USA > Wyoming > History of Wyoming, Volume I > Part 9
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alizing the superior strength of the British navy, saw that it would be a diffi- cult matter to hold Louisiana in the face of an alliance between that nation and the United States. A force under General Victor was ready to start for New Orleans, but when Napoleon learned that an English fleet was lying in wait for its departure he countermanded the order for General Victor to sail.
In the meantime Mr. Livingston had been trying to hasten the negotiations that would bring about the cession of the Island of Orleans and West Florida, believing that the Floridas were included in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. On April II, 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 Mr. Livingston by asking if the United States would not like to own the entire province of Louisiana. Livingston replied in the nega- tive, but Talleyrand explained that Louisiana would be worth nothing to France without the City and Island of New Orleans, and insisted that Livingston should make an offer for the entire province. Another conference was held on the morning of the 12th, and that afternoon Monroe arrived in Paris. That evening a long consultation was held by the two American envoys, Mr. Living- ston informing Mr. Monroe of all that had been done, and the result was it was decided that Mr. Livingston should conduct all further negotiations.
Several days were then spent in discussing terms for the purchase of the whole territory of Louisiana, Marbois at first asking 125,000,000 francs for the province, though it was afterward learned that Napoleon had instructed him to accept 50,000,000 rather than to permit the deal to fail. The price finally agreed upon was 80,000,000 francs, of which 60,000,000 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 terms having been agreed upon, the next step was to embody them in a formal treaty. As this agreement gave to the United States a territory of nearly nine hundred thousand square miles, in which was included the greater part of the State of Wyoming, 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 reestablished between 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 Sen- ate of said states, Robert R. Livingston, minister plenipotentiary 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,
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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 realtive 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 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, in the name of the French Republic, forever, in full sovereignty, the said terri- tory, 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 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, ad- vantages and immunities of citizens of the United States; and in the meantime they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property and the religion which they profess.
"Article IV-There shall be sent by the Government of France a commissary to Louisiana, to the end that he do every act necessary, as well to receive from the officers of his Catholic majesty the said country and its dependencies in the name of the French Republic. if it has not 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 the 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 posts 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
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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 arrangements 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 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 manufacturers, com- merce, 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 ap- proved 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.
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"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 manner in which the debts due the citizens of this country should be discharged, and the creation of a stock by the United States Government of $11,250,000, bearing interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, payable semi- annually in Paris, London or Amsterdam. The original cost of the entire territory ceded by the treaty was about three cents an acre, but McMaster says: "Up to June 20, 1880, the total cost of Louisiana was $27,267,621."
Livingston and Monroe's original instructions were to obtain by purchase or otherwise the Island of Orleans and the free navigation of the Mississippi. In concluding a treaty involving the purchase of the entire province, there is no question that they exceeded their authority, and for a time President Jefferson took the view that an amendment to the Federal Constitution (an "act of in- demnity" he called it ) would be necessary in order to legalize the transaction, but when he saw the acquiescence of the American people was so nearly universal he abandoned the idea. On October 17, 1803, he sent to Congress a message re- lating to the purchase, in which he said :
"The enlightened Government of France saw, with just discernment, the im- portance to both nations of such liberal arrangement as might best and permanently promote the peace, interests and friendship of both; and the property and sovereignty of all Louisiana, which had been restored to them, have, on certain 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 be communicated to the representatives for the exercise of their functions, as to those conditions which are within the powers vested by the Constitution in Congress."
Congress lost no time in ratifying the treaty. On October 20th, three days after the President's message on the subject was delivered, the Senate gave its sanction to the treaty, with all the conditions it imposed, and five days later it was ratified by the House. On the last day of the month the President approved measures providing for the creation of the stock of $11,250,000 for the payment of the province, and authorizing him to "take possession of Louisiana and form a temporary government therein." In accordance with the latter act and Article IV of the treaty, President Jefferson appointed Gen. James Wilkinson and William C. C. Claiborne, governor of Mississippi, commissioners to receive the transfer of Louisiana from Pierre Laussat, the French commissary. The formal transfer of the province from Spain to France and from France to the United States was made at New Orleans on December 20, 1803, when the Stars and Stripes were raised for the first time in token of sovereignty over the territory west of the Mississippi River. Thus the domain of the United States was ex- tended westward to the summit of the Rocky Mountains and the eastern three- fourths of Wyoming became a part of the territory of the American Republic. Out of the province acquired by the Treaty of Paris have been erected the fol-
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lowing states : Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, nearly all of Montana, about one-third of Colorado, and three-fourths of Wyoming.
THE TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT
Although the transfer of Louisiana to the United States was made on De- cember 20, 1803, the actual government of the upper or northern part of the province, which included Wyoming, did not begin until March 10, 1804. On that day Maj. Amos Stoddard of the United States army assumed the duties of governor of Upper Louisiana at St. Louis. In his "Historical Sketches of Louisi- ana," Major Stoddard says :
"The ceremony of the transfer ( from Spain to France) occurred between the hours of II A. M. and 12 M., March 9, 1804. The Spanish flag was lowered and the standard of France was run up in its place. The people, although conscious that the sovereignty of France was being resumed but for a moment and simply as a necessary formality in the final transfer, nevertheless could not restrain their joy at seeing float over them once more the standard which even forty years of the mild sway of Spain had not estranged from their memory. So deep was the feeling that, when the customary hour came for lowering the flag, the people besought me to let it remain up all night. The request was granted and the flag of France floated until the next morning over the city from which it was about to be withdrawn forever. At the appointed time on the next day, March 10, 1804, the ceremony of transfer from France to the United States was enacted. The flag of the French Republic was withdrawn and the Stars and Stripes waved for the first time in the future metropolis of the Valley of the Mississippi. Thus St. Louis became perhaps the only city in history which has seen the flags of three nations float over it in token of sovereignty within the space of twenty-four hours."
DIVIDING THE PROVINCE
On March 26, 1804, President Jefferson approved an act of Congress dividing Louisiana into two parts, viz: The Territory of Louisiana and the District of Louisiana. The former embraced what is now the State of Louisiana and the latter included all the remainder of the purchase. Under the provisions of the act the District of Louisiana was made subject to the territorial government of Indiana of which Gen. William H. Harrison was then governor. Some historians state that by this act all of Upper Louisiana (which included Wyoming) was made a part of the Territory of Indiana. This is a mistake. The act merely regarded the District of Louisiana as unorganized territory and attached it to Indiana for judicial purposes, etc.
About a year later a new arrangement was made. By the act of March 3. 1805. the name of the District of Louisiana was changed to the Territory of Louisiana, and the President was authorized to appoint a governor, secretary and two judges therefor. Pursuant to this act President Jefferson appointed Gen. James Wilkinson as governor; Frederick Bates, secretary ; Return J. Meigs and John B. C. Lucas, judges. St. Louis was named as the seat of government. No
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Legislature was provided for in the act, but the above named officials were em- powered to make such laws as they might deem necessary for the government of the territory. In the performance of this duty their task was not an arduous one, . as outside of the City of St. Louis and its immediate vicinity there were no white inhabitants for whom legislation was necessary, consequently but few laws were made and those were of the simplest character.
On June 4, 1812, President Madison approved the act creating the Territory of Missouri, which was cut out of the old District of Louisiana. By the act of March 2, 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was cut off. One by one other terri- tories were erected, and these were afterward admitted as states, until the original purchase now embraces twelve of the largest states in the Union. In any one of these states the assessed valuation of property far exceeds the sum paid for the Province of Louisiana.
CHAPTER VII
THE FUR TRADERS
BEGINNING OF THE FUR TRADE-THE FRENCH THE PIONEERS -- FREE TRADERS AND TRAPPERS-INFLUENCE OF THE TRADER AND TRAPPER ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF TIIE WEST-THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY-THE NORTH-WEST COMPANY-THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY-THE PACIFIC FUR COMPANY-MANUEL LISA-THE MISSOURI FUR COMPANY-HUNT'S EXPEDITION- RETURN OF THE ASTORIANS - ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY-SMITH, JACKSON & SUBLETTE-SKETCHIES OF NOTED TRAPPERS -- COLUMBIA FUR COMPANY-THE MACKINAW COMPANY- TRADING POSTS IN WYOMING.
When the continent of North America was first discovered by Europeans, that portion of it lying above the thirty-sixth parallel of north latitude was the richest and inost extensive field in the world for collecting fine furs. The Indians used the skins of some of the fur-bearing animals for clothing, or in the construction of their wigwams, unaware of the fact that such skins were of almost fabulous value in the European capitals. When the white man came he brought new wants to the savage-wants that could be more easily satisfied by exchanging furs for the white man's goods than in any other way. The fur trade therefore became an important factor in the conquest and settlement of Canada and the great North- west. Lahontan, a French writer, in his "New Voyages," published in 1703, says : "Canada subsists only upon the trade in skins, three-fourths of which come from the people around the Great Lakes."
The French were the pioneers in the fur trade. Long before the above was written by Lahontan, they were trading with the Indians in the Valley of the St. Lawrence River, with Montreal as the principal market for their peltries. From the St. Lawrence country they gradually worked their way westward, forming treaties of friendship with the new Indian tribes they met. crossed the low portages to the Mississippi Valley and from there by way of the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains. The first white men in Wyoming were the fur traders and trappers. In the development of the traffic three plans were pursued. First. and most popular, was the plan of trading with the Indians, giving goods for furs : second, by organizing companies which sent hunters and trappers into the districts where fur-bearing animals were plentiful ; and, third, by free hunters and trappers who worked on their own account and sold their furs in the most profitable market. The first plan was the most profitable, because the Indians knew little or nothing of the actual value of their furs, or the goods which they received in exchange, and unscrupulous traders were not slow to take advantage of their ignorance. The plan adopted by the fur companies was more in the
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nature of a permanent business, but yielded less profits in proportion to the amount of capital invested.
The language of the free traders and trappers was a strange medley of English, French, Spanish and Indian dialect. Their costume was fashioned after that of the Indian-buckskin hunting shirt and leggings-as being better adapted to the rough ways of the wilderness and therefore more serviceable than clothing brought from the "States." The trapper's outfit consisted of a number of traps, a short-handled ax, a hunting knife, a horse and saddle, a few simple cooking utensils, a small stock of provisions (often only a sack of flour and a little salt) and the inevitable rifle. If he followed the streams, a canoe took the place of the horse. His dwelling was a rude hut on the bank of some creek or river, but he often slept at night in the open, with a buffalo robe for a bed, a pack of peltries for a pillow, and the canopy of heaven as his only shelter.
The free trader was a similar character, except in the nature of his outfit, which consisted of a small stock of trinkets, bright colored cloth, etc., which he exchanged with the Indians for their furs. They went where they pleased, were generally well received by the Indians, and traded with all whom they met until their stock of goods was exhausted. Sometimes the free trapper and trader carried their furs to St. Louis, which city was for many years the center of the fur trade, or they were sold to the agent of one of the great fur companies at some trading post. In the latter case they realized less profit, but they saved the time and labor of going all the way to St. Louis.
Scarcely had the United States come into the possession of Louisiana, when a desire arose on the part of many of the citizens to know more of the new acqui- sition. Hardy, adventurous spirits began to penetrate the remote interior, im- patient to learn more of its resources and possibilities. The greatest attraction. and for many years the only one, it offered in a commercial way was its wealth in furs. Hence the roving trapper and trader were the first to venture into the great, unexplored West, where the foot of the white man had never before pressed the soil, bringing back with him the products of his traps or the profits of his traffic with the natives. In fact, these trappers and traders were operating in Louisiana while it was still a Spanish possession. As early as 1795 a Scotchman named Mckay had a trading post known as Fort Charles on the west bank of the Missouri River, a few miles above the present city of Omaha, Nebraska. In 1804 Lewis and Clark met trappers returning from the Kansas Valley with a raft loaded with furs, and on their return in September, 1806, they met several small parties wending their way into the heart of the wilderness the explorers had just left. Says Chittenden :
"It was the trader and trapper who first explored and established the routes of travel which are now. and always will be, the avenues of commerce. They were the 'pathfinders' of the West and not those later official explorers whom pos- terity so recognizes. No feature of western geography was ever 'discovered' by Government explorers after 1840. Everything was already known and had been known for a decade. It is true that many features, like the Yellowstone wonderland, with which these restless rovers were familiar, were afterward for- gotten and were rediscovered in later years : but there has never been a time until very recently when the geography of the West was so thoroughly understood as it was by the trader and trapper from 1830 to 1840."
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Brigham Young's selection of the Salt Lake Valley as a home for the Mormons was largely due to the information he received from trappers and traders who had visited that region. Emigration to the Pacific coast passed over trails that were first traversed by the trappers and traders. They acted as guides to Government expeditions, and the influence of the Santa Fé Trail and trade made an easy con- quest of the Southwest at the time of the Mexican war. True, they carried corrupting vices and certain infectious diseases to the Indian, but they also carried to him his first lessons in the life he was to lead in his contact with the white man. Many of the trappers married Indian women, learned the Indian language, lived according to Indian customs, and treated the red man as a brother except when business rivalry compelled them to adopt a different course. Says A. F. Chamber- lain, of Clark University : "The method of the great fur companies, which had no dreams of empire over a solid white population, rather favored amalgamation with the Indians as the best means of exploiting the country in a material way. Mani- toba, Minnesota and Wisconsin owe much of their early development to the trader and the mixed-blood."
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