Greene County, Missouri - Louisiana Purchase, 1883

Louisiana Purchase

The purchase in 1803 of the vast territory west of the Mississippi River, by the Uuited States, extending through Oregon to the Pacific coast and south to the Dominions of Mexico, constitutes the most important event that ever occurred in the history of the nation.

It gave to our Republic additional room for that expansion and stupendous growth, to which it has since attained, in all that makes it strong and enduring, and forms the seat of an empire, from which will radiate an influence for good unequaled in the annals of time. In 1763, the immense region of country, known at that time as Louisiana, was ceded to Spain by France. By a secret article, in the treaty of St. Ildefonso, concluded in 1800, Spain ceded it back to France. Napoleon, at that time, coveted the island of St. Domingo, not only because of the value of its products, but more especially because its location in the Gulf of Mexico would, in a military point of view, afford him a fine field whence he could the more effectively guard his newly-acquired possessions. Hence he desired this cession by Spain should be kept a profound secret until he succeeded in reducing St. Domingo to submission. In this undertaking, however, his hopes were blasted, and so great was his disappointment that he apparently became indifferent to the advantages to be secured to France from his purchase of Louisiana.

people of Louisiana the first intimation they had that they had once more become the subjects of France. This was the occasion of great rejoicing among the inhabitants, who were Frenchmen in their origin, habits, manners, and customs.

Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United States, on being informed of the retrocession, immediately dispatched instructions to Robert Livingston, the American Minister at Paris, to make known to Napoleon that the occupancy of New Orleans, by his government, would not only endanger the friendly relations existing between the two nations, but, perhaps, oblige the United States to make common cause with England, his bitterest and most dreaded enemy ; as the possession of the city by France would give her command of the Mississippi, which was the only outlet for the produce of the Western States, and give her also control oi the Gulf of Mexico, so necessary to the protection of American conniierce. Mr. Jefferson was so fully impressed with the idea that the occupancy of New Orleans, by France, would bring about a conflict of interests between the two nations, which would finally culminate in an open rupture, that he urged Mr. Livingston, to not only insist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the purchase of the city and the surrounding country.

The question of this negotiation was of so grave a character to the United States that the President appointed Mr. Monroe, with full power to act in conjunction with Mr. Livingston. Ever equal to all emergencies, and prompt in the cabinet, as well as in the field, Napoleon came to the conclusion that, as he could not well defend his occupancy of New Orleans, he would dispose of it, on the best terms possible. Before, however, taking final action in the matter, he summoned two of his Ministers, and addressed them follows : -

*' I am fully sensible of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish to repair the error of the French diplomatists who abandoned it in 1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it ; but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those who force me to part with it, than to those to whom I shall yield it. The English have despoiled France of all her northern possessions in America, and now they covet those of the South. I am determined that they shall not have the Mississippi. Although Louisiana is but a trifle compared to their vast possessions in other parts of the globe, yet, judging from the vexation they have manifested on seeing it return to the power of France, I am certain that their first object will be to gain possession of it. They will probably commence the war in that quarter. They have twenty vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, and our afiiiirs in St. Domingo are daily getting worse since the death of LeClerc. The conquest of Louisiana might be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in getting out of their reach. I am not sure but that they have already begun an attack upon it. Such a measure would be in accordance with their habits ; and in their place I should not wait. I am inclined, in order to deprive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the United States. Indeed, I can hardly say that I cede it, for I do not yet possess it ; and if I wait but a short time my enemies may leave me nothing but an empty title to grant to the Republic I wish to conciliate. I consider the whole colony as lost, and I believe that in the hands of this rising power it will be more useful to the political and even commercial interests of France than if I should attempt to retain it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject."

One of his Ministers approved of the contemplated cession, but the other opposed it. The matter was long and earnestly discussed by them, before the conference was ended. The next day. Napoleon sent for the Minister who had agreed with him, and said to him : -

"The season for deliberation is over. I have determined to renounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New Orleans, but the whole colony, without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louisiana, I have sufficiently proved, as the object of my first treaty with Spain was to recover it. But though I regret parting with it, I am convinced it would be folly to persist in trying to keep it. I commission you, therefore, to negotiate this aflEair with the envoys of the United States. Do not wait the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this very day and confer with Mr. Livingston. Remember, however, that I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to commence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain have incurred great expense in the improvement of Louisiana, for which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been advanced to different companies, which have never been returned to the treasury. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. Were I to regulate my demands by the importance of this territory to the United States, they would be unbounded ; but, being obliged to part with it, I shall be moderate in my terms. Still, remember, I must have fifty millions of francs, and I will not consent to take less.

That day the negotiations commenced. Mr. Monroe reached Paris on the 12th of April, 1803, and the two representatives of the United States, after holding a private interview, announced that they were ready to treat for the entire territory. On the 30th of April, the treaty was signed, and on the 21st of October, of the same year, Congress ratified the treaty. The United States were to pay $11,250,000, and her citizens were to be compensated for some illegal captures, to the amount of $3,750,000, making in the aggregate the sum of $15,000,000, while it was agreed that the vessels and merchandise of France and Spain should be admitted into all the ports ot Louisiana free of duty for twelve years. Bonaparte stipulated in favor of Louisiana, that it should be, as soon as possible, incorporated into the Union, and that its inhabitants should enjoy the same rights, privileges and immunities as other citizens of the United States, and the clause giving to them these benefits was drawn up by Bonaparte, who presented it to the plenipotentiaries with these words : -

" Make it known to the people of Louisiana, that we regret to part with them ; that we have stipulated for all the advantages they could desire ; and that France, in giving them up, has insured to them the greatest of all. They could never have prospered under any European government as they will when they become independent. But while they enjoy the privileges of liberty let them remember that they are French, and preserve for their mother country that affection which a common origin inspires."

*' I consider that from this day the United States takes rank with the first powers of Europe, and now she has entirely escaped from the power of England," and Bonaparte expressed a similar sentiment when he said : " By this cession of territory I have secured the power of the United States, and given to England a maritime rival, Avho, at some future time, will humble her pride."

These were prophetic words, for within a few years afterward the British met with a signal defeat, on the plains of the very territory of which the great Corsican had been speaking.

the French authorities in the jurisprudence of the Upper and Lower Louisiana, and during this period the Spanish laws remained in full force, as the laws of the entire province ; a fact which is of interest to those who would understand the legal history and some of the present laws of Missouri.

On December 20th, 1803, Gens. Wilkinson and Claiborne, who were jointly commissioned to take possession of the territory for the United States, arrived in the city of New Orleans at the head of the American forces. Laussat, who had taken possession but twenty days previously as the prefect of the colony, gave up his command, and the star-spangled banner supplanted the tri-colored flag of France. The agent of France, to take possession of Upper Louisiana from the Spanish authorities, was Amos Stoddard, captain of artillery in the United States service. He was placed in possession of St. Louis on the 9th of March, 1804, by Charles Dehault Delassus, the Spanish commandant, and on the following day he transferred it to the United States. The authority of the United States in Missouri dates from this day.

From that moment the interests of the people of the Mississippi Valley became identified. They were troubled no more with uncertainties in regard to free navigation. The great river, along whose banks they had planted their towns and villages, now afforded them a safe and easy outlet to the markets of the world. Under the protecting segis of a government, republican in form, and having free access to an almost boundless domain, embracing in its broad area the diversified climates of the globe, and possessing a soil unsurpassed for fertility, beauty of scenery and wealth of minerals, they had every incentive to push on their enterprises and build up the land wherein their lot had been cast.

In the purchase of Louisiana, it was known that a great empire had been secured as a heritage to the people of our country, for all time to come, but its grandeur, its possibilities, its inexhaustible resources and the important relations it would sustain to the nation and the world were never dreamed of by even Mr. Jefferson and his adroit and accomplished diplomatists.

The most ardent imagination never conceived of the progress which would mark the history of the "Great West." The adventurous pioneer, who fifty years ago pitched his tent upon its broad prairies, or threaded the dark labyrinths of its lonely forests, little thought that a mighty tide of physical and intellectual strength, would so rapidly

D History Of Missouri

Year after year, civilization has advanced further and further, until at length the mountains, the hills and the valleys, and even the rocks and the caverns, resound with the noise and din of busy millions.

*' I beheld the westward marches Of the unknown crowded nations. All the land was full of people, Restless, struggling, toiling, striving, Speaking many tongues, yet feeling But one heart-beat in their bosoms. In the woodlands rang their axes ; Smoked their towns in all the valleys; Over all the lakes and rivers Rushed their great canoes of thunder."

In 1804, Congress, by an act passed in April of the same year, divided Louisiana into two parts, the '* Territory of Orleans," and the " District of Louisiana," known as *«Upper Louisiana." This district included all that portion of the old province, north of " Hope Encampment," on the Lower Mississippi, and embraced the present State of Missouri, and all the western region of country to the Pacific Ocean, and all below the forty-ninth degree of north latitude not claimed by Spain.

As a matter of convenience, on March 26th, 1804, Missouri was placed within the jurisdiction of the government of the Territory of Indiana, and its government put in motion by Gen. William H. Harrison, then governor of Indiana. In this he was assisted by Judges Griffin, Vanderburg and Davis, who established in St. Louis what were called Courts of Common Pleas. The District of Louisiana was regularly organized into the Territory of Louisiana by Congress, March 3, 1805, and President Jefferson appointed Gen. James Wilkinson, Governor, and Frederick Bates, Secretary. The Legislature of the territory was formed by Governor Wilkinson and Judges R. J. Meigs and John B. C. JLiucas. In 1807, Governor Wilkinson was succeeded by Captain Meriwether Lewis, who had become famous by reason of his having made the expedition up the Missouri with Clark. Governor Lewis committed suicide in 1809 and President Madison appointed Gen. Benjamin Howard of Lexington, Kentucky, to fill his place. Gen. Howard resigned October 25, 1810, to enter the war of 1812, and died in St. Louis, in 1814. Captain William Clark, of Lewis and Clark's expedition, was appointed Governor in 1810, to succeed Gen.

The portions of Missouri which were settled, for the purposes of local government were divided into four districts. Cape Girardeau was the first, and embraced the territory between Tywappity Bottom and Apple Creek. Ste. Genevieve, the second, embraced the territory from Apple Creek to the Meramec River. St. Louis, the third, embraced the territory between the Meramec and Missouri Rivers. St. Charles, the fourth, included the settled territory, between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The total population of these districts at that time, was 8,670, including slaves. The population of the district of Louisiana, when ceded to the United States was 10,120.

Extent

Missouri is bounded on the north by Iowa (from which it is separated for about thirty miles on the northeast, by the Des Moines Eiver), and on the east by the Mississippi River, which divides it from Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, and on the west by the Indian Territory, and the States of Kansas and Nebraska. The State lies (with the exception of a small projection between the St. Francis and the Mississippi Rivers, which extends to 36°), between 36° 30' and 40° 36' north latitude, and between 12° 2' and 18° 51' west longitude from Washington.

The extreme width of the State east and west, is about 348 miles ; its width on its northern boundary, measured from its northeast corner along the Iowa Hue, to its intersection with the Des Moines

The length of the State north and south, not including the narrow strip between the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers, is about 282 miles. It is aboufe 450 miles from its extreme northwest corner to its southeast corner, and from the northeast corner to the southwest corner, it is about 230 miles. These limits embrace an area of 65,350 square miles, or 41,824,000 acres, being nearly as large as England, and the States of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Surface

North of the Missouri, the State is level or undulating, while the portion south of that river (the larger portion of the State) exhibits a c^reater variety of surface. In the southeastern part is an extensive marsh, reaching beyond the State into Arkansas. The remainder of this portion between the Mississippi and Osage Rivers is rolling, and gradually rising into a hilly and mountainous district, forming the outskirts of the Ozark Mountains.

Beyond the Osage River, at some distance, commences a vast expanse of prairie land which stretches away towards the Rocky Mountains. The ridges forming the Ozark chain extend in a northeast and southwest direction, separating the waters that flow northeast into the Missouri from those that flow southeast into the Mississippi River.

No State in the Union enjoys better facilities for navigation than Missouri. By means of the Mississippi River, which stretches along her entire eastern boundary, she can hold commercial intercourse with the most northern territory and State in the Union ; with the whole valley of the Ohio ; with many of the Atlantic States, and with the Gulf of Mexico.

-'Ay, gather Europe's royal rivers all - The snow-swelled Neva, with an Empire's weight On her broad breast, she yet may overwhelm ; Dark Danube, hurrying, as by foe pursued, Through shaggy forests and by palace walls, To hide its terror in a sea of gloom ; The castled Rhine, whose vine-crowned waters flow, The fount of fable and the source of song ; The rushing Rhone, in whose cerulean depths The loving sky seems wedded with the wave; The yellow Tiber, chok'd with Roman spoils,

By the Missouri River she can extend her commerce to the Rocky Mountains, and receive in return the products which will come in the course of time, by its multitude of tributaries.

The Missouri River coasts the northwest line of the State for about 250 miles, following its windings, and then flows through the State, a little south of east, to its junction with the Mississippi. The Missouri River receives a number of tributaries within the limits of the State, the principal of which are the Nodaway, Platte, Grand and Chariton from the north, and the Blue, Sniabar, Lamine, Osage and Gasconade from the south. The principal tributaries of the Mississippi within the State, are the Salt River, north, and the Meramec River south of the Missouri.

The St. Francis and White Rivers, with their branches, drain the southeastern part of the State, and pass into Arkansas. The Osage is navigable for steamboats for more than 175 miles. There are a vast number of smaller streams, such as creeks, branches and rivers, which water the State in all directions.

Timber. - Not more towering in their sublimity were the cedars of ancient Lebanon, nor more precious in their utility were the almugtrees of Ophir, than the native forests of Missouri. The river bottoms are covered with a luxuriant growth of oak, ash, elm, hickory, cottonwood, linn, white and black walnut, and in fact, all the varieties found in the Atlantic and Eastern States. In the more barren districts may be seen the white and pin oak, and in many places a dense growth of pine. The crab apple, papaw and persimmon are abundant, as also the hazel and pecan.

Climate. - The climate of Missouri is, in general, pleasant and salubrious. Like that of North America, it is changeable, and sublect to sudden and sometimes extreme changes of heat and cold ; but it is decidedly milder, taking the whole year through, than that of the same latitudes east of the mountains. While the summers are not more oppressive than they are in the corresponding latitudes on and near the Atlantic coast, the winters are shorter, and very much milder,

Prairies. - Missouri is a prairie State, especially that portion of it north and northwest of the Missouri River. These prairies, along the water courses, abound with the thickest and most luxurious belts of timber, while the "rolling" prairies occupy the higher portions of the country, the descent generally to the forests or bottom lands being over only declivities. Many of these prairies, however, exhibit a gracefully waving surface, swelling and sinking with an easy slope, and a full, rounded outline, equally avoiding the unmeaning horizontal surface and the interruption of abrupt or angular elevations.

These prairies often embrace extensive tracts of land, and in one or two instances they cover an area of fifty thousand acres. During the spring and summer they are carpeted with a velvet of green, and gaily bedecked with flowers of various forms and hues, making a most fascinating panorama of ever-changing color and loveliness. To fully appreciate their great beauty and magnitude, they must be seen.

Soil. - The soil of Missouri is good, and of great agricultural capabilities, but the most fertile portions of the State are the river bottoms, which are a rich alluvium, mixed in many cases with sand, the producing qualities of which are not excelled by the prolific valley of the famous Nile.

South of the Missouri River there is a greater variety of soil, but much of it is fertile, and even in the mountains and mineral districts there are rich valleys, and about the sources of the White, Eleven Points, Current and Big Black Rivers, the soil, though unproductive, furnishes a valuable growth of yellow pine.

Geology Of Missouri

The stratified rocks of Missouri, as classified and treated of by Prof. G. C. Swallow, belong to the following divisions : I. Quatenary ; II. Tertiary; III. Cretaceous; IV. Carboniferous; V. Devonian; VI. Silurian ; VII. Azoic.

The Quatenary formation in Missouri, embraces the Alluvium, 30 feet thick ; Bottom Prairie, 30 feet thick ; Bluff, 200 feet thick ; and Drift, 155 feet thick. The latest deposits are those which constitute the Alluvium, and includes the soils, pebbles and sand, clays, vegetable mould, bog, iron ore, marls, etc.

The Alluvium deposits, cover an area, within the limits of Missouri, of more than four millions acres of land, which are not surpassed for fertility by any region of country on the globe.

The Bluff Prairie formation is confined to the low lands, which are washed by the two great rivers which course our eastern and western boundaries, and while it is only about half as extensive as the Alluvial, it is equally as rich and productive."

*' The Bluff formation," says Prof. Swallow, ** rests upon the ridges and river bluffs, and descends along their slopes to the lowest valleys, the formation capping all the Bluffs of the Missouri from Fort Union to its mouth, and those of the Mississippi from Dubuque to the mouth of the Ohio. It forms the upper stratum beneath the soil of all the high lands, both timber and prairies, of all the counties north of the Osage and Missouri, and also St. Louis, and the Mississippi counties on the south.

Its greatest development is in the counties on the Missouri River from the Iowa line to Boonville. In some localities it is 200 feet thick. At St. Joseph it is 140 ; at Boonville 100 ; and at St. Louis, in St. George's quarry, and the Big Mound, it is about 50 feet ; while its greatest observed thickness in Marion county was only 30 feet.'*

The Drift formation is that which lies beneath the Bluff formation, having, as Prof. Swallow informs us, three distinct deposits, to wit : *'Altered Drift, which are strata of sand and pebbles, seen in the banks of the Missouri, in the northwestern portion of the State.

Boulder Clay is a bed of bluish or brown sandy clay, through which pebbles are scattered in greater or less abundance. In some localities in northern Missouri, this formation assumes a pure white, pipeclay color."

The Tertiary formation is made up of clays, shales, iron ores, sandstone, and sands, scattered along the bluffs, and edges of the bottoms, reaching from Commerce, Scott County, to Stoddard, and south to the Chalk Bluffs in Arkansas.

The Cretaceous formation lies beneath the Tertiary, and is composed of variegated sandstone, bluish-brown sandy slate, whitishbrown impure sandstone, fine white clay mingled with spotted flint, purple, red and blue clays, all being in the aggregate, 158 feet in thickness. There are no fossils in these rocks, and nothing by which their age may be told.

The Carboniferous system includes the Upper Carboniferous or coal-measures, and the Lower Carboniferous or Mountain limestone. The coal-measures are made up of numerous strata of sandstones, limestones, shales, clays, marls, spathic iron ores, and coals.

The Carboniferous formation, including coal-measures and the beds of iron, embrace an area in Missouri of 27,000 square miles. The varieties of coal found in the State are the common bituminous and cannel coals, and they exist in quantities inexhaustible. The fact that these coal-measures are full of fossils, which are always confined

The rocks of the Lower Carboniferous formation are varied in color, and are quarried in many different parts of the State, being extensively utilized for building and other purposes.

Among the Lower Carboniferous rocks is found the Upper Archimedes Limestone, 200 feet ; Ferruginous Sandstone, 195 feet ; Middle Archimedes, 50 feet; St. Louis Limestone, 250 feet; Oolitic Limestone, 25 feet; Lower Archimedes Limestone, 350 feet; and Encrinital Limestone, 500 feet. These limestones generally contain fossils.

The Ferruginous limestone is soft when quarried, but becomes hard and durable after exposure. It contains large quantities of iron, and is found skirting: the eastern coal measures from the mouth of the Des Moines to McDonald county.

The Encrinital limestone is the most extensive of the divisions of Carboniferous limestone, and is made up of brown, buff, gray and white. In these strata are found the remains of corals and mollusks. This formation extends from Marion county to Greene county. The Devonian system contains : Chemung Group, Hamilton Group, Onondaga limestone and Oriskany sandstone. The rocks of the Devonian system are found in Marion, Ralls, Pike, Callaway, Saline and Ste. Genevieve counties.

The Chemung Group has three formations, Chouteau limestone, 85 feet ; Vermicular sandstone and shales, 75 feet ; Lithographic limestone, 125 feet.

The Chouteau limestone is in two divisions, when fully developed, and when first quarried is soft. It is not only good for building purposes but makes an excellent cement.

The Lithographic limestone is a pure, fine, compact, evenly-textured limestone. Its color varies from light drab to buff and blue. It is called "pot metal," because under the hammer it gives a sharp, rinscino; sound. It has but few fossils.

Onondaga limestone is usually a coarse, gray or buff crystalline, thick-bedded and cherty limestone. No formation in Missouri presents, such variable and widely different lithological characters as the Onondaga.

Of the Upper Silurian series there are the following formations : Lower Helderberg, 350 feet ; Niagara Group, 200 feet ; Cape Girardeau limestone, 60 feet.

Niagara Group. The Upper part of this group consists of red, yellow and ash-colored shales, with compact limestones, variegated with bands and nodules of chert.

The Cape Girardeau limestone, on the Mississippi Eiver near Cape Girardeau, is a compact, bluish-gray, brittle limestone, with smooth fractures in layers from two to six inches in thickness, with argillaceous partings. These strata contain a great many fossils.

The Lower Silurian has the following ten formations, to wit : Hudson River Group, 220 feet ; Trenton limestone, 360 feet ; Black River and Bird's Eye limestone, 175 feet; first Magnesian limestone, 200 feet ; Saccharoidal sandstone, 125 feet ; second Magnesian limestone, 250 feet ; second sandstone, 115 feet ; third Magnesian limestone, 350 feet; third sandstone, 60 feet; fourth Magnesian limestone, 350 feet.

Hudson River Group : - There are three formations which Prof. Swallow refers to in this group. These formations are found in the bluff above and below Louisiana ; on the Grassy a few miles northwest of Louisiana, and in Ralls, Pike, Cape Girardeau and Ste. Genevieve Counties.

Trenton limestone : The upper part of this formation is made up of thick beds of hard, compact, bluish gray and drab limestone, variegated with irregular cavities, filled with greenish materials.

The Saccharoidal sandstone has a wide range in the State. In a bluflf about two miles from Warsaw, is a very striking change of thickness of this formation.

The second sandstone, usually of yellowish brown, sometimes becomes a pure white, fine-grained, soft sandstone as on Cedar Creek, in Washington and Franklin Counties.

Economic Geology

Goal. - Missouri is particularly rich in minerals. Indeed, no State in the Union, surpasses her in this respect. In some unknown age of the past - long before the existence of man - Nature, by a wise process, made a bountiful provision for the time, when in the order of things, it should be necessary for civilized man to take possession of these broad, rich prairies. As an equivalent for lack of forests, she quietly stored away beneath the soil those wonderful carboniferous treasures for the use of man.

Geological surveys have developed the fact that the coal deposits in the State are almost unnumbered, embracing all varieties of the best bituminous coal. A large portion of the State, has been ascertained to be one continuous coal field, stretching from the mouth of the Des Moines River through Clark, Lewis, Scotland, Adair, Macon, Shelby, MoiU(>e, Audrain, Callaway, Boone, Cooper, Pettis, Benton, Henry, St. Clair, Bates, Vernon, Cedar, Dade, Barton and Jasper, into the Indian Territory, and the counties on the northwest of this line contain more or less coal. Coal rocks exist in Ralls, Montgomery, Warren, St. Charles, Moniteau, Cole, Morgan, CraAvford and Lincoln, and during the past few years, all along the lines of all the railroads in North Missouri, and along the western end of the Missouri Pacific, and on the Missouri River, between Kansas City and Sioux

City, has systematic mining, opened up hundreds of mines in different localities. The area of our coal beds, on the line of the southwestern boundary of the State alone, embraces more than 26,000 square miles of regular coal measures. This will give of workable coal, if the average be one foot, 26,800,000,000 tons. The estimates from the developments already made, in the different portions of the State, will give 134,000,000,000 tons.

The economical value of this coal to the State, its influence in domestic life, in navigation, commerce and manufactures, is beyond the imagination of man to conceive. Suffice it to say, that in the possession of her developed and undeveloped coal mines, Missouri has a motive power, which in its influences for good, in the civilization of man, is more potent than the gold of California.

Iron. - Prominent among the minerals, which increase the power and prosperity of a nation, is iron. Of this ore, Missouri has an inexhaustible quantity, and like her coal fields, it has been developed in many portions of the State, and of the best and purest quality. It is found in great abundance in the counties of Cooper, St. Clair, Greene, Henry, Franklin, Benton, Dallas, Camden, Stone, Madison, Iron, Washington, Perry, St. Francois, Reynolds, Stoddard, Scott, Dent and others. The greatest deposit of iron is found in the Iron Mountain, which is two hundred feet high, and covers an area of five hundred acres, and produces a metal, which is shown by analysis, to contain from 65 to 69 per cent of metallic iron.

Rich beds of iron are also found at the Big Bogy Mountain, and at Russell Mountain. This ore has, in its nude state, a variety of colors, from the red, dark red, black, brown, to a light bluish gray. The red ores are found in twenty-one or more counties of the State, and are of great commercial value. The brown hematite iron ores extend over a greater range of country than all the others combined, embracing about one hundred counties, and have been ascertained to exist in these in large quantities.

Lead. - Long before any permanent settlements were made in Missouri by the whites, lead was mined within the limits of the State at two or three points on the Mississippi. At this time more than five hundred mines are opened, and many of them are being successfully worked. These deposits of lead cover an area, so far as developed, of more than seven thousand square miles. Mines have been opened in Jefferson, Washington, St. Francois, Madison, "Wayne, Carter, Reynolds, Crawford, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Cole, Cape Girardeau, Camden, Morgan, and many other counties.

Copper and Zinc. - Several varieties of copper ore are found in Missouri. The copper mines of Shannon, Madison and Franklin Counties have been known for years, and some of these have been successfully worked and are now yielding good results.

Deposits of copper have been discovered in Dent, Crawford, Benton, Maries, Green, Lawrence, Dade, Taney, Dallas, Phelps, Reynolds and Wright Counties.

Zinc is abundant in nearly all the lead mines in the southwestern part of the State, and since the completion of the A. & P. R. R. a market has been furnished for this o^^e, which will be converted into valuable merchandise.

Building Stone and Marble. - There is no scarcity of good building stone in Missouri. Limestone, sandstone and granite exist in all shades of buff, blue, red and brown, and are of great beauty as building material.

There are many marble beds in the State, some of which furnish very beautiful and excellent marble. It is found in Marion, Cooper, St. Louis, and other counties.

One of the most desirable of the Missouri marbles is in the 3rd Magnesian limestone, on the Mangua. It is fine-grained, crystalline, silico-magnesian limestone, light-drab, slightly tinged with peach blossom, and clouded by deep flesh-colored shades. In ornamental architecture it is rarely surpassed.

Gypsum and Lime. - Though no extensive beds of gypsum have been discovered in Missouri, there are vast beds of the pure white crystalline variety on the line of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, on Kansas River, and on Gypsum Creek. It exists also in several other localities accessible by both rail and boat.

All of the limestone formations in the State, from the coal measures to fourth Magnesian, have more or less strata of very nearly pure carbonate of pure lime.

Clays and Paints. - Clays are found in nearly all parts of the State suitable for making bricks. Potters' clay and fire-clay are worked in many localities.

There are several beds of purple shades in the coal measures whicli possess the properties requisite for paints used in outside work. Yellow and red ochres are found in considerable quantities on the Missouri

Springs And Water Power

No State is, perhaps, better supplied with cold springs of pure water than Missouri. Out of the bottoms, there is scarcely a section of land but has one or more perennial springs of good water. Even Avhere there are no springs, good water can be obtained by digging from twenty to forty feet. Salt springs are abundant in the central part of the State, and discharge their brine in Cooper, Saline, Howard, and adjoining counties. Considerable salt was made in Cooper and Howard Counties at an early day.

Sulphur springs are also numerous throughout the State. The Chouteau Springs in Cooper, the Monagaw Springs in St. Clair, the Elk Springs in Pike, and the Cheltenham Springs in St. Louis County have acquired considerable reputation as salubrious waters, and have become popular places of resort. Many other counties have good sulphur springs.

Among the Chalybeate springs the Sweet Springs on the Blackwater, and the Chalybeate spring in the University campus are, perhaps, the most popular of the kind in the State. There are, however, other springs impregnated with some of the salts of iron.

Petroleum springs are found in Carroll, Ray, Rjindolph, Cass, Lafayette, Bates, Vernon, and other counties. The variety called lubricating oil is the more common.

The water power of the State is excellent. Large springs are particularly abundant on the waters of the Meramec, Gasconade, Bourbeuse, Osage, Niangua, Spring, White, Sugar, and other streams. Besides these, there are hundreds of springs sufficiently large to drive mills and factories, and the day is not far distant when these crystal fountains will be utilized, and a thousand saws will buzz to their dashing music.

Title And Early Settlements

Title to Missouri Lands' - Eight of Discovery - Title of France and Spain - Cession to the United States - Territorial Changes - Treaties with Indians - First Settlement - Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon - St. Louis - When Incorporated - Potosi - St. Charles - Portage des Sioux - New Madrid - St. Francois County- Perry - Mississippi - Loutre Island - " Boone's Lick " - Cote Sans Dessein - Howard County - Some First Things - Counties - When Organized.

The title to the soil of Missouri was, of course, primarily vested in the original occupants who inhabited the country prior to its discovery by the whites. But the Indians, being savages, possessed but few rights that civilized nations considered themselves bound to respect ; so, therefore, when they found this country in the possession of such a people they claimed it in the name of the King of France, by the right of discovery. It remained under the jurisdiction of France until 1763.

Prior to the year 1763, the entire continent of North America was divided between France, England, Spain and Russia. France held all that portion that now constitutes our national domain west of the Mississippi River, except Texas, and the territory which we have obtained from Mexico and Russia. The vast region, while under the jurisdiction of France, was known as the " Province of Louisiana," and embraced the present State of Missouri. At the close of the *' Old French War," in 1763, France gave up her share of the continent, and Spain came into the possession of the territory west of the Mississippi River, while Great Britain retained Canada and the regions northward, having obtained that territory by conquest, in the war with France. For thirty-seven years the territory now embraced within the limits of Missouri, remained as a part of the possession of Spain, and then went buck to France by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, October 1, 1800. On the 30th of April, 1803, France ceded it to the United States, in consideration of receiving $11,250,000, and the liquidation of certain claims, held by citizens of the United States against France, which amounted to the further sum of $3,750,000, making a total of $15,000,000. It will thus be seen that France has twice, and Spain once, held sovereignty over the territory embracing

On the 31st of October, 1803, an act of Congress was approved, authorizing the President to take possession of the newly acquired territory, and provided for it a temporary government, and another act, approved March 26, 1804, authorized the division of the *' Louisiana Purchase," as it was then called, into two separate territories. All that portion south of the 33d parallel of north latitude was called the " Territory of Orleans," and that north of the said parallel was known as the " District of Louisiana," and was placed under the jurisdiction of what was then known as " Indian Territory."

By virtue of an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1805, the *' District of Louisiana" was organized as the "Territory of Louisiana," with a territorial government of its own, which went into operation July 4th of the same year, and it so remained till 1812. In this year the *' Territory of Orleans " became the State of Louisiana, and the " Territory of Louisiana" was organized as the *' Territory of Missouri."

This change took place under an act of Congress, approved June 4, 1812. In 1819, a portion of this territory was organized as " Arkansas Territory," and on August 10, 1821, the State of Missouri was admitted, being a part of the former " Territory of Missouri."

In 1836, the " Platte Purchase," then being a part of the Indian Territory, and now composing the counties of Atchison, Andrew, Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway and Platte, was made by treaty with the Indians, and added to the State. It will be seen, then, that the soil of Missouri belonged : -

The cession by France, April 30, 1803, vested the title in the United States, subject to the claims of the Indians, which it was very justly the policy of the Government to recognize. Before the Government of the United States could vest clear title to the soil in the grantee it was necessary to extinguish the Indian title by purchase. This was done accordingly by treaties made with the Indians at different times.

Early Settlements

The name of the first white man who set foot on the territory now embraced in the State of Missouri, is not known, nor is it known at what precise period the first settlements were made. It is, however, generally agreed that they were made at Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon, tradition fixing the date of the settlements in the autumn of 1735. These towns were settled by the French from Kaskaskia and St. Philip in Illinois.

St. Louis was founded by Pierre Laclede Liguest, on the 15th of February, 1764. He was a native of France, and was one of the members of the company of Laclede Liguest, Antonio Maxant & Co., to whom a royal charter had been granted, confirming the privilege of an exclusive trade with the Indians of IVIissouri as far north as St. Peter's River.

While in search of a trading post he ascended the Mississippi as far as the mouth of the Missouri, and finally returned to the present town site of St. Louis. After the village had been laid off he named it St. Louis in honor of Louis XV., of France.

The colony thrived rapidly by accessions from Kaskaskia and other towns on the east side of the Mississippi, and its trade was largely in_ creased by many of the Indian tribes, who removed a portion of their peltry trade from the same towns to St. Louis. It was incorporated as a town on the ninth day of November, 1809, by the Court of Common Pleas of the district of St. Louis ; the town trustees being Auguste Chouteau, Edward Hempstead, Jean F. Cabanne, Wm. C. Carr and William Christy, and incorporated as a city December 9, 1822. The selection of the town site on which St. Louis stands was highly judicious, the spot not only being healthful and having the ad- vantages of water transportation unsurpassed, but surrounded by a beautiful region of country, rich in soil and mineral resources. St. Louis has grown to be the fifth city in population in the Union, and is to-day the great center of internal commerce of the Missouri, the Mississippi and their tributaries, and, with its railroad facilities, it is destined to be the greatest inland city of the American continent.

The next settlement was made at Potosi, in Washington County, in 1765, by Francis Breton, who, while chasing a bear, discovered the mine near the present town of Potosi, where he afterward located.

One of the most prominent pioneers who settled at Potosi was Moses Austin, of Virginia, who, in 1795, received by grant from the Spanish government a league of land, now known as the "Austin Survey." The grant was made on condition that Mr. Austin would establish a lead mine at Potosi and work it. He built a palatial residence, for that day, on the brow of the hill in the little vilhige, which was for many years known as " Durham Hall." At this point the first shot-tower and sheet-lead manufactory were erected.

Five years after the founding of St. Louis the first settlement made in Northern Missouri was made near St. Charles, in St. Charles County, in 1769. The name given to it, and which it retained till 1784, was Les Petites Cotes, signifying. Little Hills. The town site was located by Blanchette, a Frenchman, surnamed LeChasseur, who built the first fort in the town and established there a military post.

Soon after the establishment of the military post at St. Charles, the old French village of Portage des Sioux, was located on the Mississippi, iust below the mouth ot the Illinois River, and at about the same time a Kickapoo village was commenced at Clear Weather Lake. The present town site of New Madrid, in New Madrid county, was settled in 1781, by French Canadians, it then being occupied by Delaware Indians. The place now known as Big River Mills, St. Francois county, was settled in 1796, Andrew Baker, John Alley, Francis Starnater and John Andrews, each locating claims. The following year, a settlement was made in the same county, just below the present town of Farmington, by the Rev. William Murphy, a Baptist minister from East Tennessee. In 1796, settlements were made in Perry county by emigrants from Kentucky and Pennsylvania ; the latter locating in the rich bottom lands of Bois Brule, the former generally settling in the " Barrens," and along the waters of Saline Creek.

from the commandant under the Spanish Government. Norfolk and Charleston, in the same county, were settled respectively in 1800 and 1801. Warren county was settled in 1801. Loutre Island, below the present town of Hermann, in the Missouri River, was settled by a few American families in 1807. This little company of pioneers suffered greatly from the floods, as well as from the incursions of thieving and blood-thirsty Indians, and many incidents of a thrilling character could be related of trials and struggles, had we the time and space.

In 1807, Nathan and Daniel M. Boone, sons of the great hunter and pioneer, in company with three others, went from St. Louis to "Boone's Lick," in Howard county, where they manufactured salt and formed the nucleus of a small settlement.

Cote Sans Dessein, now called Bakersville, on the Missouri River, in Callaway county, was settled by the French in 1801. This little town was considered at that time, as the " Far West" of the new world. During the war of 1812, at this place many hard-fought battles occurred between the whites and Indians, wherein woman's fortitude and courage greatly assisted in the defence of the settlement.

In 1810, a colony of Kentuckians numbering one hundred and fifty families immigrated to Howard county, and settled on the Missouri River in Cooper's Bottom near the present town of Franklin, and opposite Arrow Rock.

These settlements were made on the water courses ; usually along the banks of the two great streams, whose navigation afi'orded them transportation for their marketable commodities, and communication with the civilized portion of the country.

They not only encountered the gloomy forests, settling as they did by the river's brink, but the hostile incursion of savage Indians, by whom they were for many years surrounded.

The expedients of these brave men who first broke ground in the territory, have been succeeded by the permanent and tasteful improvements of their descendants. Upon the spots where they toiled, dared and died, are seen the comfortable farm, the beautiful village, and thrifty city. Churches and school houses greet the eye on every hand ; railroads diverge in every direction, and, indeed, all the appliances of a higlier civilization are profusely strewn over the smiling surface of the State.

Some First Things Territorial Organization

Organization 1812 - Council - House of Representatives - William Clark first Territorial Governor - Edward Hempstead first Delegate - Spanish Grants - First General Assembly - Proceedings - Second Assembly - Proceedings - Population of Territory - Vote of Territory - Ruf us Easton - Absent Members - Third Assembly - Proceedings - Application for Admission.

Congress organized Missouri as a Territory, July 4, 1812, with a Governor and General Assembly. The Governor, Legislative Council, and House of Representatives exercised the Legislative power of the Territory, the Governor's vetoing power being absolute.

i he Legislative Council was composed of nine members, whose tenure of office lasted five years. Eighteen citizens were nominated by the House of Representatives to the President of the United States, from whom he selected, with the approval of the Senate, nine Councillors, to compose the Legislative Council.

The House of Representatives consisted of members chosen every two years by the people, the basis of representation being one member for every five hundred white males. The first House of Representatives consisted of thirteen members, and, by Act of Congress, the whole number of Representatives could not exceed twenty-five.

The judicial power of the Territory, was vested in the Superior and Inferior Courts, and in the Justices of the Peace ; the Superior Court having three judges, whose term of office continued four years, having original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases.

The Territory could send one delegate to Congress. Governor Clark issued a proclamation, October 1st, 1812, required by Congress, reorganizing the districts of St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, and New Madrid, into five counties, and fixed the second Monday in November following, for the election of a delegate to Congress, and the members of the Territorial House of Representatives.

William Clark, of the expedition of Lewis and Clark, was the first Territorial Governor, appointed by the President, who began his duties 1813.

Edward Hempstead was elected, being the first Territorial Delegate to Congress from Missouri. He served one term, declining a second, and was instrumental in having Congress to pass the act of June 13, 1812, which he introduced, confirming the title to lands which were claimed by the people by virtue of Spanish grants. The same act confirmed to the people " for the support of schools," the title to villa<Te lots, out-lots or common field lots, which were held and enjoyed by them, at the time of the session in 1803.

Under the act of June 4, 1812, the first General Assembly held its session in the house of Joseph Robidoux, in St. Louis, on the 7th of December, 1812. The names of the members of the House were : -

John B. C. Lucas, one of the Territorial Judges, administered the oath of office. William C. Carr was elected speaker, and Andrew Scott, Clerk.

The House of Representatives proceeded to nominate eighteen persons from whom the President of the United States, with the Senate, was to select nine for the Council. From this number the President chose the following :

The Legislative Council, thus chosen by the President and Senate, was announced by Frederick Bates, Secretary and Acting-Governor of the Territory, by proclamation, June 3, 1813, and fixing the first Monday in July following, as the time for the meeting of the Legislature,

In the meantime the duties of the executive office were assumed by William Clark. The Legislature accordingly met, as required by the Acting-Governor's proclamation, in July, but its proceedings were never officially published. Consequently but little is known in reference to the workings of the first Territorial Legislature in Missouri.

From the imperfect account, published in the Missouri Gazette, of that day ; a paper which had been in existence since 1808, it is tound that laws were passed regulating and establishing weights and measures ; creating the office of Sheriff; providing the manner for taking the census; permanently fixing the seats of Justices, and an act to compensate its own members. At this session, laws were also passed defining crimes and penalties ; laws in reference to forcible entry and detaine"; establishing Courts of Common Pleas; incorporatmg the Bank of St. Louis; and organizing a part of Ste. Genevieve county into the county of Washington.

The next session of the Legislature convened in St. Louis, December 6 1813. George Bullet of Ste. Genevieve county, was speaker elect, 'and Andrew Scott, clerk, and William Sullivan, doorkeeper. Since the adjournment of the former Legislature, several vacancies had occurred, and new members had been elected to fill their places. Among these was Israel McCready, from the county ot Washington. The president of the legislative council was Samuel Hammond. No journal of the council was officially published, but the proceedings of the house are found in the Gazette.

At this session of the Legislature many wise and useful laws were passed, having reference to. the temporal as well as the moral and spiritual welfare of the people. Laws were enacted for the suppression of vice and immorality on the Sabbath day ; for the improvement of public roads and highways ; creating the offices of auditor, treasurer and county surveyor ; regulating the fiscal affairs of the Territory and fixing the boundary lines of New Madrid, Cape Girardeau, Washington and St. Charles counties. The Legislature adjourned on the 19th of January, 1814, sine die.

The population of the Territory as shown by the United States census in 1810, was 20,845. The census taken by the Legislature in 1814 gave the Territory a population of 25,000. This enumeration shows^the county of St. Louis contained the greatest number of inhabitants, aud the new county of Arkansas the least - the latter having 827, and the former 3,149.

The candidates for delegate to Congress wereRufus Easton, Samuel Hammond, Alexander McNair and Thomas F. Eiddick. Rufus Easton and Samuel Hammond had been candidates at the preceding election. In all the counties, excepting Arkansas, the votes aggregated 2,599, of which number Mr. Easton received 965, Mr. Ham-

The census of 1814 showing a large increase in the population of the Territory, an appointment was made increasing the number of Representatives in the Territorial Legislature to twenty-two. The General Assembly began its session in St. Louis, December 5, 1814. There were present on the first day twenty Eepresentatives. James Caldwell of Ste. Genevieve county was elected speaker, and Andrew Scott who had been clerk of the preceding assembly, was chosen clerk. The President of the Council was William Neeley, of Cape Girardeau county.

It appeared that James Maxwell, the absent member of the Council, and Seth Emmons, member elect of the House of Representatives ^ were dead. The county of Lawrence was organized at this session, from the western part of New Madrid county, and the corporate powers of St. Louis were enlarged. In 1815 the Territorial Legislature again began its session. Only a partial report of its proceedings are siven in the Gazette. The county of Howard was then oro^anized from St. Louis and St. Charles counties, and included all that part of the State lying north of the Osage and south of the dividing ridge between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. (For precise boundaries, see Chapter I. of the History of Boone County.)

The next session of the Territorial Legislature commenced its session in December, 1816. During the sitting of this Legislature many important acts were passed. It was then that the " Bank of Missouri " was chartered and went into operation. In the fall of 1817 the of St. Louis" and the "Bank of Missouri" were issuing bills. An act was passed chartering lottery companies, chartering the academy at Potosi, and incorporating a board of trustees for superintending the schools in the town of St. Louis. Laws were also passed to encourage the " killing of wolves, panthers and wild-cats."

The Territorial Legislature met again in December, 1818, and, among other things, organized the counties of Pike, Cooper, Jefferson, Franklin, Wayne, Lincoln, Madison, Montgomery, and three counties in the Southern part of Arkansas. In 1819 the Territory of Arkansas was formed into a separate government of its own.

The people of the Territory of Missouri had been, for some time, anxious that their Territory should assume the duties and responsibilities of a sovereign State. Since 1812, the date of the organization of the Territory, the population had rapidly increased, many counties had been established, its commerce had grown into importance, its agricultural and mineral resources were being developed, and believing that its admission into the Union as a State would give fresh impetus to all these interests, and hasten its settlement, the Territorial Legislature of 1818-19 accordingly made application to Congress for the passage of an act authorizing the people of Missouri to organize a State government.

Chapter Yi

Application of Missouri to be admitted into tlie Union - Agitation of the Slavery Question - "Missouri Compromise" - Constitutional Convention of 1820 - Constitution presented to Congress - Further Resistance to Admission - Mr. Clay and his Committee make Report - Second Compromise - Missouri Admitted.

With the application of the Territorial Legislature of Missouri for her admission into the Union, commenced the real agitation of the slavery question in the United States.

Not only was our National Legislature the theater of angry discussions, but everywhere throughout the length and breadth of the Republic the "Missouri Question" was the all-absorbing theme. The political skies threatened,

Which was liable to burst upon the nation at any moment. Through such a crisis our country seemed destined to pass. The question as to the admission of Missouri was to be the beginning of this crisis, which distracted the public counsels of the nation for more than forty years afterward.

Missouri asked to be admitted into the great family of States. " Lower Louisiana," her twin sister Territory, had knocked at the door of the Union eight years previously, and was admitted as stipulated by Napoleon, to all the rights, privileges and immunities of a State, and in accordance with the stipulations of the same treaty, Missouri now sought to be clothed with the same rights, privileges and immunities.

measures that had up to that day engaged the attention of our National Legislature, we shall enter somewhat into its details, being connected as they are with the annals of the State.

February 15th, 1819. - After the House had resolved itself into a Committee of the Whole on the bill to authorize the admission of Missouri into the Union, and after the questipn of her admission had been discussed for some time, Mr. Tallmadge, of New York, moved to amend the bill, by adding to it the following proviso : -

Provided, That the fnrther introduction of slavery or involuntary servitude be prohibited, except for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, and that all children born within the said State, after the admission thereof into the Union, shall be free at the age of twenty-five years."

As mio'ht have been expected, this proviso precipitated the angry discussions which lasted nearly three years, finally culminating in the Missouri Compromise. All phases of the slavery question were presented, not in its moral and social aspects, but as a great constitutional question, affecting Missouri and the admission of future States. The proviso, when submitted to a vote, was adopted - 79 to 67, and so reported to the House.

Hon. John Scott, who was at that time a delegate from the Territory of Missouri, w^as not permitted to vote, but as such delegate he had the privilege of participating in the debates which followed. On the 16th day of February the proviso was taken up and discussed. After several speeches had been made, among them one b}^ Mr. Scott and one by the author of the proviso, Mr. Tallmadge, the amendment, or proviso, was divided into two parts, and voted upon. The first part of it, which included all to the word " convicted," was adopted - 87 to 76. The remaining part was then voted upon, and also adopted, by 82 to 78. By a vote of 97 to 56 the bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading.

The Senate Committee, to whom the bill was referred, reported the same to the Senate on the 19th of February, when that body voted first upon a motion to strike out of the proviso all after the word " convicted," which was carried by a vote of 32 to 7. It then voted to strike out the first entire clause, which prevailed - 22 to K!, thereby defeating the proviso.

The House declined to concur in the action of the Senate, and the bill was again returned to that body, which in turn refused to recede from its position. The bill was lost and Congress adjourned. This was most unfortunate for the country. The people having already been wrought up to fever heat over the agitation of the question in the National Councils, now became intensely excited. The press added fuel to the flame, and the progress of events seemed rapidly tending to the downfall of our nationality.

A long interval of nine months was to ensue before the meeting of Congress. The body indicated by its vote upon the " Missouri Question," that the two great sections of the country were politically divided upon the subject of slavery. The restrictive clause, which it was sought to impose upon Missouri as a condition of her admission, would in all probability, be one of the conditions of the admission of the Territory of Arkansas. The public mind was in a state of great doubt and uncertainty up to the meeting of Congress, which took place on the 6th of December, 1819. The memorial of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Missouri Territory, praying for admission into the Union, was presented to the Senate by Mr. Smith, of South Carolina. It was referred to the Judiciary Committee.

Some three weeks having passed without any action thereon by the Senate, the bill was taken up and discussed by the House until the 19th of February, when the bill from the Senate for the admission of Maine was considered. The bill for the admission of Maine included the " Missouri Question," by an amendment which read as follows :

"And be it further enacted. That in all that territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes, north latitude (excepting such part thereof as is) included within the limits of the State, contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall hiive been convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited; Provided, always. That any person escaping into the same from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed, in any State or Territory of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or services as aforesaid."

The Senate adopted this amendment, which formed the basis of the "Missouri Compromise," modified afterward by striking out the words, '^'excepting only such part thereof.''

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 24 to 20. On the 2d day of March the House took up the bill and amendments for consideration, and bv a vote of 134 to 42 concurred in the Senate amendment, and the bill being passed by the two Houses, constituted section 8, of **An Act to authorize the people of the Missouri Territory to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and to prohibit slavery in certain territory."

This act was approved March 6, 1820. Missouri then contained fifteen organized counties. By act of Congress the people of said State were authorized to hold an election on the first Monday, and two succeeding days thereafter in May, 1820, to select representatives to a State convention. This convention met in St. Louis on the 12th of June, following the election in May, and concluded its labors on the 19th of July, 1820. David Barton was its President, and Wm. G. Pettis, Secretary. There were forty-one members of this convention, men of ability and statesmanship, as the admirable constitution which they framed amply testifies. Their names and the counties represented by them are as follows : -

On the 13th of November, 1820, Congress met again, and on the sixth of the same month Mr. Scott, the delegate from Missouri, presented to the House the Constitution as framed by the convention.

The admission of the State, however, was resisted, because it was claimed that its constitution sanctioned slavery, and authorized the Legislature to pass laws preventing free negroes and mulattoes from settling in the State. The report of the committee to whom was referred the Constitution of Missouri was accompanied by a preamble and resolutions, offered by Mr. Lowndes, of South Carolina. The preamble and resolutions were stricken out.

The application of the State for admission shared the same fate in the Senate. The question was referred to a select committee, who, on the 29th of November, reported in favor of admitting the State. The debate, which followed, continued for two weeks, and finally Mr. Eaton, of Tennessee, offered an amendment to the resolution as follows : -

*' Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to give the assent of Congress to any provision in the Constitution of Missouri, if any such there be, which contravenes that clause in the Constitution of the Unite<l States, which declares that the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States."

The resolution, as amended, was adopted. The resolution and proviso were again taken up and discussed at great length, when the committee agreed to report the resolution to the House.

The question on agreeing to the amendment, as reported from the committee of the whole, was lost in the House. A similar resolution afterward passed the Senate, but was again rejected in the House. Then it was that that great statesman and pure patriot, Henry Clay, of Kentucky, feeling that the hour had come when angry discussions should cease, proposed that the question of Missouri's admission be referred to a committee consisting of twenty-three persons (a number equal to the number of States then composing the Union), be appointed to act in conjunction with a committee of the Senate to consider and report whether Missouri should be admitted, etc.

The motion prevailed ; the committee was appointed and Mr. Clay made its chairman. The Senate selected seven of its members to act with the committee of twenty-three, and on the 26th of February the following report was made by that committee : -

" Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Conjjress assembled : That Missouri shall be admitted into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatever, upon the fundamental condition that the fourth clause, of the twenty-sixth section of the tWrd article of the Constitution submitted on the part of said State to Congress, shall never be construed to authorize the passage of any law, and that no law shall be passed in conformity thereto, by which any citizen of either of the States in this Union shall be excluded from the enjoyment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such citizen is entitled, under the Constitution of the United States ; provided, That the Legislature of said State, by a Solemn Public Act, shall declare the assent of the said State, to the said fundamental condition, and shall transmit to the President of the United States, on or before the fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of the said act ; upon the receipt whereof, the President, by proclamation, shall announce the fact ; whereupon, and without any further proceeding on the part of Congress, the admission of the said State into the Union shall be considered complete."

At a special session of the Legislature held in St. Charles, in June following, a Solemn Public Act was adopted, giving its assent to the conditions of admission, as expressed in the resolution of Mr. Clay. August 10th, 1821, President Monroe announced by proclamation the admission of Missouri into the Union to be complete.