After the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, Antoine Soulard was retained as its Surveyor General. By 1806, Secretary of State Albert Gallatin wanted possession of his Archive of Surveys. To get them, he replaced Soulard with Silas Bent who shortly after his arrival in St. Louis penned a letter claiming systematic corruption.
Silas Bent Residence
By Clarence Hoblitzelle (1897) (cropped and colorized)
Courtesy Missouri Historical Society, identifier N33459, mohistory.org/collections/item/N33459, accessed 28 December 2025.
Silas Bent arrived in St. Louis 17 September 1806 and remained there until his death 20 November 1827, aged 59. Four of his sons were key in the establishment of Bent’s Old Fort in southeastern Colorado where Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition worked for several years. Bent’s residence overlooked the Mississippi River at the foot of a road named for his daughter—present Dorcas Street. Some sources say the house was built 1790 which pre-dates his arrival in St. Louis.
Land Grant Complications
St. Louis 28th Septr. 1806
J. Mansfield Esqr. Surveyor General
Sir Nothing relative to my Official duties has taken place since I wrote You—Judge Lucas wishes resurveys made and a general investigation, but the other Commissioners pass the Business over—there has evidently been a System formed to defraud the United States out of a Portion of their best Land in this Territory and which is every day developing itself—I have it not in my power from circumstances which I stated in my last Letter to make out any regular Statement of the part of the Records in my possession—
. . . . Captains Clark and Lewis arrived at this place on the 23rd have been to the Pacific Ocean and have fully accomplished the Object of their Tower. all parties have joined here in expressing their high sence of the great merit of these Gentlemen—
As far as I have seen Louisiana I like it very well—I am Dear Sir, with great respect Your Obedt Sert
Silas Bent[1]Clarence E. Carter, The Territorial Papers of the United States (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1949), 14:12–13, digitized by Google books.
Notes
| ↑1 | Clarence E. Carter, The Territorial Papers of the United States (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1949), 14:12–13, digitized by Google books. |
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| ↑2 | For more see Steven E. Weible, It was not Quick and it was not Simple: The Saga of Private Land Claims in Missouri, missourisurveyor.org/images/1185/document/itwasnotquick-ed1_671.pdf, accessed 16 Dec 2025. |
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Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
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