The territorial government was organized with a legislature, a legislative council, with William Blount as their first governor. Knoxville was made the seat of government. A fort was erected to intimidate the Indians, by the United States, in the Indian country, on the site of Kingston. From this period until the final overthrow of the northwestern Indians by Wayne, this territory suffered from the hostilities of the Creeks and Cherokees, who were secretly supplied with arms and ammunition by the Spanish agents, with the hope that they would exterminate the Cumberland settlements. In 1795 the territory contained a population of seventy-seven thousand two hundred and sixty-two, of whom about ten thousand were slaves. On the first of June, 1796, it was admitted into the Union as the State of Tennessee.

By the treaty of October 27, 1795, with Spain, the old sore, the right of navigating the Mississippi, was closed, that power ceding to the United States the right of free navigation.

The Territory of Mississippi was organized in 1798, and Winthrop Sargeant appointed governor. By the ordinance of 1787, the people of the Northwest Territory were entitled to elect representatives to a territorial legislature whenever it contained five thousand males of full age. Before the close of the year 1798, the territory had this number, and members to a territorial legislature were soon after chosen. In the year 1799 William H. Harrison was chosen the first delegate to Congress from the Northwest Territory. In 1800 the Territory of Indiana was formed, and the next year William H. Harrison appointed governor. This territory comprised the present States of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, which vast country then had less than six thousand whites, and those mainly of French origin. On the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed an act authorizing a convention to form a constitution for Ohio. This convention met at Chillicothe in the succeeding November; and on the 29th of that month a constitution of state government was ratified and signed, by which act Ohio became one of the states of the Federal Union. In October, 1802, the whole western country was thrown into a ferment by the suspension of the American right of depositing goods and produce at New Orleans, guaranteed by the treaty of 1795 with Spain. The whole commerce of the west was struck at in a vital point, and the treaty evidently violated. On the 25th of February, 1803, the port was opened to provisions, on paying a duty, and in April following, by orders of the King of Spain, the right of deposit was restored.

We have seen that Louisiana was ceded to Spain in 1763, and by a secret article in the treaty of St. Ildefonso, concluded in 1800, that power ceded it back to France. Napoleon, however, wished to keep this cession secret until he should have. as he hoped to do-reduced St. Domingo to submission. Failing in this, he was rendered indifferent to his new acquisition. In January, 1803, he sent out Laussat as prefect of the colony, which was the first intimation that the inhabitants had of the transfer, which gave them great joy.

On being informed of this retrocession, President Jefferson had dispatched instructions to Robert Livingston, the American minister at

Paris, to represent to the First Consul that the occupation of New Orleans by France would endanger the friendly relations between the two nations, and, perhaps, even oblige the United States to make common cause with England; as the possession of this city by the former, by giving her the command of the Mississippi, the only outlet to the produce of the Western States, and also of the Gulf of Mexico, so important to American commerce, would render it almost certain that the conflicting interests of the two nations would lead to an open rupture. Mr. Livingston was, therefore, instructed not only to insist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the acquisition of New Orleans itself and the surrounding territory; and Mr. Monroe was appointed with full powers to assist him in the negotiation.

Bonaparte, who always acted promptly, soon came to the conclusion that what he could not defend, he had better dispose of on the best terms; but before deciding, he summoned two of his ministers in council, on the 10th of April, 1803, and thus addressed them:

"I am fully sensible of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish to repair the error of the French diplomatists who abandoned it in 1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it; but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those who force me to part with it than to those to whom I yield it. The English have despoiled France of all her northern possessions in America, and now they covet those of the south. I am determined that they shall not have the Mississippi. Although Louisiana is but a trifle compared to their vast possessions in other parts of the globe, yet, judging from the vexation they have manifested on seeing it return to the power of France, I am certain that their first object will be to gain possession of it. They will probably commence the war in that quarter. They have twenty vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, and our affairs in St. Domingo are daily getting worse since the death of Le Clerc. The conquest of Louisiana might be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. I am not sure but what they have already begun an attack upon it. Such a measure would be in accordance with their habits; and in their place, I should not wait. I am inclined, in order to deprive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the United States. Indeed, I can hardly say that I cede it, for I do not yet possess it; and if I wait but a short time, my enemies may leave me nothing but an empty title to grant to the Republic I wish to conciliate. They only ask for one city of Louisiana, but I consider the whole colony as lost; and I believe that in the hands of this rising power it will be more useful to the political, and even the commercial interests of France, than if I should attempt to retain it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject."

One of the ministers, Barbe Marbois, fully approved of the cession, but the other opposed it. They debated the matter for a long time, and Bonaparte concluded the conference without making his determination known. The next day, however, he sent for Marbois, and said to him:

"The season for deliberation is over: I have determined to renounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New Orleans, but the whole colony,

without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louisiana I have sufficiently proved, as the object of my first treaty with Spain was to recover

But though I regret parting with it, I am conviuced it would be folly to persist in trying to keep it. I commission you, therefore, to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do not wait the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this very day and confer with Mr. Livingston. Remember, however, that I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to commence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain have incurred great expense in the improvement of Louisiana, for which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been advanced to different companies, which have never returned to the treasury. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. Were I to regulate my demands by the importance of this territory to the United States, they would be unbounded; but, being obliged to part with it, I shall be moderate in my terms. Still, remember, I must have fifty millions of francs, and I will not consent to take less. I would rather make some desperate effort to preserve this fine country."

The negotiations commenced that very day. Mr. Monroe arrived at Paris on the 12th of April, and the two representatives of the United States, after holding a private conference, announced that they were ready to treat for the cession of the entire territory, which at first Mr. Livingston had hesitated to do, believing the proposal of the First Consul to be only a device to gain time.

On the 30th of April, 1803, the treaty was signed. The United States were to pay fifteen million of dollars for their new acquisition, and be indemnified for some illegal captures; while it was agreed that the vessels and merchandise of France and Spain should be admitted into all the ports of Louisiana free of duty for twelve years.

Bonaparte stipulated in favor of Louisiana that it should as soon as possible be incorporated into the Union, and that its inhabitants should enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities as other citizens of the United States; and the third article of the treaty, securing to them these benefits, was drawn up by the First Consul himself, who presented it to the plenipotentiaries with these words:

"Make it known to the people of Louisiana, that we regret to part with them; that we have stipulated for all the advantages they could desire; and that France, in giving them up, has insured to them the greatest of all. They could never have prospered under any European government as they will when they become independent. But, while they enjoy the privileges of liberty, let them ever remember that they are French, and preserve for their mother country that affection which a common origin inspires."

The completion of this important transaction gave equal satisfaction to both parties. "I consider," said Livingston, "that from this day the United States takes rank with the first powers of Europe, and now she has entirely escaped from the power of England; and Bonaparte expressed a similar sentiment in these words: "By this cession of territory, I have secured the power of the United States, and given to England a maritime rival, who at some future time will humble her pride."

These words appeared prophetic when the troops of Britain, a few years after, met so signal an overthrow on the plains of Louisiana.

The boundaries of the colony had never been clearly defined, and one of Bonaparte's ministers drew his attention to this obscurity. "No matter," said he, "if there was no uncertainty, it would, perhaps, be good policy to leave some;" and, in fact, the Americans, interpreting to their own advantage this uncertainty, some few years after seized upon the extensive territory of Baton Rogue, which was in dispute between them and the Spaniards.

On the 30th of November, 1803, Laussat took possession of the country, when Casa Calvo and Salsedo, the Spanish commissioners, presented to him the keys of the city, over which the tri-colored flag floated but for the short space of twenty days. The colony had been under the rule of Spain for a little more than thirty-four years.

On the 20th of December, in the same year, Generals Wilkinson and Claiborne, who were jointly commissioned to take possession of the country for the United States, made their entry into New Orleans at the head of the American troops. Laussat gave up his command, and the star-spangled banner supplanted the tri-colored flag of France.

The purchase of Louisiana, which gave the United States their sole claim to the vast territory west of the Mississippi, extending on the north through Oregon to the Pacific, and further south to the Mexican dominions, was the most important event to the nation which has occurred in this century. From that moment, the interests of the whole people of the Mississippi Valley became as one, and its vast natural resources began to be rapidly developed. So great are they, that it is destined to become the center of American power-"the mistress of the world."

On the 11th of January, 1805, Congress established the Territory of Michigan, and appointed William Hull governor. This same year Detroit was destroyed by fire. The town occupied only about two acres, completely covered with buildings and combustible materials, excepting the narrow intervals of fourteen or fifteen feet used as streets or lanes, and the whole was environed with a very strong and secure defense of tall and solid pickets.

At this period, the conspiracy of Aaron Burr began to agitate the western country. In December, 1806, a fleet of boats, with arms, provisions, and ammunition, belonging to the confederates of Burr, was seized upon the Muskingum, by agents of the United States, which proved a fatal blow to the project. In 1809 the Territory of Illinois was formed from the western part of the Indiana Territory, and named from the powerful tribe which once had occupied its soil.

The Indians, who, since the treaty of Greenville, had been at peace, about the year 1810 began to commit aggressions upon the inhabitants of the west under the leadership of Tecumseh. The next year they were defeated by General Harrison, at the battle of Tippecanoe, in Indiana. This year was also distinguished by the voyage from Pittsburgh to New Orleans of the steamboat "New Orleans," the first steamer ever launched upon the western waters.

44

In June, 1812, the United States declared war against Great Britain. Of this war the west was the principal theatre. Its opening scenes were as gloomy and disastrous to the American arms as its close was brilliant and triumphant.

At the close of the war the population of the Territories of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan was less than fifty thousand. But from that time onward the tide of emigration again went forward with unprecedented rapidity. On the 19th of April, 1816, Indiana was admitted into the Union, and Illinois on the 3d of December, 1818. The remainder of the Northwest Territory, as then organized, was included in the Territory of Michigan, of which that section west of Lake Michigan bore the name of the Huron District. This part of the west increased so slowly that, by the census of 1830, the Territory of Michigan contained, exclusive of the Huron District, but twenty-eight thousand souls, while that had only a population of three thousand six hundred and forty. Emigration began to set in more strongly to the Territory of Michigan in consequence of steam navigation having been successfully introduced upon the great lakes of the west. The first steamboat upon these immense inland seas was the "Walk-in-the-Water," which, in 1819, went as far as Mackinaw; yet it was not until 1826 that a steamer rode the waters of Lake Michigan, and six years more had elapsed ere one had penetrated as far as Chicago.

The year 1832 was signalized by three important events in the history of the west, viz: the first appearance of the Asiatic cholera, the great flood in the Ohio, and the war with Black Hawk.

The west has suffered serious drawbacks in its progress from inefficient systems of banking. One bank frequently was made the basis of another, and that of a third, and so on throughout the country. Some three or four shrewd agents or directors, in establishing a bank, would collect a few thousand in specie, that had been honestly paid in, and then make up the remainder of the capital with the bills or stock from some Beighboring bank. Thus, so intimate was the connection of each bank with others, that, when one or two gave way, they all went down together in one common ruin.

In 1804, the year succeeding the purchase of Louisiana, Congress formed from part of it the "Territory of Orleans," which was admitted into the Union in 1812, as the State of Louisiana. In 1805, after the Territory of Orleans was erected, the remaining part of the purchase from the French was formed into the Territory of Louisiana, of which the old French town of St. Louis was the capital. This town, the oldest in the territory, had been founded in 1764, by M. Laclede, agent for a trading association, to whom had been given, by the French government of Louisiana, a monopoly of the commerce in furs and peltries with the Indian tribes of the Missouri and Upper Mississippi. The population of the territory in 1805 was trifling, and consisted mainly of French Creoles and traders, who were scattered along the banks of the Mississippi and the Arkansas. Upon the admission of Louisiana as a state, the name of the Territory of Louisiana was changed to that of Missouri. From the southern part of this, in 1819, was erected the