, but we shall give further account of that section.
The route of the early explorers of the Mississippi valley lay through the Illinois country, and we remember La Salle's Fort St. Louis in that region. At the end of the seventeenth century " Old Kaskaskia " was founded in the " terres- trial paradise " and soon became a village of some impor- tance.1 In 1720 Fort Chartres was begun, and it was completed in eighteen months. It became the headquar- ters of the commandant in Upper Louisiana and, says Monette, the most celebrated fortress in all the valley of the Mississippi.2 In the vicinity of Fort Chartres were
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DON CARLOS DEHAULT DE LASSUS 1764-1842
(Upper left) last Lieutenant-Governor of Up- per Louisiana, who, as the representative of Spain, transferred Upper Louisiana, March 9, 1804, to Major Amos Stoddard, as Agent of the French Republic. Major Stoddard delivered the Province to the United States, March 10, 1804. From a photograph, enlarged from a da- guerreotype, belonging to the Missouri His- torical Society, St. Louis, Mo.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL FRANCISCO DE CRUZAT 1739-1798?
(Upper right) second Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Louisiana. From a contemporary min- iature belonging to Mr. E. de Cruzat Zanetti, New York, one of his lineal descendants.
COLONEL AUGUSTE CHOUTEAU 1750-1829
(Centre) who, with Pierre Liguest Laclede, . founded the city of St. Louis. From a contem- porary painting in the possession of the Mis- souri Historical Society, St. Louis, Mo.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
1752-1818
(Lower left) conqueror of the northwestern country, from the Allegheny Mountains to the Mississippi River, from the British, 1778-1779. From a painting attributed to J. W. Jarvis, in the possession of his grandnephew, John O'Fal- lon Clark, Esq., of St. Louis, Mo.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL WILLIAM CLARK 1770-1838
(Lower right) who, with Merriwether Lewis, commanded the Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific coast, 1801-1806, and was afterward Governor of Missouri Territory, 1813-1821, and superintendent of Indian affairs. From an original portrait by Harding belonging to his grandson, John O'Fallon Clark, Esq., of St. Louis, Mo.
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built Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher, and other villages. In 1721 a college and a monastery of the Jesuits were estab- lished at Kaskaskia, which became a chartered town in 1725, and was very prosperous during the French domination. There was a lucrative trade, under the French régime, between the Illinois country and Lower Louisiana. Post St. Vincent, on Wabash River, op- posite the old French town of Vincennes, was erected in 1735.
" The Illinois country," according to Monette, " east of the Upper Mississippi, contained six distinct settle- ments, with their respective villages. These were: 1, Ca- hokia, near the mouth of Cahokia Creek, and nearly five miles below the present site of St. Louis; 2, St. Philip, forty-five miles below the last, and four miles above Fort Chartres, on the east side of the Mississippi; 3, Fort Chartres, on the east bank of the Mississippi, twelve miles above Kaskaskia; 4, Kaskaskia, situated upon the Kaskaskia River, five miles above its mouth, upon a peninsula, and within two miles of the Mississippi; 5, Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres; 6, St. Gene- viève, on the west side of the Mississippi, and about one mile from its bank, upon Gabarre Creek." 3 All these settlements were still in existence in 1804, when Upper Louisiana was transferred to the United States, except St. Philip. Kaskaskia at that time was reduced to about forty-five families. With the exception of St. Gene- viève, which was west of the Mississippi, all the settle- ments just mentioned became British territory by the stip- ulations of the treaty of Paris of 1763, by which France
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ceded to Great Britain the territory east of the Missis- sippi, from its source to Bayou Iberville or Manchac.
For two years after the date of the treaty of Paris the British did not take possession of their new pos- sessions, and St. Ange de Bellerive, at Fort Chartres, continued in command.4 In 1765 Captain Stirling was appointed commandant of the Illinois country by Gen- eral Gage, and took possession of Fort Chartres. The French commandant then withdrew to St. Louis, which had been founded in 1764.
By a proclamation dated New York, December 30, 1764, General Gage announced that His Britannic Maj- esty " grants to the inhabitants of the Illinois the liberty of the Catholic religion," and " agrees that they may retire in full safety and freedom, wherever. they please, even to New Orleans, or any other part of Louisiana." The inhabitants who chose to remain were to enjoy the same rights and privileges as the old subjects of the King, and they were commanded to take the oath of fidelity and obedience. They were to conduct themselves like good and faithful subjects, and to act in concert with His Majesty's officers. "By this means alone they will spare His Majesty the necessity of recurring to force of arms, and will find themselves saved from the scourge of a bloody war." A domination begun with threats soon proved oppressive, and many of the French inhabi- tants retired west of the Mississippi. They hated the British and dreaded the " Bostonais," as they called the Americans, who were then fighting for their indepen- dence.5
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GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
1778]
The Illinois country was included within the chartered limits of Virginia, and in 1778 Governor Patrick Henry and the Executive Council determined to take posses- sion of the British posts on the Upper Mississippi and the Wabash-" the fountains of Indian massacre." Colo- nel George Rogers Clark, at the head of an expedition consisting of not more than one hundred and fifty-three fighting-men, marched through the wilderness and ar- rived unperceived at Kaskaskia on July 4, 1778. The town was taken by surprise and captured, as well as Fort Gage, where the commandant, Rocheblave, was captured in his bed sleeping. In a short time all the posts and settlements on the Upper Mississippi and on the Wabash were secured by Clark and his brave companions, and in October, 1778, the Illinois country became the county of Illinois in Virginia. The British, however, de- termined to reconquer the posts captured by Clark, and in December, 1778, Governor Hamilton left Detroit at the head of eighty regular troops, a few Canadian militia, and six hundred Indian warriors. He recaptured the post at Vincennes, but was himself defeated and taken prisoner, in February, 1779, by the intrepid Colonel Clark. From that time the Americans were no longer molested by the British, and the territory east of the Mississippi was finally ceded to the United States by the treaty of Ver- sailles in 1783, which ended the war of the American Revolution.6
In 1762. a license was granted Laclede Liguest, An- toine Maxent & Co., by the Governor of Louisiana, to establish an exclusive trade with the Indians of the Mis-
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souri and all nations residing west of the Mississippi, for the term of eight years." Laelede left New Orleans on August 3, 1763, and arrived in the Illinois country on November 3. St. Geneviève, being west of the Missis- sippi, had not been ceded to the British, but it did not suit Laclede, because it was too far from the Missouri. Nyon de Villiers, commandant at Fort Chartres, offered the trader a place for his goods, but the latter decided to form a settlement of his own. He examined the coun- try carefully, and chose a place, where he marked some trees with his own hand, and he said to Auguste Chou- teau: " You will come here as soon as navigation opens, and will cause this place to be cleared, in order to form our settlement after the plan that I shall give you." He was enthusiastic about the situation he had chosen for his settlement, and predicted for it a great future. On March 15 Chouteau began to build a shed for La- clede's provisions, and cabins for the thirty men whom the latter had sent with Chouteau. Laclede arrived at the settlement in April, 1764, laid the plan of the village he desired to found, and named it St. Louis, in honor of Louis XV, says Chouteau, but more probably for the great and pious ancestor of the Bourbons, King Louis IX.
Chouteau relates in his Journal that while they were at work at St. Louis, in the beginning of the settlement, the whole tribe of the Missouris arrived among them. The savages numbered about one hundred and fifty warriors, while the French numbered only thirty or thirty-five men. There was great danger to the new village, but
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Laclede succeeded in persuading the Indians to depart. The savages had feared an attack from the English, who were expected at every moment to come to take posses- sion of Fort Chartres. Nyon de Villiers withdrew the garrisons from all the posts ceded to the British, and went down the river with the troops, says Chouteau, " and all the employés of the government, and a large part of the inhabitants of the villages of Fort de Chartres and Prairie du Rocher, for whom he promised to obtain free grants of land near New Orleans for the sacrifices they were making of their property in order to go and settle in Lower Louisiana, under the French Government, rather than remain under the dominion of the English, who were heretics."
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