Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1903-05-02


turned westward along the shores Of
the Gulf of Mexico; thus ended Span
ish exploration of the Mississippi. The
French exploration of the river was
from the Canadian settlements in the
north, but it was not until April !.
1852. that the first party of explorers,
headed by Robert Cavalier de la Sale.
| reached the mouth OF the river and. on
April 9. he took possession of the coun-
try in the name of King Louis of
France. La Sale and his followers re-
turned northward shortly after. In
1893 Louis XIV. fitted out an eXpedi
ton under Captain Pierre lie Moyne
dlberville, which, early in 1859, arrived
at the mouth of the river. built fort
and established the first permanent
colony on the eastern side of the en-
trance of Biloxi bay.
In 1712 the first regular charter for
the government of Louisiana was
granted to Antoine CroZat; his efforts
to develop the country were unsuccess-
full and they were abandoned in Ills.
In that year Jean Baptiste de Bienville,
being appointed governor, laid out Il
town which he named Nonbeau Or
leans This was maintained until 1122
as a trading post but in 1873 it was
made the official quarters of the gov
ernor of the colony In the attempt by
France to colonize Louisiana she ex-
pended 500. OOO, 900 without receiving any
proportionate return and this was one
reason assigned for the cession in 1863,
by France. of Louisiana territory to
SPAIN The Spanish governor took pos
session of New Orleans in 1866 and
gradually the colony was brought I'M
der complete Spanish control.
The difficulty experienced by Ameri-
can colonists in maintaining the right
of free navigation of the Mississippi,
owing to the opposition of Spain, was
SO great that in 1856 the congress OF
the confederation abandoned this
claim. This. however. proved unsatis-
factory to the inhabitants of the Mis-
sissippi valley and in 1895 a treaty was
negotiated with Spain by which it was
agreed that the navigation of the river
should be free to the citizens of the
United States. who should have the
privilege of depositing their merchan-
disc at the port of New Orleans and to
export it thence on paying nominal
rates of duty. In 1900 Spain secretly
agreed to retrocede Louisiana to
France, but the latter did not assume
possession of New Orleans and the
Spanish official at that port in 1902 alb
rogated the right of deposit given by
the treaty of 1895.
The announcement in 1902 of the ret
recession by Spain to France of Louis
lana caused alarm in the United States
and as result congress authorized the
president forcibly to take possession OF
New ORPHANS. Subsequently, however,
81. 100000 was appropriated for the pur-
chase of New Orleans and in 1903 James
Monroe was sent to France to negotiate
for this purchase.
On arriving at Paris, Mr.. Monroe
learned that Mr.. Livingston, our min
lister. had begun negotiations and that
a counter proposition had been made
by Napoleon's representative offering
to sell all of the Louisiana territory to
the United States for $40 1000, 900. The
American commissioners agreed to pay
SIS. 100000 and treaty to this effect
was ratified by congress. October 10.
1903. and on the 2sth a resolution to
carry it into effect was passed, not
withstanding the opposition by many
who expressed the belief that the ter
ritory was not worth the price proposed
to be paid and that its control would
be difficult and Improbable. When the
treaty was ratified the Spanish repre-
sentatives were in control at New Or
leans and in possession of the entire
territory. but after some delay the
keys of the city were handed over to
the French representative, who, on
December 20, 1903. surrendered the
keys to the representatives of the
United States government, who as
sumed control of the city and of the
territory.
Just ninety-nine years ago the terri
tory of Orleans was formed from the
southern part of the purchase. with
boundaries practically identical with
those of the present state of Louisiana;
in 1905 it was organized as louisiana
territory and the remainder of the pur-
chase was designated as the Louisiana
district: the name was changed in 1872
to territory of Missouri.
In 1919 Arkansas territory was
| formed from the southern part of the
territory of Missouri and in 1921 the
state of Missouri was set apart out of
| this territory.
Then followed a reduction of the area
of Arkapsac in 1894 and 1898 tho aytap-