USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. II > Part 42
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After the treaty of 1782-3 which terminaten the Revolution. the line in the middle of the Mississippi from the source of that river to the thirty-first degree of north latitude, referred to in that treaty, was disputed by Spain, who claimed farther to the castward than the Mississippi by reason of conquests made dur- ing that war, notably at Natchez, Walnut Hills (Vicksburg ), Chickasaw Bluffs (Memphis), opposite the post at the mouth of the Arkansas river, and at St. Joseph, Mich. But this
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claim was emphatically rejected by the United States, and in the end, before the transfer of Louisiana to this country, this line was made the eastern boundary of the province from the source of the Mississippi to the thirty-first degree of north latitude.
Thus, as narrated elsewhere, the boundaries of Louisiana on the east, from the thirty-first degree to the Gulf; on the west, from the Gulf northwest to the British possessions; and on the north, from the western boundary, wherever it should be, to the northwest corner of the United States, were undetermined and yet remained to be adjusted. The treaty of 1818 with Great Britain settled the northern boundary, and the treaty of 1819 with Spain settled the two boundaries from the thirty-first degree in the Mississippi to the Gulf on the cast, and from the Sabine to the forty-second degree of north latitude on the west. The western boundary from the forty-second to the forty-ninth degree, was never seriously disputed, or was wholly settled by the treaties with Spain and Great Britain above mentioned. But it must be observed, that the United States had a perfect title, under the claims of France, to all the territory on the west of the Mississippi drained by its tributaries, and that in permitting Spain to have the country drained by the southern branches of Red river, by the sources of the same river and by the sources of the Arkansas river, it relinquished a just claim to a tract of territory large enough to form a state. As is well known, this relinquishment was compensated for to the satisfiction of the United States by the extension of Louisiana to the Sabine and by Spanish concessions in West Florida. The United States at this time wanted both banks of the Mississippi a it re uth, and was willing to sacrifice a portion of its claims inder to the west. That the upper Red river and the upper Arkansas river countries were surrendered to Spain for the purpose of gaining advantages east of the Sabine and in West Florida, will not be disputed after the diplomatic correspondence between Spain and . the United States from 1803 to 1821 is read. Such was the evi- dent intention of the two countries.
As soon as it was decided by congress to accept the cession of Louisiana, steps were taken for the exploration, subdivision and government of the province. By act approved March 26, 180.4, the purchase was separated into two divisions, as follows: "That all that portion of country ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana, which lies south of the Missis- sippi Territory and of an east and west line to commence on the Mississippi river at the thirty- third degree of north latitude and to extend west to the western boundary of the said cession, shall
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constitute a Territory of the United States under the name of the Territory of Orleans. The residue of the Prov- ince of Louisiana called to the United States shall be called the District of Louisiana, etc." It was provided that this act should take effect October 1, 1801. A governor was at once appointed for the Territory of Orleans, but the District of Louisiana was placed under the executive authority of the governor of Indiana Territory, who was empowered to subdivide the District into subdistricts. Thus the Territory of Orleans embraced the pres- ent state of Louisiana and no more, unless it be contended that at that time the province extended to the westward of the Sabine. On the other hand, the District of Louisiana embraced all of the present Arkansas, Missouri, lowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Indian Territory, and parts of Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma Territory, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.
In the United States senate, it was moved November 28, 1803, "That a committee of -- members be appointed to prepare.a form or forms of government for the Territory of Louisiana." The members of this committee were appointed December 5, and were Messrs. Breckenridge (chairman), Wright, Jackson, Bald- win and Adams. In the original draft of the bill to divide the province into the Territory of Orleans and the District of Loui- siana, the following language was used concerning the latter : "The residue of the Province of Louisiana ceded to the United States, shall remain under the same name and form of govern- ment as heretofore, save only that the executive and judicial powers exercised by the former government of the province shall now be transferred to a Governor to be appointed by the I'ster. dent of the United States." Upon the find passage of the bill in the senate, the vote stood, ayes 20, nays 5, the latter being Messrs. Olcott and Plumer of New Hampshire, Hillhouse of Connecticut, Adams of Massachusetts, and Stone of North Caro- lina. In the house the vote stood, yeas 66, nays 21.
By the act of March 2. 1805, congress provided that when the white inhabitants of the Territory of Orleans should aggregate 60,000, it might be admitted into the Union as an independent state; but it was "Provided, however, that Congress shall be at liberty, at any time prior to the admission of the inhabitants of the said Territory to the right of a separate State, to alter the boundaries thereof as they may judge proper; except only, that no alteration shall be made which shall procrastinate the period for the admission of the inhabitants therest to the rights of a State Government according to the provision of this act." It was at this time that great efforts were made to secure the admis-
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sion of Louisiana ( Orleans Territory) into the Union, but all such attempts failed, owing mainly to the lack of the necessary population and to the belief in the eastern part of the United States that it was a matter of wisdom to keep the Territory in a subordinate condition until the inhabitants had learned still more of the duties and requirements of American citizenship. The act of March 3, 1865, provided "That all that part of the country coded by France to the United States under the gen- eral name of Louisiana, which by an act of the last session of Congress was erected into a separate district to be called the Dis- trict of Louisiana, (Missouri), shall henceforth be known and designated by the name and title of the Territory of Loui- siana ;" and it was provided that the act should be in force from and after July 4. 1805. The principal argument employed by the inhabitants of Louisiana for admission to statehood, was that the language of the treaty required their admission "as soon as possible," and not at the will of congress of the president. Immediate admission was their right under the cession treaty.
In the house of representatives, in ISog, Mr. Moore intro- duced a resolution instructing the committee of commerce and manufactures to inquire into the expediency of authorizing the president to employ persons to explore such part of the Pros- ince of Louisiana as he may deem proper. He said: "The Gov- ernment were not in possession of a good geographical descrip- tion of Louisiana, which it was very desirable that they shoukl possess, inasmuch as its limits were not completely designated in the articles of cession, and as the time might not perhaps be distant when its boundaries may be a subject of negotheted between the former owners of the province and the United States." The resolution was agreed to. The immediate result of this resolution was the Lewis and Clark expedition. It was the beginning and the basis of the many subsequent explorations and surveys of the territory of the Louisiana Purchase.
On the 3d of December, 180}, Mr. Nicholson presented in the house a memorial from the inhabitants of the province of Louisiana, signed by two thousand heads of families, maling several requests, among which was the following: "They there- fore pray an alteration of the law so far as to allow them to be their own legislators, not dividing the Territory into two gov- comments, and not prohibiting the importation of slaves." Another of a similar import was presented in January, 1855. The prayer of the memorialists was disregarded, because it was argued that the sooner the people of Louisiana became familiar with the laws and customs of the United States, the sooner their
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admission to the Union would be permissible. It was desired that all the people of the country should be homogeneous in pur- suits, habits and occupations, which could not be effected if the people of any portion were permitted to have different laws and institutions.
The bill for the division of the province into two territories limited the Territory of Orleans east of the Mississippi river to the country claimed by the United States south of Mississippi Territory, or, in other words, to such portion of West Florida as should fall to the United States in subsequent negotiations with Spain. The language of the bill did not commit the United States to a positive declaration that its territory extended to the castward of the Mississippi ; but simply left such a construction open as a basis for its claims that the Louisiana ceded by France did extend to the Perdido. The southern boundary of Missis- sippi Territory had been established by act of congress of April 7, 1798, as follows: "That all that tract of country bounded on the west by the Mississippi, on the north by a line to be drawn due east from the mouth of the Yazoo to the Chattahoochie river ; on the cast by the river Chattahoochie; and on the south by the thirty-first degree of north latitude, shall be and hereby is constituted one district to be called the Mississippi Territory." Thus the Territory of Orleans was bounded on the north by the thirty-third parallel west of the Mississippi (its present bound- ary ) ; and by the thirty-first parallel east of the Mississippi, should West Florida be ascertained to be a part of the cession by France.
In March, 1810, the house of representatives and the light- tive council of the Territory of Orleans presented a portion pin . ing for admission into the Union, ahhough "our territory, though vast, cannot admit of any large increase of population. Nearly all the lands conveniently situated are occupied ; immense swamps cover a great proportion of the remaining part of the country, and such uninhabited lands as are cultivable are chiefly to be found towards the limits of our territory." This bill was pre- pared and read in the senate for the first time on April 9, 1810. It passed the senate April 27, 1810, by the following vote: yeas 15, nays 8. When the bill came up in the house, a motion to postpone it indefinitely was lost, yeas 28, nays 78. In the house bill the following language was employed in regard to the limits of the proposed new state: "That said State shall be composed of all that part of the territory of country coded under the name of Louisiana by the treaty made at l'anis April 30, 1803, between the United States and France, now contained within the limits of the Territory of Orleans, except that part lying east of the
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river Iberville and a line to be drawn along the middle of the Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the ocean." With this description, the bill passed the house by 77 yeas and 36 nays. Mr. Tait, senator from Georgia, and chairman of the commit- tee to whom the bill was referred, reported the following bound- ary: "Beginning at the mouth of the river Sabine, thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said river, including all islands, to the thirty-second degree of latitude; thence due north to the northernmost part of the thirty-third degree of north latitude; thence along the said parallel of latitude to the Mississippi river; thence down the said river to the southern boundary of the Mississippi Territory; thence along the said boundary line to Pearl river; thence down the western bank of the said river to Lake Borgne; thence along the middle of said lake to the Gulf of Mexico, thence bounded by the said Gulf to the place of beginning ; . Provided, however, That the Goverment of the United States hereby retains the power of altering, in any manner it may hereafter deem proper, the limits of all that portion of the said described territory which lies cast of the river Mississippi and the island of New Orleans." Under this bill a portion of West Florida was to be positively attached to Louisiana. This action was proposed before the United States had decided to occupy a portion of West Florida, and before the inhabitants had set up a separate government. It likewise proposed to extend Louisiana to the Sabine before that river had been settled upon as the boundary between Louisiana and Texas.
Numerous amendments in regards to the boundaries of the pro- posed new state were offered to the bill. i malls, the follows- ing limits were approved February 20, 1811: "Begnawing at the month of the river Sabine, thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said river, including all islands, to the thirty- second degree of north latitude ; thence due north to the north- ernmost part of the thirty-third degree of north latitude ; thence along said parallel of latitude to the river Mississippi ; thence down the said river to the river Iberville ; and from thence along the middle of the said river and lakes Maurepas and Pontchar- train to the Gulf of Mexico; thence bounded by the said Gulf to the place of beginning." It will be observed that congress thus definitely fixed the middle of the Sabine and the thirty-sec- ond meridian for the western boundary of the State of Louisi- ana, regardless of the fact that the line of demarcation between Texas and Louisiana had not been settled by the two govern- ments -- Spain and the United States. But this course was taken upon grounds that could not be overturned-that the Louisiana
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purchase extended to the westward as far as that river and that meridian. There was no danger in mentioning that limits for the boundary of the new state. But it was different in regard to West Florida. Congress was not so sure in respect to that province. It was, therefore, thought wise to omit embracing that territory in the State of Louisiana for the present. There was considerable manipulation of the question of limits in both branches of congress. At first the bill to admit Louisiana to statehood was made to embrace positively a portion of the ter- ritory cast of the Mississippi. This point was considered in the senate in secret session and the bill was read for the first time on January 7, 1811. Many of the senators opposed the secrecy of the deliberations, but were voted down. There was ample justification for secrecy, because the United States was on the point of declaring war against Great Britain, and the president had already given orders for the occupation of West Florida, which might mean war also with Spain. In fact the extension of the limits of Louisiana over West Florida, it was realized, would be abundant cause for a declaration of war from Spain. This was no doubt the principal reason why the act to admit Louisiana did not contain a clause extending the limits to Pearl river at least or to the Perdido at most.
When the bill to admit Louisiana with West Florida or a portion of it came up in the senate, a motion to print it for the use of the senators was lost, yeas 14, Days 16. Another motion to print one copy for each senator, coupled with strict measures of secrecy, was also voted down, years 7, mas 23. The act of April 8, 1812, admitted Louisiana to statehood and was to be in force from and after April 30, 1812. All of the State of Louisiana thus formed and the residue of the Territory of Orleans, were constituted one district for judicial and other par- poses. The latter clause was framed for the purpose of extend- ing the jurisdiction of the United States over the whole or a portion of West Florida and over the territory claimed by the government west of the Sabine, should future negotiation extend the limits beyond that stream. Finally, by act approved April 14, 1812, congress ordered that, should the legislature of Loni- siana consent, the following tract of country be made a part of Louisiana: "Beginning at the junction of the Iberville with the river Mississippi ; thence along the middle of the Iberville, the river Amite and the Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the eastern mouth of the Pearl river ; thence up the eastern branch of Pearl river to the thirty first degree of north latitude ; thence along the said degree of latitude to the river Mississippi ; thence
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down the said river to the place of beginning." This was a positive step by congress, before the right of the United States to that territory had been adjusted with Spain; but was abun- dantly justified by the circumstances. In fact, the territory had already, under the direction of the president, been occupied by the United States, and this act was designed to sustain such proceedings. The order of the president to occupy the western portion of West Florida and this act of congress, were much more the result of the determination of the government to pos- sess the territory than of the belief that it formed a part of the cession of Louisiana. But the United States was fully justi- fied in its course by the remissness of Spain and the danger that the territory, to which the government had strong claims, would be occupied by Great Britain to the serious injury of this conn- try. By act of June 1. 1812, the title "Louisiana Territory" was changed to "Missouri Territory," the same to take effect from and after the first Monday of December, 1812.
Under date of August 4, 1812, the Louisiana assembly passed the following resolution: "That, whereas, the Senate and House of representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, by an act entitled, 'An act to enlarge the limits of the State of Louisiana,' have provided, that in case the Legisla- ture of the State of Louisiana shall consent thereto, all that tract of country comprehended within the following bounds, to-wit: Beginning at the junction of the Iberville with the river Mississippi : thence along the middle of the Iberville, the river Amit and of the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the mouth of Pearl river; then up the extent branch of Best Hit the thirty-first degree of north latitude; thrace along the sal degree of latitude to the river Mississippi ; thence down the said river to the place of beginning, shall become and form a part of the said State of Louisiana, and be subject to the constitu- tion and laws thereof in the same manner and for all intents and purposes, as if it had been included within the original bound- aries of said State. Be it therefore, resolved, and it is hereby resolved, that the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Louisiana, in general assembly convened, do approve of and consent to the enlargements of the limits of the said State of Louisiana, in manner as provided by the above in part recited act of Congress, hereby declaring that the same shall forever be and remain a part of the State of Louisiana."
Under act of July 5. 1818, it war started. "That this Congress consents that the Legislature of the State of Texas may extend her eastern boundary so as to include within her limits one-half
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of Sabine Pass, one-half of Sabine Lake, also one-half of Sabine river, from its mouth as far north as the thirty-second degree of north latitude." This act was rendered necessary by the fact that under the treaty of 1819 between Spain and the United States, the western boundary of Louisiana was fixed on the west- ern bank of the Sabine river and lake, and included all the islands in both. As waterways then were all important, Texas, when she was admitted, or soon afterward, requested that her eastern boundaries might be extended so as to include the western half of the river and the lake.
The assembly of Missouri Territory, by act of December 31, 1813, created Arkansas county with the following boundaries: "That all that part of the Territory (of Missouri) boundul north by the south line of the county of New Madrid ; cast by the main channel of the Mississippi river; south by the thirty- third degree of north latitude of northern boundary line of the State of Louisiana; westwardly by the western boundary line of the Osage purchase and by a line to commence upon the river Arkansas where the boundary line of the Osage purchase intersects the same; thence in a direct line to the main source of the Wachita; thence south to the northern boundary line of the State of Louisiana or thirty-third degree of north latitude, shall compose a county and be called and known by the name of the County of Arkansas." A considerable portion of what is now Arkansas was not embraced in this comfy. Its western boundary thus fixed was then the Indian line. But this was the foundation upon which was later built the State of Atkansys
By act approved March 2, 1St, the following provision was made by congress: "That from and after the fourth day of July next, all that part of the Territory of Missouri which lies south of a line beginning on the Mississippi river at thirty-six degrees north latitude, running thence to the river St. Francois, thence up the same to thirty six degrees thirty minutes north latitude; thence west to the western territorial boundary line, shall for the purposes of a territorial goverment constitute a separate territory and be called the Arkansas Territory." There does not appear to have been any contest over the formation of this new territory. Missouri Territory, to which that tract of country had belonged, made no protest. It meant eventually for the South an additional slave state, and the consequent increased representation in congress from that section of the Union. The enemies of slavery offered no opposition, because they knew they would have an opportunity to fight that insti- tution when application should be made for the admission of
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Arkansas into the Union. The western boundary was thus left indefinite in the description of the territorial limits, and was nearly on the line of the old Arkansas county, because the Indian title to what is not western Arkansas had not yet been extin- guished. The Territory was intended to embrace all the coun- try cast of the Indian lines.
By act approved May 26, 1824, the western boundary line of Arkansas was fixed definitely as follows: "That the western boundary line of the Territory of Arkansas shall begin at a point forty miles west of the southwest corner of the State of Missouri and run south to the right bank of Red river, and thence down the river and with the Mexican boundary to the line of the State of Lonisiana, any law heretofore made to the contrary notwithstanding." The sum of two thousand dollars was appro- priated to defray the expense of marking this line.
Immediately thereafter the legislature of that Territory divided the strip into counties and the settlers imagined themselves. secure in their homes. In 1828, the government, in opposition to the protests of the territorial government of Arkansas, ceded this strip to the Cherokee Indians, and the western boundary of the Territory was brought back and placed where it had been before the act of 1825. After it was thus returned to the Indians, the settlers were required to vacate their farms, which proceeding visited great hardship upon them. In February, 1835. a bill for their relief was introduced in congress. Mr. Vinton, of Ohio, went into the history of the circumstances of the case and remonstrated against rewarding, with a donation of one hit dred and sixty acres (as had been proposed), men whoer while merit was having trespassed on the public land, and refused to leave what they had seized until compelled by military force. The settlers had located on lands belonging to the government before the same had been thrown into market.
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. By special act approved May 19, 1828, the president was authorized to conjoin with the officers of Louisiana and Arkansas Territory in running the boundary line between them, beginning in the Mississippi on the thirty-third degree of north latitude, thence west to a point where a due north line on the forty- second meridian, crossing the Sabine river, should intersect the same. The boundary line between Arkansas and Missouri, which had been surveyed pursuant to act of congress, was approved by Arkansas December 23, 1816, and by Missouri February 16. 18.17, and was confirmed by the United States February 15. 1848.
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