Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-09-24
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE,
Hsw 1t Furnished the Basis for a
Big Bluff by the United States

HsW 1t Furnished the Basis for a
Big Bluff by the United States
In the course of his researches,
writes Washington correspondent to
the st. Louis Globe Democrat. Chief
Geographer Gannett, of the geologi-
cal bureau, has unearthed some inter
esting facts not generally know about
the region once described as the ter.
rltory of Louisiana. As early as the
beginning OF the eighteenth century
an official attempt was made to change
the names Of several of the rivers. In
1712 France made a grant to Antoine
de Crozat of the exclusive right to
trade IN the territory. This grant
made the first and only statement of
the general limits of the vast region.
France at that time claimed much
more than is usually understood by
the territory of louisiana. The grant
reads:
"All the territories by us possessed.
and bounded by New Mexico, and by
those of the English in Carolina. all
the Establishments. ports, harbors.
rivers, and especially the port and
harbor of Dauphin island, formerly
called massacre island, the river st.
Louis, formerly called the Mississippi,
from the seashore to the Illinois, TO-
gether with the river st. Phillip, for
merrly called the Missouries river.
and the st. Jerome, formerly called
the Wabash (now the Ohio, with all
the countries, territories, lakes inland.
and the rivers emptying directly or
indirectly into that part of the river
St. Louis"
In tracing the transfers of the va
rlous portions of the western country
until the present limits of the United
States were determined, Mr.. Gannett
hnds that this government came into
possession of the region now divided
into Washington, Oregon and Idaho
through a pure game of bluff. Tt is
certain, he says, that the territory of
Louisiana, as first and subsequently,
defined, never included that section.
%sF'rance transferred the territory of
Louisiana to Spain In 1862 A few
months later, In treaty, the western
boundary of Great Britain's possess
slons was made the center of the
Mississippi, and thus the territory of
Louisiana lost all the land east of the
Mississippi.
By the treaty of San IIdefonso in
1900, Spain transferred the territory
of Louisiana to France.
In 1903 Bonaparte sold the territory
of Louisiana to the United States in
consideration of &c. 900, 900 francs and
the assumption by this government of
the French spoliation claims" sup
posed to amount to about So, $50, 900.
The treaty of cession defined the
boundaries as the same as those
specified in the treaty with San Llde>
fonso.
Mr. Gannett reaches this conclA-
sion:
'sFrom this it appears that the terri
tory sold to the United States com
prised that part of the drainage basin
of the Mississippi which lies west of
the course of the river, with the ex~
ception of such parts as were then
held by Spain. The want of precise
definition of limits in the treaty was
not objected to by the American com
mlssioners, as they probably foresaw
that this very indefniteness might
prove of service to the United States
in future negotiations with other
powers. In fact, the claim of the
United States to the area now com.
prised in Oregon, Washington, and
Idaho in the negotiations with
Great Britain regarding the north
western boundary was ostensibly
based not only upon prior occupation
and upon purchase from Spain, but
also from the alleged fact that This
area formed part of the Louisiana
purchase. That this claim was base
less is shown not only by what has
been already detailed regarding the
limits of the purchase, but also, by
the direct testimony of the French
plenipotentiary, M. Barbe Marbois.
Some twenty years after the purchase
he published a work upon Louisiana
in which he detailed at some length
the negotiation which preceded the
purchase, and, referring to the ques>
ton, said: the shores of the west>
ern ocean were certainly not comprised
in the cession, but already the United
States is established there"
There is also contained in this work
a map of the country between the
Mississippi and the Pacific, on which
the extent of Louisiana to the west
ward is indicated by line drawn on
the 10th meridian, which is not far
from the western limit of the drainage
basis of the Mississippi IN Wyoming
and Montana. That part of the
country now comprised in Oregon,
Washington, and Idaho, which, it
has been claimed, formed part of the
purchase, bears the following legion:
g Territories and countries occupied
by the United States, following the
treaty of Louisiana"