Harrison County, Missouri - Chapter 4: Louisiana Purchase, 1921

SPANISH SOVEREIGNTY - LOUISIANA PROVINCE ACQUIRED BY FRANCE - EVENTS LEADING TO PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA BY THE UNITED STATES - NAPOLEON'S POSITION - UNITED STATES ACQUIRES LOUISIANA - TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT - DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA ORGANIZED - GOVERNORS - CHANGES IN OWNERSHIP OP MISSOURI - INDIAN CLAIMS - CREATION OF HOWARD COUNTY WHICH INCLUDED TERRITORY OF HARRISON COUNTYOTHER COUNTIES INCLUDED IN HOWARD COUNTY - BOUNDARIES.

From 1763 to 1800, Spain held undisputed sovereignty over the Louisiana province. In 1800, Europe was a seething caldron of contention and diplomacy. There were wars and rumors of wars. Napoleon Bonaparte was at the zenith of his glory. With the iron hand of power, guided by a wily diplomatic policy, and jealous of the growing sovereignty of Spain and England in the New World, Napoleon forced Spain into the treaty of Ildefonso, October 1, 1800, by which she ceded to France all the territory known as Louisiana, west of the Mississippi in consideration that the sonin-law to the King of Spain should be established in Tuscany.

This treaty took its name from the celebrated palace of St. Ildefonso which was the retreat of Charles V of Spain when he abdicated his throne in favor of his son. It was situated about forty miles north of Madrid in an elevated ravine in the mountains of Gaudarruma.

Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803, forseeing that Russia, in conjunction with Austria and England, was preparing to send dovni her Muscovite legions into France, realized that he could not hold his possessions in America and determined to dispose of them to the disadvantage of England. The treaty of Ildefonso, in 1800, whereby Spain ceded to France all of the Louisiana Province, had been kept a profound secret until 1803. Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United States, was informed of the contents of this treaty. He at once dispatched instructions to Robert Livingston, the American minister to Paris, to make known to Napoleon (3) that the occupation of New Orleans by the French government would bring about a conflict of interest between the two nations, which would finally culminate in an open rupture. He urged Mr. Livingston not only to in.sist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the purchase of the city and the surrounding country, and to inform the French government that the occupancy of New Orleans might oblige the United States to make common cause with England, France's bitterest and most dreaded enemy.

Mr. Jefferson, in so grave a matter, appointed Mr. Monroe, with full power to act in conjunction with Mr. Livingston in the negotiations. Before taking final action in the matter, Napoleon summoned his ministei-s and addressed them as follows: "I am fully aware of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish to repair the error of the French diplomats who abondoned 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 whom I sell 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 afi'airs in St. Domingo are 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, if I were 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."

"The season for dehberation 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 that it would be folly to try to keep it. I commission you, therefore, to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do not await 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 centuiy 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 the 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. 1 would rather make some desperate effort to preserve this fine country."

The negotiations were completed satisfactorily to both parties to the contract. Mr. Livingston said, "I consider that from this day the United States takes rank with the first powers of Europe, and now she is entirely escaped from the power of England."

Napoleon Bonaparte, seemingly as well pleased said, "By this cession of territory, I have secured the power of the United States, and given to England a rival, who in some future time will humble her pride." How prophetic were the words of Napoleon. Not many years after in the very territory of which the great Corsican had been speaking the British met their signal defeat by the prowess and arms of the Americans.

On December 20, 1803, the Stars and Stripes supplanted the tri-colored flag of France at New Orleans. March 10, 1804, again the glorious banner of our country waved at St. Louis, from which day the authority of the United States in Missouri dates.

The great Mississippi, along whose banks the Americans had planted their towns and villages, now aflforded them a safe and easy outlet to the markets of the world.

In the month of April, 1804, Congress, by an act, divided Louisiana into two parts, the territory of Orleans, and the district of Louisiana, known as Upper Louisiana. Upper Louisiana embraced the present state of Missouri, all the western region of country to the Pacific Ocean, and all below the forty-ninth degree of north latitude not claimed by Spain.

On March 26, 1804, Missouri was placed within the jurisdiction of the government of the territory of Indiana, and its government put in motion by General William H. Harrison, then governor of Indiana, afterwards president of the United States. In this he was assisted by Judges Jacob Vandenburg and Davis, who established in St. Louis what was called Courts of Common Pleas.

On March 3, 1805, the District of Louisiana was organized by Congress into the territory of Louisiana, and President Jefferson appointed General James Wilkinson, Governor; and Frederick Bates, Secretary. The Legislature of the territory was formed by Governor Wilkinson, Judges E. J. Meiger and John B. C. Lucas.

In 1807, Governor Wilkinson was succeeded by Captain Merriweather Lewis, who had become famous by reason of his having made the expedition up the Missouri with Clark. Governor Lewis committed suicide in 1809, under very peculiar and suspicious circumstances, and the President appointed General Benjamin Howard, of Lexington, Kentucky, to fill his place.

Captain William Clark, of Lewis and Clark's expedition, was appointed governor in 1810, to succeed General Howard; he remained in office until the admission of the State into the Union in 1821.

For purposes of purely local government, the settled portion of Missouri was divided into four districts. Cape Girardeau was the first, and embraced the territory between Pywappipy Mottom and Apple Creek ; Ste. Genevieve, the second, embraced the territory of Apple Creek to the Merrimac River; St. Louis, the third, embraced the territory between the Merrimac and the Missouri; St. Charles, the fourth, included the settled territory between the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers. The total population of these districts at that time, including slaves, was 8,670. The population of the district of Louisiana when ceded to the United States was 10,120.

the middle of the sixteenth century to 1763, by both France and Spain. Second, in 1763, it was ceded to Spain by France. Third, in 1800, it was ceded from Spain back to France. Fourth, April 30, 1803, it, with other territory, was ceded by Fra)ice to the United States. Fifth, October 31, 1803, a temporary government was authorized by Congress for the newly acquired territory. Sixth, October, 1804, it was included in the "District of Louisiana," then organized with a separate territorial government. Eighth, June 4, 1812, it was embraced in what was then made the "Territory of Missouri." Ninth, August 10, 1821, admitted into the Union as a state.

When France, in 1803, vested the title to this vast territory in the United States, it was subject to the claims of the Indians. This claim our government justly recognized. Therefore, before the government of the United States could vest clear title to the soil in the grantees, it was necessary to extinguish title by purchase. This was accordingly done by treaties made with the Indians at various times.

When Missouri was admitted as a territory in 1812 by James Madison, it embraced what is now the state of Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, west of the Mississippi, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and most of Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. It has therefore been truly said that Missouri is the mother of all the great west.

When the territory of Missouri was established in 1812, the eastern portion of the state was at once organized into counties, and the territorial law, by means of territorial courts, was extended over them. It will be remembered that from 1804 until October 1, 1812, the territory of Missouri was divided into four districts. At that date, in accordance with an act of Congress, requiring him so to do, Governor Clark issued a proclamation, reorganizing the four districts into the five following counties: St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, and New Madrid. In 1813 the county of Washington was created from a part of St. Genevieve. In 1814, the county of Arkansas was formed, and during the winter of 1814, and 1815, the county of Lawrence was organized from the western portion of New Madrid.

Under an act of the General Assembly of the Territory of Missouri, approved January 13, 1816, the county of Howard was created, being the ninth organized county of the territory, and was taken out of the counties of St. Louis and St. Charles. It included among other counties what is now Harrison County. Its territory was more than one-third of the present state of Missouri. It was almost an empire, presenting an area of nearly 23,000 square miles. It was larger than Vermont, Massachusetts, Delaware and Rhode Island. Missouri at that time had not been admitted into the sisterhood of states. From its territory have since been organized the following counties :

Adair, organized January 29, 1841. Called after General John Adair, of Mercer County, Kentucky, who was elected governor of that State in 1820 and died May 19, 1840.

Audrain, organized December 17, 1836. Called for James S. Audrain, who was a representative from St. Charles in the Missouri Legislature in 1830, and who died in St. Charles, November 10, 1831.

Bates (part), organized January 29, 1841. Called for Frederick Bates, second governor of the State, who died August 4, 1825, before the expiration of his term. Lieutenant-Governor W. H. Ashley, having resigned, Abraham J. Williams, of Columbia, president of the Senate, became Governor until the special election in September, same year, when John Miller was elected. Williams died December 30, 1839, and an old fashioned box-shaped limestone monument marks his grave in Columbia Cemetery.

Boone, orgaoiized November 16, 1820. Named for the old pioneer and Indian fighter, Daniel Boone. Died in St. Charles County September 26, 1820.

Caldwell, organized December 26, 1836. Called for Captain Matthew Caldwell, commander of Indian scouts and a hunter of Kentucky. Joseph Doniphan, father of General A. W. Doniphan, belonged to his company. General Doniphan was chiefly instrumental in having the county named in honor of his father's old comrade.

Camden (part), first named Kinderhook, after the home of Martin Van Buren, organized January 29, 1841. On February 23, 1843, name changed to Camden, in honor of Charles Pratt Camden, an English statesman who was a warm advocate of the American colonies.

Carroll, organized January 3, 1833. Called for Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Died November 14, 1832.

Cass, organized September 14, 1835. First called Van Buren ; changed to Cass February 19, 1849, in honor of Lewis Cass, United States Senator from Michigan. Died June 17, 1866.

Chariton, organized November 16, 1820. John Chariton was the name of a leader of the French fur-traders who at an early day located on the Missouri River at tiie mouth oi' the creek wiiich was ever afterwards called Chariton. Hence the name of the creek and county.

Cooper, organized December 17, 1818. Called for Sarshel Cooper, who was killed by an Indian m Cooper's Fort opposite Arrow Rock and near the present village of Booiisboro, Howard County, on the night of April 14, 1814.

Daviess, organized December 29, 1836. Called for Colonel Joe Hamilton Daviess, of Keintucky. Killed in the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811.

De Kalb, organized February 25, 1845. Called for Baron John De Kalb, a Frenchman of Revolutionary fame, who was killed in the battle of Camden in 1780.

Gentry, organized February 12, 1841. Called for General Richard Gentry, of Columbia, who v\'as killed in the battle of Okeechobee, Florida, December 25, 1837.

Harrison, organized February 14, 1845. Called for Albert G. Harrison, of Fulton, Missouri, m.ember of Congress from 1835 to 1839. Died September 7, 1839.

Henry, first named Rives in honor of V/illiam C. Rives, of Virginia, organized December 13, 1834. Changed to Henry in honor of Patrick Henry, who died June 6, 1799.

Lafayette, first called Lillard and organized November 16, 1820, after James Lillard, an old citizen. Changed to Lafayette, February 16, 1825, who died at Paris, May 20, 1834.

Linn, organized January 7, 1837. Called for Lewis F. Linn, United States Senator from Missouri, 1830-1843, who died at St. Genevieve, October 3, 1843.

Macon, organized January 6, 1837. Named in honor of Natnaniel Macon, of North Carolina, of the Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Congresses and United States Senator in the Ninteenth and Twentieth. Died June 29, 1837.

Miller (north part), organized February 26, 1837. Called for Governor John Miller, of Missouri; was Governor from 1825 to 1832. Died March 18, 1846.

Morgan, organized January 5, 1833. Called for General Daniel Morgan, of the Revolution, who displayed great bravery at the battle of the Cowpens in the defeat of Tarlton and died in 1802.

Pettis, organized January 26, 1833. Called for Spencer Pettis, member of Congress from St. Louis from 1829 to 1831, who was killed in a duel by Major Thomas Biddle, August 27, 1831, aged 29 years.

Worth, organized February 8, 1861. Called for General William J. Worth, of the Florida and Mexican Wars. Died at San Antonio, Texas, May 7, 1849.

Also the following counties in Iowa: Parts of Taylor and Adams, Union, Ringgold, Clarke, Decatur and Wayne, and probably parts of Lucas, Monroe and Appanoose.

Its boundaries were established as follows: Beginning at the mouth of the Osage River, which is about ten miles below the city of Jefferson and opposite the village of Barkersville in Callaway County, the boundary pursued the circuitous course of said stream to the Osage boundary line, meaning thereby the eastern boundary of the Osage Indian Territory, or to the northeast comer of Vernon County, where the Osage River, two miles east of the present town of Shell City, runs near said corner ; thence north (along the western line of St. Clair, Henry, Johnson and Lafayette counties), to the Missouri River, striking that sti'eam west of and very near Napoleon, thence up said river to the mouth of the Kansas River (where Kansas City is now located), thence with the Indian boundary line (as described in the proclamation of Governor William Clark issued March 9, 1815), northwardly along the eastern boundary of the "Platte purchase" 140 miles, or to a point about thirty-six miles north and within the present county of Adams, in the state of Iowa, near the town of Corning in said county, on the Burlington and Missouri River railroad; thence eastward with the said line to the main dividing ridge of high ground, to the main fork of the River Cedar (which is the line between Boone and Callaway counties in Missouri) ; thence down said river to the Missouri ; thence down the River Missouri and in the middle of the main channel thereof, to the mouth of the Great Osage River, the place of beginning.