PICS: M0 | KA-NE | SD-ND

URLS: Show4 Rendevous | Gen Text/Img Ref

TEXTS: LA Purchase | Jeff to Lewis | Corps Roster


THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE

TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

The President of the United States of America and the First Consul of the French Republic in the name of the French People desiring to remove all Source of misunderstanding relative to objects of discussion mentioned in the Second and fifth articles o f the Convention of the 8th Vendˇmiaire an 9/30 September 1800 relative to the rights claimed by the United States in virtue of the Treaty concluded at Madrid the 27 of October 1795, between His Catholic Majesty & the Said United States, & willing to Strengthen the union and friendship which at the time of the Said Convention was happily reestablished between the two nations have respectively named their Plenipotentiaries to wit The President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent o f the Senate of the Said States; Robert R. Livingston Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States and James Monroe Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy extraordinary of the Said States near the Government of the French Republic; And the First Consul in th e name of the French people, Citizen Francis Barbˇ Marbois Minister of the public treasury who after having respectively exchanged their full powers have agreed to the following Articles.

Article I

Whereas by the Article the third of the Treaty concluded at St Ildefonso the 9th Vendˇmiaire an 9/1st October 1800 between the First Consul of the French Republic and his Catholic Majesty it was agreed as follows.

"His Catholic Majesty promises and engages on his part to cede to the French Republic six months after the full and entire execution of the conditions and Stipulations herein relative to his Royal Highness the Duke of Parma, the Colony or Province of Louisiana with the Same extent that it now has in the hand of Spain, & that it had when France possessed it; and Such as it Should be after the Treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States."

And whereas in pursuance of the Treaty and particularly of the third article the French Republic has an incontestible title to the domain and to the possession of the said Territory--The First Consul of the French Republic desiring to give to the United States a strong proof of his friendship doth hereby cede to the United States in the name of the French Republic for ever and in full Sovereignty the said territory with all its rights and appurtenances as fully and in the Same manner as they have been acquired by the French Republic in virtue of the above mentioned Treaty concluded with his Catholic Majesty.

Article II

In the cession made by the preceeding article are included the adjacent Islands belonging to Louisiana all public lots and Squares, vacant lands and all public buildings, fortifications, barracks and other edifices which are not private property.--The Archives, papers & documents relative to the domain and Sovereignty of Louisiana and its dependances will be left in the possession of the Commissaries of the United States, and copies will be afterwards given in due form to the Magistrates and Municipal officers of such of the said papers and documents as may be necessary to them.

Article III

The inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be incorporated in the Union of the United States and admitted as soon as possible according to the principles of the federal Constitution to the enjoyment of all these rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States, and in the mean time they shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property and the Religion which they profess.

Article IV

There Shall be Sent by the Government of France a Commissary to Louisiana to the end that he do every act necessary as well to receive from the Officers of his Catholic Majesty the Said country and its dependances in the name of the French Republic if it has not been already done as to transmit it in the name of the French Republic to the Commissary or agent of the United States.

Article V

Immediately after the ratification of the present Treaty by the President of the United States and in case that of the first Consul's shall have been previously obtained, the commissary of the French Republic shall remit all military posts of New Orleans and other parts of the ceded territory to the Commissary or Commissaries named by the President to take possession--the troops whether of France or Spain who may be there shall cease to occupy any military post from the time of taking possession and shall be embarked as soon as possible in the course of three months after the ratification of this treaty.

Article VI

The United States promise to execute Such treaties and articles as may have been agreed between Spain and the tribes and nations of Indians until by mutual consent of the United States and the said tribes or nations other Suitable articles Shall have been agreed upon.

Article VII

As it is reciprocally advantageous to the commerce of France and the United States to encourage the communication of both nations for a limited time in the country ceded by the present treaty until general arrangements relative to commerce of both nations may be agreed on; it has been agreed between the contracting parties that the French Ships coming directly from France or any of her colonies loaded only with the produce and manufactures of France or her Said Colonies; and the Ships of Spain coming directly from Spain or any of her colonies loaded only with the produce or manufactures of Spain or her Colonies shall be admitted during the Space of twelve years in the Port of New-Orleans and in all other legal ports-of-entry within the ceded territory in the Same manner as the Ships of the United States coming directly from France or Spain or any of their Colonies without being Subject to any other or greater duty on merchandize or other or greater tonnage than that paid by the citizens of the United. States.

During that Space of time above mentioned no other nation Shall have a right to the Same privileges in the Ports of the ceded territory--the twelve years Shall commence three months after the exchange of ratifications if it Shall take place in France or three months after it Shall have been notified at Paris to the French Government if it Shall take place in the United States; It is however well understood that the object of the above article is to favour the manufactures, Commerce, freight and navigation of France and of Spain So far as relates to the importations that the French and Spanish Shall make into the Said Ports of the United States without in any Sort affecting the regulations that the United States may make concerning the exportation of the produce and merchandize of the United States, or any right they may have to make Such regulations.

Article VIII

In future and for ever after the expiration of the twelve years, the Ships of France shall be treated upon the footing of the most favoured nations in the ports above mentioned.

Article IX

The particular Convention Signed this day by the respective Ministers, having for its object to provide for the payment of debts due to the Citizens of the United States by the French Republic prior to the 30th Sept. 1800 (8th Vendˇmiaire an 9) is approved and to have its execution in the Same manner as if it had been inserted in this present treaty, and it Shall be ratified in the same form and in the Same time So that the one Shall not be ratified distinct from the other.

Another particular Convention Signed at the Same date as the present treaty relative to a definitive rule between the contracting parties is in the like manner approved and will be ratified in the Same form, and in the Same time and jointly.

Article X

The present treaty Shall be ratified in good and due form and the ratifications Shall be exchanged in the Space of Six months after the date of the Signature by the Ministers Plenipotentiary or Sooner if possible.

In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have Signed these articles in the French and English languages; declaring nevertheless that the present Treaty was originally agreed to in the French language; and have thereunto affixed their Seals.

Done at Paris the tenth day of Floreal in the eleventh year of the French Republic; and the 30th of April 1803.

Barbˇ Marbois [seal]

Rob. R. Livingston [seal]

Jas. Monroe [seal]


PICS: M0 | KA-NE | SD-ND

URLS: Show4 Rendevous | Gen Text/Img Ref

TEXTS: LA Purchase | Jeff to Lewis | Corps Roster


Jefferson's Instructions to Lewis

[20 June 1803]
To Captain Meriwether Lewis esq. Capt. of the 1st regimt. of Infantry of the U.S. of A.

Your situation as Secretary of the President of the U.S. has made you acquainted with the objects of my confidential message of Jan. 18, 1803 to the legislature; you have seen the act they passed, which, tho' expressed in general terms, was meant to sanction those objects, and you are appointed to carry them into execution.

Instruments for ascertaining, by celestial observations, the geography of the country through which you will pass, have been already provided. Light articles for barter and presents among the Indians, arms for your attendants, say for from l0. to 12. men, boats, tents, & other travelling apparatus, with ammunition, medecine, surgical instruments and provisions you will have prepared with such aids as the Scretary at War can yield in his department; & from him also you will recieve authority to engage among our troops, by voluntary agreement, the number of attendants above mentioned, over whom you, as their commanding officer, are invested with all the powers the laws give in such a case.

As your movements while within the limits of the U.S. will be better directed by occasional communications, adapted to circumstances as they arise, they will not be noticed here. What follows will respect your proceedings after your departure from the United states.

Your mission has been communicated to the ministers here from France, Spain & Great Britain, and through them to their governments; & such assurances given them as to it's objects, as we trust will satisfy them. The country <of Louisiana> having been ceded by Spain to France, <and possession by this time probably given,> the passport you have from the minister of France, the representative of present sovereign of the country, will be a protection with all it's subjects; & that from the minister of England will entitle you to the aid of any traders of that allegiance with whom you may n to meet.

The obiect of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregan, Colorado any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water comunication across this continent for the purposes of commerce.

Beging at the mouth of the Missouri, you will take <careful> observations of latitude & longitude, at all remarkeable points on the river, & especially at the mouths of rivers, at rapids, at islands, & other places & objects distinguished by such natural marks & characters of a durable kind, as that they may with certainty be recognised hereafter. The courses of the river between these points of observation may be supplied by the compass the log-line & by time, corrected by the observations themselves. The variations of the compass too, in different places, should be noticed.

The interesting points of the portage between the heads of the Missouri, & of the water offering the best communication with the Pacific ocean, should also be fixed by observation, & the course of that water to the ocean, in the same manner as that of the Missouri.

Your observations are to be taken with great pains & accuracy, to be entered distinctly & intelligibly for others as well as yourself, to comprehend all the elements necessary, with the aid of the usual tables, to fix the latitude and longitude of the places at which they were taken, and are to be rendered to the war-office, for the purpose of having the calculations made concurrently by proper persons within the U.S. Several copies of these as well as of your other notes should be made at leisure times, & put into the care of the most trust-worthy of your attendants, to guard, by multiplying them, against the accidental losses to which they will be exposed. A further guard would be that one of these copies be on the paper of the birch, as less liable to injury from damp than common paper.

The commerce which may be carried on with the people inhabiting the line you will pursue, renders a knolege of those people important. You will therefore endeavor to make yourself acquainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall admit, with the names of the nations & their numbers;
the extent & limits of their possessions; their relations with other tribes of nations; their language, traditions, monuments; their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, hunting, war, arts,
& the implements for these; their food, clothing, & domestic accomodations; the diseases prevalent among them, & the remedies they use; moral & physical circumstances which distinguish them from the tribes we know; peculiarities in their laws, customs & dispositions; and articles of commerce they may need or furnish, & to what extent. And, considering the interest which every nation has in extending strengthening the authority of reason & justice among the people around them, it will be useful to acquire what knolege you can of the state of morality, religion, & information among them; as it may better enable those who may endeavor to civilize & instruct them, to adapt their measures to the existing notions & practices of those on whome they are to operate.

Other objects worthy of notice will be

the soil & face of the country, it's growth & vegetable productions, especially those not of the U.S.
the animals of the country generally, & especially those not known in the U.S.
the remains or accounts of any which may be deemed rare or extinct;
the mineral productions of every kind; but more particularly metals, limestone, pit coal, & saltpetre; salines & mineral waters, noting the temperature of the last, & such circumstances as may indicate their character;
volcanic appearances;
climate, as characterised by the thermometer, by the proportion of rainy, cloudy, & clear days, by lighning, hail snow, ice, by the access & recess of frost, by the winds the dates at which particular plants put forth or lose their flower, or leaf, times of appearance of particular birds, reptiles or insects.

Altho' your route will be along the channel of the Missouri, yet you will endeavor to inform yourself, by enquiry, of the character & extent of the country watered by it's branches, & especially on it's Southern side. The North river or Rio Bravo which runs into the gulph of Mexico, and the North river, or Rio colorado which runs into the gulph of California, are understood to be the principal streams head ing opposite to the waters of the Missouri, and running Southwardly, Whether the dividing grounds between the Missouri & them are mountains or flat lands, what are their distance from the Missouri, the character of the intermediate country, &the people inhabiting it, are worthy of particular enquiry. The Northern waters of the Missouri are less to be enquired after, becau e they have been ascertained to aconsiderable degree, & are still in a course ascertainment by English traders, and travellers. But if you can learn any thing certain of the most Northern source of the Missisipi, & the lake of the Woods, it will be interesting to us

<Two copies of Your notes at least & as many more as leisure will admit, should be made & confided to the care of the most trusty individuals of your attendants> Some account too of the path of the Canadian traders from the Missisipi, at the mouth of the Ouisconsing to where is strikes the Missouri, & of the soil and rivers in it's course, is desireable.

In all your intercourse with the natives, treat them in the friendly & conciliatory manner which their own conduct will admit; allay all jealousies as to the object of your journey, satisfy them of it's innocence, make them acquainted with the position, extent, character , peaceable & commercial dispositions of the U.S.[,] of our wish to be neighborly, friendly & useful to them, & of our dispositions to a commercial intercourse with them; confer with them on the points most convenient as mutual emporiums, and the articles of most desireable interchange for them & us. If a few of their influential chiefs, within practicable distance, wish to visit us, arrange such a visit with them, and furnish them with authority to call on our officers, on their en tering the U.S. to have them conveyed to this place at the public expence. If any of them should wish to have some of their young people brought up with us, 8c taught such arts as may be useful to them, we will receive, instruct & take care of them. Such a mission whether of influential chiefs or of young people, would give some security to your own party. Carry with you some matter of the kinepox; inform those of them with whom you may be, of it's efficacy as a preservative from the smallpox; & instruct & encourage them in the use of it. This may be especially done wherever you winter.

As it is impossible for us to foresee in what manner you will be recieved by those people, whether with hospitality or hostility, so is it impossible to prescribe the exact degree of perseverance with which you are to pursue your journey. We value too much the lives of citizens to offer them to probable destruction. Your numbers will be sufficient to secure you against the unauthorised opposition of individuals or of small parties: but if a superior force, authorised, or not authorised by a nation, should be arrayed against your further passage, and inflexibly determined to arrest it, you must decline it's farther pursuit, and return. In the loss of yourselves, we should lose also the information you will have acquired. By returning safely with that, you may enable us to renew the essay with better calculated means. To your own discretion therefore must be left the degree of danger you may risk, and the point at which you should decline, only saying we wish to err on the side of your safety, and to bring back your party conveyance safe even if it be with less information.

As far up the Missouri as the white settlements extend, an intercourse will probably be found to exist between them & the Spanish posts of St. Louis opposite Cahokia, or Ste. Genevieve opposite Kaskaskia.. From still further up the river, the traders may furnish a conveyance for letters. Beyond that, you may perhaps be able to engage Indians to bring letters for the government to Cahokia or Kaskaskia, on promising that they shall there recieve such such special compensation as you shall have stipulated with them. Avail yourself of these means to communicate to us, at seasonable intervals, a copy of your journal, notes & observations, of every kind, putting into cypher whatever might do injury if betrayed.

Should you reach the Pacific ocean inform yourself of the circumstances which may decide whether the furs of those parts may not be collected as advantageously at the head of the Missouri (convenient as is supposed to the waters of the Colorado & Oregan or Columbia) as at Nootka sound, or any other point of that coast; and that trade be consequently conducted through the Missouri & U.S. more beneficially than by the circumnavigation now practised.

On your arrival on that coast endeavor to learn if there be any port within your reach frequented by the sea-vessels of any nation, & to send two of your trusty people back by sea, in such way as <they shall judge> shall appear practicable, with a copy of your notes: and should you be of opinion that the return of your party by the way they went will be eminently dangerous, then ship the whole, & return by sea, by the way either of cape Horn, or the cape of good Hope, as you shall be able. As you will be without money, clothes or provisions, you must endeavor to use the credit of the U.S. to obtain them, for which purpose open letters of credit shall be furnished you, authorismg you to draw upon the Executive of the U.S. or any of it's officers, in any part of the world, on which draughts can be disposed of, & to apply with our recommendations to the Consuls, agents, merchants, or citizens of any nation with which we have intercourse, assuring them, in our name, that any aids they may furnish you, shall be honorably repaid, and on demand. Our consuls Thomas Hewes at Batavia in Java, Wm. Buchanan in the Isles of France & Bourbon & John Elmslie at the Cape of good Hope will be able to supply your necessities by draughts on us.

Should you find it safe to return by the way you go, after sending two your party round by sea, or with your whole party, if no conveyance by sea can be found, do so; making such observations on your return, as may serve to supply, correct or confirm those made on your outward journey.

On re-entering the U.S. and reaching a place of safety, discharge any your attendants who may desire & deserve it, procuring for them immediate paiment of all arrears of pay & cloathing which may have incurred since their departure, and assure them that they shall be
recommended to the liberality of the legislature for the grant of a souldier's portion of land each, as proposed in my message to Congress: & repair yourself with your papers to the seat of government <to which I have only to add my sincere Prayer for your safe return>.

To provide, on the accident of your death, against anarchy, dispersion, & the consequent danger to your party and total failure of the enterprise, you are hereby authorised, by any instrument signed & written in your own hand, to name the person among them who shall succeed to the command on your decease, and by like instruments to change the nomination from time to time as further experience of the characters accompanying you shall point out superior fitness: and all the powers and authorities given to yourself are, in the event of your death, transferred to, & vested in the successor so named, with further power to him, and his successors in like manner to name each his successor, who, on the death of his predecessor, shall be invested with all the powers & authorities given to yourself.

Given under my hand at the city of Washington this 20th day of June 1803-
TH: J. Pr. U.S. of A.

A Roster of the Lewis & Clark Expedition

The Captains of the expedition, and particularly Clark, were unconcerned about spelling the names of their men correctly, and, others tried to join in the notoriety, thus a true roster can never be learned.

LEWIS, Capt. Meriwether: B 18 Aug 1774 near Charlottsville, VA; parents Wm & Lucy (Meriwether) Lewis. D 11 oct 1809; Welsh ancestry.

CLARK, 2nd Lt. William: B 1 aug 1770 near Charlottsville, VA; m lst Julia HANDCOCK, 4 sons, 1 dau. M 2nd Harriet KENNERLY, 2 sons. D 1 Sep 1838. Scottish Ancestry.

BRATREN See BRATTON

BRATTON, Pvt. William: B 1778 Augusta Co, VA of Irish parents; a blacksmith & gunsmith; m in 1819; 8 sons & 2 daus. D 1841 in Waynestown, IN.

CANE See CARSON

CANN See CARSON

CARR See CARSON

CARRN See CARSON

CARSON, Pvt. Alexander: B ca 1775 poss. MS; son of Alexander & bro. of L@y, father
of 'Kit' CARSON: Grandparents were Wm & Eleanor (MCDUFF, MCDORF) Carson -in PA 1725 & NC 1760; d 1836.

CAUGEE, Pvt. Charles: Listed by Clark as one of the engagees.

COALTER See COLTER

COLLINS, Pvt. John: From Frederick Co, MD; served as cook. D by 1825-28.

COLTER, Pvt. John: B ca 1775 VA; farmed with Indian wife 'Sallie" 1811 to 1813.

CROUZATT See CRUZATTE

CRUSAT See CRUZATTE

CRUSATTEE See CRUZATTE

CRUZATTE, Pvt. Pierre: 1/2 French 1/2 Omaha Indian; good boatman, waterman & vio@; interpreter for Clark. Killed 1825-28.

DAME, Pvt. John: B 1784 Pallingham, NH; mentioned in journals, he killed a pelican enroute to Mandans.

DECHANTS, Pvt. Baptiste: Was a 'patron' or head-water-inan.

DESCHAWS See DECHA@

DROUILLARD, Pvt. George: B Canada, 1/2 French & 1/2 Shawnee. Son of Pierre Drouillard of Detroit. Interpreter for the expedition. Killed in 1810 by the Blackfeet.

FIELDS, Pvt. Joseph: Poss. b KY; woodsman; received military land grant, Franklin, Mo.

FIELDS, Pvt. Ruben: Bro. to Joseph; excellent runner & woodsman. D in KY.

FLOYD, Sgt. Charles: B 1772 KY, son of Chas. Floyd, Sr. D 20 Aug 1804 near Omaha, NB (Only death to occur on the expedition.)

FRASURE See FRAZIER


FRAZIER, Pvt. Robert: Former fencing master, in Bratleborough, VT in 1834.
&FRAZURE See FRAZIER

GASS, Sgt. Patrick: B 12 Jun 1771, Falling Springs, PA m (age 60) to 'dau of a judge; had 7 children. D 1 Apr 1870--99 years of age. Last survivor of the expedition.

GOODRICH, Pvt. Silas B in MA; fisherman for the expedition. D by 1825.

GURRIDGE See GOODRICH

GUTTERAGE See GOODRICH

HALL, Pvt. Hugh B ca 1772 Carlisle, PA.

HEBERT, Pvt. Charles: Poss. son of Joseph HEBERT, a trader on the Mssouri River.

HOWARD, Pvt. Thomas Proctor: B 1779 Brimfield, MA; m Genevive ROY, had son in St. Louis.

LA BARTER See LA BARTEE

LA BARTEE, Pvt. Joseph: Deserted the expedition. Poss. lived at Fort Gage, Canada among the Otoes.

LA BIRCHE, Pvt. Francois (or William): 1/2 French 1/2 Omaha; interpreter & boatman; lived St. Louis area in 1825-28.

LA LEEBERTE See LA BARTEE

LABIECHE See LA BIRCFM

LABUCHE See LA BIRCHE

LAGUNESS See LAJUNESSE

LAJUNESSE, Pvt. Jean Baptist: Of St. Rose, Quebec, m in St. Louis 1797; only man in party to be married. Son Basil, accompanied Fremont on lst/2nd expeditions in 1842-43.

MABBAUF See MALBOEUF

MALBOEUF, Pvt. Etianna: Enlisted from Kaskasia.

MCNEAL, Pvt. Hugh B in PA; in infantry 1811.

NEEL See MCNEAL

NEIL See MCNEAL

NEWMAN, Pvt. John B PA son of Walter N. & Catherine (ZIMMERMAN); m Jul 1832
Olympia DUBREUIL dau. of Antoine & Eliz. (PARAN). Killed by Sioux in 1838.

O'NALL See MCNEAL

ORDWAY, Sgt. John: B ca 1775, Dunbarton, NH. D childless in MO ca 1817.

POTTS, Pvt. John B ca 1776 Dillenburg, Germany. Killed by Blackfeet in 1810.

PRIMAUT See PRINEAU

PRIMEAU, Pvt. Paul: M Pelagie BISSONET, sons Joseph, Emilien & Charles; Joseph killed by Indians 1 Feb 1863; Charles had trading post at Ft. Clark 1845-46.

PRYOR, Sgt. Nathaniel: B An-thurst Co, VA; lvd. in OK, m an Osage girl. D 10 June 1831.

READ See REED

REED,. Pvt. Moses B. Poss. alias for John BOLEYE who deserted but was returned in 1805.

REEVEY See RIVET

REVEY See RIVET

RIVEE See RIVET

RIVES See RIVET

RIVET, Pvt. Francois: B near Montreal in 1757; interpreter; later was with Hudson's Bay Company. D in OR 15 Sep 1852, age 96.

ROBERTSON, Pvt. John: B ca 1780; a shoemaker; dismissed 1 month after party began.

ROBINSON See ROBERTSON

ROI, Pvt. Peter: French-Canadian; was on Platt River by 1814.

ROY See ROI

SHANNON, Pvt. George: B 1785 PA; Protestant-Irish. Often got lost but found way back to the expedition.

SHIELDS, Pvt. John: B in KY; gunsmith, blacksmith & boat builder for party. Poss. m Rhoda BOWMAN in 1808.

THOMPSON, John B.: Once surveyor of Vincennes, IN; cooked for the expedition.

TUTTLE, Pvt. Ebenezer: B 1774 New Haven, CT.

WARBINGTON See WARFINGTON

WARFINGTON, Corp. Richard: B 1777 Louisberg, NC; in charge of return detachment in 1805.

WARVINGTON See WARFINGTON

WEISER See WISER

WERNER, Pvt. William: Poss. b KY; Indian Agent for Clark; in VA 1828.

WHITE, Pvt. Isaac: B 1777 Holliston, MA

WHITEHOUSE, Pvt. Joseph: B in Fairfax Co, VA; a good tailor.

WILLARD, Pvt. Alexander: B 1777 Charlestown, NH; gunsmith & blacksmith; m Eleanor MACDONALD, 7 sons & 5 daus. Emigrated to CA by covered wagon. D 6 Mar 1865 near Sacramento, CA.

WINDSOR, Pvt. Richard: B & enlisted from KY, lvd. on Sagamon River, IL in 1829.

WINSER See WINDSOR

WINSOR See WINDSOR

WISER, Pvt. Peter: Poss. desc. of Conrad WISER; killed before 1829.

WORTHING'FON See WARFINGTON

YORK: Willed to Clark by his father, 24 Jul 1799; son of 'Old York' & 'Rosa', slaves.

PICS: M0 | KA-NE | SD-ND

URLS: Show4 Rendevous | Gen Text/Img Ref

TEXTS: LA Purchase | Jeff to Lewis | Corps Roster