USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 5
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When President Jefferson received the copy of the treaty sent by Mr. King, he wrote to James Monroe: "There is considerable reason to apprehend that Spain cedes Louisiana and the Floridas to France. To my mind this policy is very unwise for both France and Spain, and very ominous to us."
During the next year President Jefferson's administration was kept in a state of suspense as to the status of Louisiana and the navigation of the Mississippi River. On April 18, 1802, he wrote a letter to Mr. Livingston at Paris, in which he said the American people were anxiously watching France's movements with regard to Louisiana, and set forth the situation as follows: 1. The natural feel- ing of the American people toward France was one of friendship. 2. Whatever nation possessed New Orleans and controlled the lower reaches of the river became the natural and habitual enemy of American progress, and therefore of the American people. 3. Spain was then well disposed toward the United States and as long as she remained in possession of New Orleans the people of this country would be satisfied with conditions. 4. On the other hand, France pos- sessed an energy and restlessness of a character which would be the cause of eternal friction between that country and the United States. In the letter he said :
"The day that France takes possession of New Orleans fixes the sentence which is to restrain her forever within her low water mark. It seals the union of two nations who in conjunction can maintain exclusive possession of the ocean. From that moment we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation. * * * The first cannon which shall be fired in Europe will be the signal for tearing up any settlement she may have made, and for holding the two
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continents of America in sequestration for the common purpose of the united British and American nations."
Jefferson did not desire an alliance with England, but was firm in the con- viction that French possession of the Province of Louisiana would force the United States to adopt such a course. In November, 1802, news reached Wash- ington that the Spanish authorities at New Orleans had suddenly withdrawn the right of deposit at that port and the country-particularly in the new settlements in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys-was ablaze with indignation. The federal- ists, Jefferson's political opponents, tried to force the administration into some policy that would give them a political advantage, but their efforts in this direction were futile. Says Channing: "Never in all his long and varied career did Jef- ferson's foxlike discretion stand him in better stead. Instead of following public clamor, he calmly formulated a policy and carried it through to a most successful termination."
In his message of December, 1802, he merely stated that the change in the ownership of Louisiana would necessarily make a change in our foreign rela- tions, but did not intimate what the nature of that change was to be. On January 13, 1803, he wrote to Monroe that the federalists were trying to force the United States into war, in order to get into power. About the same time he wrote to Mr. Livingston that if France considered Louisiana indispensable to her interests, she might still be willing to cede to the United States the Island of Orleans, upon which stands the City of New Orleans, and the Floridas. Or, if not willing to cede the island, she might be induced to grant the right of deposit at New Orleans and the free navigation of the Mississippi, as it had previously been under the Spanish regime, and directed him to open negotiations to that end.
A few days later, believing the cession could probably be best accomplished by sending a man direct from the United States for that purpose, he selected James Monroe to act as minister plenipotentiary, to co-operate with Mr. Liv- ingston. The Senate promptly confirmed Mr. Monroe's appointment and placed the sum of $2,000,000 at the disposal of him and Mr. Livingston to pay for the island. And it may be well to note, in this connection, that the success of Liv- ingston and Monroe in their negotiations was probably due in a great measure to a letter written about this time by Pichon, the French minister to the United States, to Talleyrand. In his letter Pichon advised the French prime minister that the people of the United States were thoroughly aroused over the suspension of the right of deposit, and that Jefferson might be forced by public opinion to yield to a British alliance.
War between England and France had just been renewed, and Napoleon. realizing the superior strength of the British navy, saw that it would he a difficult matter to hold Louisiana, especially if an alliance should be made between that nation and the United States. He had a force under General Victor ready to send to New Orleans, but learned that an English fleet was lying in wait for Victor's departure and countermanded the order.
In the meantime Mr. Livingston had been trying for several weeks to buy the Island of Orleans and West Florida, believing the Floridas were included in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. On April 11, 1803, Napoleon placed the entire matter of the cession of the island in the hands of the Marquis de Marbois, minister of the French treasury, and the same day Talleyrand startled Livingston by asking
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if the United States would not like to own the entire Province of Louisiana. Livingston replied in the negative, but Talleyrand insisted that Louisiana would be worth nothing to France without the City and Island of New Orleans and asked the American minister to make an offer for the entire province. Another conference was held the next morning, and that afternoon Monroe arrived in Paris. That night a long consultation was held by the two American envoys, the result of which was it was decided that Mr. Livingston should conduct the negotiations.
Several days were then spent in haggling over terms, Marbois at first asking 125,000,000 francs for the whole province, although it was afterward learned that Napoleon had instructed him to accept 50,000,000, provided better terms could not be obtained. The price finally agreed upon was 80,000,000 francs, 60,000,000 of which were to go directly to the French treasury and the remainder was to be used in settling the claims of American citizens against the French Government. The next step was to embody those terms in a formal treaty. As this agreement gave a territory of nearly nine hundred thousand square miles to the United States, in which was included the present State of Nebraska, it is here given in full. It is known as the
TREATY OF PARIS
"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 convention of the 8th Vendemaire, an 9 (30 September, 1800), relative to the rights claimed by the United States, in virtue of the treaty concluded at Madrid, the 27th of October. 1795, between his Catholic majesty and the said United States, and willing to strengthen the union and friendship which at the time of said convention was happily re-established between the two nations, have respectfully named their plenipotentiaries, to wit: The President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of said states, Robert R. Livingston, minister plenipoten- tiary of the United States, and James Monroe, minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of the said states, near the Government of 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 respectfully exchanged their full powers, have agreed to the following articles.
"Article I-Whereas, by the article the third of the treaty concluded at St. Ildefonso, the 9th Vendemaire 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 retrocede 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 incontestible title to the domain and possession of said
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territory ; the first consul of the French Republic, desiring to give to the United States a strong proof of his friendship, doth hereby cede to the United States, il the name of the French Republic, forever, in full sovereignty, the said territory, with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully and in the same manner as they have been acquired by the French Republic in virtue of the above mentioned treaty, concluded with his Catholic majesty.
"Article II-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 commissioners of the United States, and copies will be afterward given in due form to the magistrates and municipal officers of such of the said papers and documents as may be necessary to them.
"Article III-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 immunities of citizens of the United States; and in the mean- time they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their lib- erty, property and the religion which they profess.
"Article IV-There shall be sent by the government of France a com- missary 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 already been done, as to transmit it in the name of the French Republic to the commissary or agent of the United States.
"Article V-Immediately after the ratification of the present treaty by the President of the United States, 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 posts of the ceded territory, to the commissary or commissaries named by the President of the United States 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.
"Article VI-The United States promises 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.
"Article VII-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 arrange- ments relative to the commerce of both nations may be agreed upon, 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 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 manufactures of Spain or her colonies, shall be admitted during the space of twelve years, in the ports of New
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Orleans, and all other 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 merchandise, or other or greater tonnage than those paid by the citizens 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 this article is to favor the manufactures, commerce, freight and navigation of France and Spain, so far as relates to the importations that the French and Spanish shall make into the ports of the United States, without in any sort affecting the regulations that the United States may make concerning the exportation of the produce and merchandise of the United States, or any right they may have to make such regulations.
"Article VIII-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.
"Article IX-The particular convention signed this day by the respective ministers, having for its objects to provide for the payment of debts due to the citizens of the United States by the French Republic prior to the 30th day of September, 1800 (8th Vendemaire, 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 at the same time, so that the one shall not be ratified distinct from the other.
"Another particular convention signed at the same date as the present treaty, relative to a definite rule between the contracting parties, is in like manner approved and will be ratified in the same form and at the same time, and jointly.
"Article X-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 signatures of 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 language; and have thereunto set their seals.
"Done at Paris, the tenth day of Floreal, in the eleventh year of the French Republic, and the 30th April, 1803.
"ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON (L. S.) "JAMES MONROE (L. S.) "BARBE MARBOIS (L. S.)"
The particular conventions referred to in the ninth article of the treaty related to the payment of the debts due the citizens of this country, and the creation of a stock by the United States of $11,250,000, bearing 6 per cent inter- est, payable semi-annually at London, Amsterdam or Paris. The original cost of the entire territory ceded was about 3 cents an acre, but McMaster says: "Up to June 20, 1880, the total cost of Louisiana was $27,267,621." Out of the province acquired by the Treaty of Paris have been erected the following states:
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Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota, about one-third of Colorado, nearly all of Montana, three-fourths of Wyoming, and Oklahoma.
In the purchase of the entire province, Livingston and Monroe exceeded their authority and for a time President Jefferson took the view that an amendment to the Federal Constitution-an "act of indemnity" he called it-would be neces- sary to make the transaction legal. But the acquiescence was so general he aban- doned the idea. In his message of October 17, 1803, he said to Congress :
"The enlightened government of France saw, with just discernment, the importance to both nations of such liberal arrangement as might best and per- manently promote the peace, interests and friendship of both; and the property and sovereignty of all Louisiana, which had been restored to them, have, on cer- tain conditions, been transferred to the United States by instruments bearing date the 30th of April last. When these shall have received the constitutional sanction of the Senate, they will without delay be communicated to the repre- sentatives for the exercise of their functions, as to those conditions which are within the powers vested by the Constitution in Congress."
The treaty was ratified by the Senate on October 20, 1803, and by the House on the 25th. On the last day of the month President Jefferson approved the measures providing for the creation of the stock of $11,250,000 and for the trans- fer of Louisiana to the United States. William C. C. Claiborne, governor of Mississippi, and Gen. James Wilkinson were appointed commissioners, in accord- ance with Article IV of the treaty, to take possession, and on December 20, 1803, the transfer was formally made and the Stars and Stripes were raised at New Orleans. Thus the domain of the United States was extended westward to the summit of the Rocky Mountains and Nebraska became a part of the American Republic.
THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION
In the summer of 1803 President Jefferson began making plans to send an expedition up the Missouri River to discover its sources, and to ascertain whether a water route to the Pacific Coast was feasible. It was late in that year before the Treaty of Paris was ratified and the expedition was therefore postponed until the spring of 1804. The President selected as leaders of this expedition Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Capt. William Clark, officers of the regular United States army.
Captain Lewis was a native of Virginia and at the time of his appointment as one of the leaders of the expedition was twenty-nine years of age. He entered the army in 1795, received his commission as captain in 1800, and from 1801 to 1803 was President Jefferson's private secretary. He died near Nashville, Tenn., October 8, 1809.
Clark was also a Virginian and a brother of Gen. George Rogers Clark, who distinguished himself during the Revolution by the capture of the British posts in the Northwest. In 1792 he was commissioned lieutenant. Four years later he resigned his position in the army on account of ill health and settled at St. Louis. Regaining his health, he re-entered the army and was commissioned cap- tain. In 1813 he was appointied governor of Missouri Territory and held the Vol. 1-3
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office until the state was admitted in 1821. He was then appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs for the St. Louis district and remained in that position until his death at St. Louis in 1838.
Such, in brief, was the character of the men appointed to conduct the first official explorations in the new purchase. They were accompanied by nine young men from Kentucky, fourteen regular soldiers, two French voyageurs or boatmen, an Indian interpreter, a hunter, and a negro servant belonging to Captain Clark. The equipment consisted of a keel-boat fifty-five feet in length and drawing three feet of water, two pirogues and two horses, which were led along the bank, to be used in hunting game. The keel-boat had twenty-two oars and a large square sail to be used when the wind was favorable, and a cabin in which were kept the most valuable articles. The pirogues were fitted with six and seven oars respectively.
Early in May, 1804, the little company assembled at the mouth of the Mis- souri River and on the 14th started up that stream on their long journey. On June 3, 1804, they met a raft of two canoes lashed together and loaded with furs. the property of two French traders, who stated that they had been eighty leagues (240 miles) up the Kansas River. These traders gave Lewis and Clark the first information they had of the country west of the Missouri. It is pos- sible that in ascending the Kansas for 240 miles they were on the Republican River, in what is now Southern Nebraska.
On the IIth of July they camped on an island opposite the mouth of the Nemaha River, near the southern boundary of Nebraska and remained there until the 13th. Captain Clark took one of the pirogues and ascended the Nemaha for a distance of two miles. Upon his return to the camp he reported the dis- covery of some small mounds, supposed to be an Indian burial place. They remained here in camp until the 13th and that night their camp was pitched about twenty miles farther up the Missouri, near the north line of the present Richard- son County, Nebraska, where there was a large island of sand. Some idea of the difficulties encountered by these early explorers may be gained from the follow- ing entry in the journal of the expedition for July 14th :
"We had some hard showers of rain before 7 o'clock, when we set out. We had just reached the end of the sand island, and seen the opposite banks fall in, and so lined with timber that we could not approach it without danger, when a sudden squall from the northeast struck the boat on the starboard quarter and would have certainly dashed her to pieces on the sand island if the party had not leaped into the river and, with the aid of the anchor and cable, kept her off. The waves dashed over her for the space of forty minutes, after which the river became almost instantly calm and smooth. The two pirogues were ahead, in a situation nearly similar, but fortunately no damage was done to the boats or the loading. The wind having shifted to the southeast, we came, at a distance of two miles, to an island on the north (east), where we dined. One mile above, on the same side of the river, is a small factory, where a merchant of St. Louis traded with the Otoes and Pawnees two years before. Near this is an extensive lowland, part of which is overflowed occasionally; the rest is rich and well tim- bered. The wind again shifted to northwest by north. At 71/2 miles we reached the lower point of a large island on the north (east) side. A small distance above this point is a river called by the Maha Indians the Nishnabatona. This
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is a considerable creek, nearly as large as the Mine River, and runs parallel to the Missouri the greater part of its course, being fifty yards wide at its mouth. In the prairies or glades we saw wild timothy, lambsquarter and cuckleberries (Clark's private diary says cockle burs), and on the edge of the river summer grapes, plums and gooseberries. We also saw today, for the first time, some elk, at which some of the party shot, but at too great a distance. We encamped on the north side of the island, a little above the Nishnabatona, having made nine miles. The river fell a little."
As the lower portion of the Missouri River flows almost due east, the first entries in Lewis and Clark's journal refer to the north and south banks of the stream. This custom was kept up after turning northward, near where Kansas City now stands, the east bank being almost invariably referred to as the north and the west bank as the south. Elliott Coues, in his History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, says the small factory or trading establishment mentioned in the journal of July 14th was that of a Mr. Bennett or Benoit, of St. Louis. It stood on the Missouri side of the river, nearly opposite the north line of the pres- ent Richardson County, Nebraska.
On the 15th they passed the mouth of the Little Nemaha, and on the even- ing of the 16th camped in the northwest corner of Atchison County, Missouri, opposite Otoe County, Nebraska. Here they remained all day the 17th, but the next day made eighteen miles and camped "opposite the Oven Islands," a short distance below the present Nebraska City. At this camp "an Indian dog came to the bank; he appeared to have been lost and was nearly starved; we gave him food, but he would not follow us."
The camp of the 19th was made on the western extremity of an island, a little above where Nebraska City is now situated, and not far from the line between Otoe and Cass counties. The journal for this day states : "The sand-bars which we passed today are more numerous, and the sands more shifting and dan- gerous than any we have seen; these obstacles increasing as we approach the Platte River. The Missouri here is wider also than below, where the timber on the banks resists the action of the current; while here the prairies which ap- proach are more easily washed and undermined." Slow progress was made along this portion of the river, but on the 21st "the wind lulled at 7 o'clock and we reached, in the rain, the mouth of the great River Platte, at a distance of four- teen miles."
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