In Washington City, Thomas Jefferson receives the news that France wishes to sell their entire Louisiana colony. Unknown to anyone in the United States, the purchase treaty has also been signed in Paris. In Philadelphia, Meriwether Lewis has a painted chest made to hold his scientific instruments.
French Louisiana, 1800–1803
This is roughly the shape of the Louisiana that Jefferson thought he had bought. As large as the portion west of the Mississippi appears, it was the long dog-leg of land east of that line, reaching into the northeast quarter of today’s state of Florida, that was of far greater concern to him, and to the many Americans who had already moved west of the Allegheny Mountains by the end of the 18th Century.
Louisiana Offer
On 11 April 1803, Napoleon decided to rid France of the entire Louisiana colony. Three days later, French Minister of Finance, Barbé de Marbois, offered to sell that colony for approximately 125 million francs. Livingston immediately wrote a letter that reached Thomas Jefferson on this day.
Paris 14. April 1803
Dear Sir
When I cast my eye upon the Map, and consider the vast and rich Country that lays before us, when I look forward one hundred years & see that Country improved & settled by Millions who will either be ranged in hostile array against us, or enlisted under our banners as we now decide. I think the weal, or woe of our Country lays in our hands, & depends upon the determination of a moment—
The reflection contained in Mr. Ross’es speach on the subject of the distribution of two millions of dollars in bribes has been much noticed here. . . .
Believe me to be Dear Sir with the highest Respect & Esteem your Obt. Hube Sert
Robt R Livingston[1]Robert R. Livingston to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0146 accessed 7 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas … Continue reading
Storage Chest
Among the many documents surviving from Lewis’s Philadelphia purchases is this receipt from carpenter William Broome:
1803 Jin 9 Mr. Wheelin To Wm. Broome To a painted Chest with [. . .] handles &c Compt. for Carying Instruments & packing up do. $8.00 $8.00[2]“Supplies from Private Vendors,” in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), … Continue reading
Notes
| ↑1 | Robert R. Livingston to Thomas Jefferson, Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-40-02-0146 accessed 7 June 2022. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 40, 4 March–10 July 1803, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 198–203.] |
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| ↑2 | “Supplies from Private Vendors,” in Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents: 1783-1854, 2nd ed., ed. Donald Jackson (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), 90. |
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The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
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- 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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Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).