F 369 .U58 1912 Copy 1 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GENERAL LAND OFFICE HISTORICAL SKETCH OP "LOUISIANA" AND THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE BY FRANK BOND Chief Clerk General Land Office WITH A STATEMENT OF OTHER ACQUISITIONS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1912 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR US, GENERAL LAND OFFICE HISTORICAL SKETCH OF "LOUISIANA" AND THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE BY ' FRANK BOND Chief Clerk General Land Office WITH A STATEMENT OF OTHER ACQUISITIONS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1912 5^ D3 This publication may be purcliased from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C, for 10 cents. 2 LOUISIANA PURCHASE PROGRESS MAPS OF THE UNITED STATES. INTRODirCTION. A series of five maps of the United States showing the original Lou- isiana and the changes in its boundary during the 137 years between 1682, the date of La Salle's discovery, and 1819, the date of the purchase of Florida, formed an interesting part of the exliibit of the General Land Office at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held at St. Louis, Mo., in 1904. Difi'erences of opinion have prevailed as to the extent of Louisiana as purchased from France. It is believed that these are due, first, to a misconception of the scope of La Salle's discovery and proclamation, and, second, to a misunderstanding of the real significance of the political acts of the United States, between 1803 and 1819, affecting that part of La Salle's Louisiana wliich extended along the Gulf coast east of the Mississippi River. It is submitted, as to the former, that the "Louisiana Purchase" of 1803 did not include territory beyond the limits of the original Louisiana, and, as to the latter, that all Spanish doubts as to ownership were resolved and permanently settled by the political acts of the United States following the purchase from France, but antedating the purchase of Florida from Spain. It is believed, also, that a true picture of the extent and location of La Salle's Louisiana is shown upon map No. 1. This picture greatly assists one to understand the phrase "the whole of Louisiana" which was used in subsequent treaties of cession. In the brief discussion of each map which follows no effort has been made to harmonize the conflicting views held and heretofore published by numerous writers upon the subject of Louisiana or the "Louisiana Purchase." These views are as diverse as their author- ship is numerous. This is not surprising when it is understood that the common effort has been aimed at solving the questions of terri- torial limits of Louisiana, as this province passed from one State to another, without first attempting to fix the original limits of the territory thus transferred. To this fact, probably, more than any other, may the failure to reach a common conclusion be attributed. 43005°— 12 3 4 LOUISIANA PURCHASE PKOGEESS MAPS. TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA, 1682-1762 (MAP NO. 1). The greater colored area shown upon this map is based upon the discoveries of La Salle and his proclamation made at the mouth of the Mississippi River on April 9, 1682. This proclamation was made in the presence of the entire party, under arms, who chanted the Te Deum, the Exaudiat, and the Domine salvum fac Regem. After a salute of fii-earms and cries of ''Vive le Roi," La Salle erected a col- umn, and while standing near it said in a loud voice : In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and victorious prince, Louis the Great, by the grace of God, King of France and of Navarre, fourteenth of that name, this ninth day of April, one thousand six hundred and eighty-two, I, in virtue of the commission of His Majesty which I hold in my hand, and which may be seen by all whom it may concern, have taken, and do now take, in the name of His Majesty and of his successors to the crown, possession of this country of Louisiana, the seas, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits, and all the nations, people, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams, and rivers comprised in the extent of said Louisiana, from the mouth of the great river St. Louis on the eastern side, otherwise called Ohio, Aligin, Sipore, or Chukagona, and this with the consent of the Chaonanons, Chickachas, and other people dwelling therein, with whom we have made alliance; as also along the river Colbert, or Mississippii, and rivers which discharge themselves therein, from its source, beyond the country of the Kious or Nadoucessions, and this with their consent, and with the consent of the Motantes, Illinois, Mesiganeas, Natches, Koroas, which are the most considerable nations dwelling therein, with whom also we have made alliance, either by ourselves or by others in our behalf, as far as its mouth by the sea, or Gulf of Mexico, about the twenty-seventh degree of the elevation of the North Pole and also to the mouth of the river of Palms; upon the assiu-ance which we have received from all these nations that we are the first Europeans who have descended or ascended the said river Colbert; hereby protesting against all who may in futiu-e undertake to invade any or all of these countries, people, or lands, above described, to the prejudice of the rights of His Majesty, acquired by the consent of the nations herein named. Of which, and all that can be needed, I hereby take to witness those who hear me and demand an act of the notary as required by law.' Title to French territory in the Mississippi Valley and along the Gulf of Mexico was based upon this voyage and proclamation of La Salle. These acts of La Salle were, in fact, the foundation of French ownership, and have been so considered by all nations since 1682. The Louisiana thus claimed embraced two areas of contigu- ous territory — first, the territory drained by the Mississippi River, with all of its tributaries, and second, the territory between the Mississippi River and the River Palms. The wording of the proc- lamation is simple and direct, and its meaning seems incapable of distortion or of being misunderstood. It appears evident that La Salle had no information of territory beyond the sources of the jVlis- 1 This translation of La Salle's proclamation is taken from Spark's Life of La Salle, published at Boston, Mass., 1844. Francis Parkman's translation of the proclamation, in his "Discovery of the Great West," 1869 (Boston: Little, Brown & Co.), agrees with the above, except that he omitted the names of the treaty- tribes, but refers to such omissions in a footnote, pp. 282, 283, and says: " A copy of the original of the Proces Verbal (the proclamation) is before me. It bears the name of Jacques de la Metairie, notary of Frontenac, who was one of the party." Translations, in whole or in part, of the proclamation of La Salle, by numerous other authors have been examined by the writer, but in no essential particular did any of these transla- tions differ from those of Sparks or Parkman quoted or referred to above. LOUISIANA PURCHASE PROGEESS MAPS. 5 sissippi River and it tributaries to the west, or, if he knew of such territory, he purposely excluded any claim to it for France. The western boundary of the original Louisiana is therefore traced along the summit of the watershed which defines the drainage basin of the Mississippi in that region, viz, around the headwaters both of the Red River and the Arkansas with their tributaries, and the ^yiissoiu-i River with all of its great tributaries from the west and southwest to the present northern United States boundary. In the effort made to locate the w^estern boundary of La Salle's Louisiana many untenable claims have been put forth by geographers. In one of those claims the province was carried far bej^ond the drainage basin of the j\Iississippi River ; in fact, across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast in the Northwest. In another, it is assumed that because France at one time claimed the Gulf coast to St. Bernard (now Matagorda) Bay, by reason of La Salle's later discoveries, this territory should be added to the original Louisiana. A third, while rejecting the Pacific coast extension, selected the Rio Grande as the southwestern boundary, but, lacking in corn-age of conviction, pub- lished maps restricting the limits on the west by the Spanish- American compromise line of 1819. The great majority of geographers now reject the Pacific coast extension, but there remains a disposition to include the Rio Grande country. A careful study of available his- torical data reveals claims of France at one time extending only to the divide between the Colorado River and the Rio Grande at another time to the Rio Grande itself and mth spiritual jurisdiction to the Pacific coast. In the negotiations with France for the purchase of Louisiana, Napoleon, Talleyrand, and Marbois admitted great obscurity as to boundaries and declared their inability to throw any light upon the subject. The negotiations incident to the treaty of 1819 and the maps showing the claims of the United States and Spain at the time seem to show that, for diplomatic reasons probably, the United States claimed the territory to the Rio Grande. Spain declared this claim preposterous and fixed the equally absm'd ninety- third degree of longitude as her eastern and our western limit. While the compromise line was not agreed to as fixing the western limits of the Louisiana piu-chase from France by the United States, but rather as definitely establishing a boundary between Spanish and American territory west of the Mississippi River, it is perhaps significant that in its beginning east of the Texas territory in ciuestion, and in its course north^yesterly to the forty-second parallel, this boundary approximated the location of the true Louisiana boundary of La Salle. It is believed the claim for the Rio Grande limit is untenable, for the several reasons that the southern Texas country was a later discovery, and the reasons offered for its union with Louisiana are unconvincing and insufficient; its area was indefinite and its boundaries unknown; 6 LOUISIANA PUECHASE PROGEESS MAPS. it was never made a part of La Salle's Louisiana; doubt as to Amer- ican title was strong enough to insure a ready acceptance of the con- tention of Spain as to her ownership of this portion of the Gulf coast in 1819, and this acceptance was in marked contrast to the vigorous policy pm'sued in the Perdido River boundary contention, where American ownership by virtue of the ''purchase" was declared and maintained by the Government of the United States. On the other hand, there is room for but one interpretation of the limits of "Louisiana" as proclaimed by La Salle. It is the line defining the drainage basin of the Mississippi River on the west, and this line is therefore adopted as the "Louisiana Purchase" boundary through the present State of Texas. No available fact warrants the acceptance of the Spanish- American boundary of 1819, established 16 years after the purchase of Louisiana, as the boundary of this territory. It has been held that the Province of Louisiana as proclaimed by La Salle should be enlarged on the north by the addition of the territory south of the forty-ninth parallel and west of the head- waters of the Mississippi River; that is to say, by the drainage basin of the Red River of the North. It is certain that tliis territory was not in La Salle's Louisiana, and it is even doubtful that it ever really belonged to France. It is universally conceded that the powers signatory to the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, in the behef that the headwaters of the Mississippi River were north of the forty-ninth parallel, intended to confirm France in the possession, not of territory beyond the Mississippi drainage, but of Mississippi Valley territory which was proclaimed "Louisiana" by La Salle 31 years before. But French ownership, even if conceded, by virtue of the treaty of Utrecht, would be unimportant, for such concession would in no degree support the contention that the Red River Basin formed a part of Louisiana. All of the French territory to the north of La Salle's Louisiana, of whatever extent east or west of the Great Lakes, was transferred to Great Britain in 1763, and no French claim to any part of it has appeared since that time. The origin of American title to the district north and west of the headwaters of the Mississippi River and south of the forty-ninth parallel may be found in the treaties between the United States and Great Britain of 1783 and 1817, the former defining territorial limits at the close of the Revolutionary War, and the latter fixing the forty- ninth parallel as the north boundary of the United States between the Lake of the Woods and the Rocky Mountains. France having parted with the district affected by these treaties long prior to their negotiation by the powers interested, was wholly indifferent to the transfers of the territory made thereby. The drainage basin of the Red River of the North is therefore excluded from the territory of Louisiana purchased from France in 1803. LOUISIANA PURCHASE PEOGRESS MAPS. 7 Referring to the extension of the south boundary of the original Louisiana territory, as sho\m on the map, appeal is again had to the proclamation of La Salle, who said, "And also to the mouth of the river Palms." This river was located with some difficulty. The first mention of it was found in a large volume belonging to the records of the Divisions of Private Lands, etc.. General Land Office, entitled "A Complete Historical, Chronological, and Geographical American Atlas, etc., pubhshed by Carey and Lea, Philadelphia, 1822." In the liistorical data descriptive of Florida was found the record of a grant in 1526 to Pamphilo de Narvaez from Charles the Fifth, ''of all the lands from Cape Florida to the river Palmos in the Gulf of Mexico." This river appears upon the map of Florida in the atlas, but it is not named. Cape Florida is shown upon all modern maps, as well as ancient publications, but appeal to maps published early in the last century" was necessary to locate Palm River. It emptied into Palm Sound, now called Sarasota Bay, and the southern extremity of Palm Island, which was also shown oii the ancient maps, is opposite the mouth of the river. This island is now called Sarasota Key. This grant of land by Spain, 156 years before La SaUe's voyage down the Mississippi, waspecuhar in that its hmits were defined in specific terms. It is here noted merely as offering a reasonable suggestion for the action of La SaUe in choosing Pahn River as the eastern limit of Louisiana on the Gulf coast. The fact of liis choice is unquestioned. Co mm ercial rights over this original Louisiana, as far as the lUinois, for a period of 10 years, were granted by Louis XIV to Antoine de Crozat, September 14, 1712, and the territory itself was ceded to Spain by treaty of November 3, 1762, the language of the treaty being, "the whole country known under the name of Louisana, together wdth New Orleans and the island on which that city stands." This was the first transfer relating to the territory of Louisiana. TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA, 1762-1800 (MAP NO. 2.) The great but partially temporary shrinkage in area of the ter- ritory of Louisiana, as shown b}- map No. 2, was caused, not by any changes in description of the territory ceded to Spam by treaty of November 3, 1762, but by the failure of France to defiver to Spain aU of the territory described in that treaty, and was also due to the cession to Great Britain, by Spain in 1763j of aU of her territory, undescribed as to boundaries, south of latitude 31° and east of the Mississippi River. Four months after the cession by France to Spain of "the whole territory known under the name of Louisiana," the representatives of France and Spain and of Great Britain and Portugal met at Paris and entered into a treaty apparently intended to fix more definitely 8 louisia:n^a pukchase peogeess maps.' tlie boundaries of their respective possessions in North America. The attitude of Spain during these negotiations was inexpHcable. At this time she was one of the greatest of the powers, and it would be idle to assume that her diplomats were unaware of the claim of France during the previous 80 years to that part of Louisiana which lay east of the Mississippi Eiver, especially when the commercial grant of Louis XIV to Crozat mth its transfer to the Mississippi Co., 28 and 32 years before, not only definitely specified this territory, but also had become a matter of wide-spread knowledge through the tremendous financial crisis and panic wliich followed the opera- tions of the later grantee. It can only be assumed that Spanish reasons of state or the exigencies of diplomacy permitted France to cede to Great Britain the territory east of the Mississippi and north of latitude 31°, which four months before she had plainly ceded to Spain. By this same treaty of February 10, 1763, Spain also ceded to Great Britain all of her territory east of the Mississippi River and south of latitude 31°, so that when the actual deHvery of Louisiana by France to Spain occurred on April 21, 1764, the territorial bounda- ries were as sho\\ai on this map. Spain's title to all of the territory south of latitude 31° at tliis time was undoubtedly good; for to her undisputed title to that part of Florida which was obtained through discovery and colonization was added the strip of original Louisiana territory between the Mississippi River and the river Palms, obtained by the treaty of November 3, 1762. This tract is left uncolored upon the map, the same as the northern portions of the ahenated Louisiana territory. TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA, 1800-1803 (MAP No. 3.) As indicated upon Map No. 3, the boundaries of the territory of Louisiana west of the Mssissippi River sufi"ered no changes between April 21, 1764, the date of delivery to Spain, and 1800, when the retrocession from Spain to France by the secret treaty of San Ilde- fonso occurred. Attention is directed to the colored area of the map over that part of the original Louisiana as proclaimed by La Salle, which lies south of latitude 31° and east of the Mississippi River. Twenty years after the treaty of Paris of February 10, 1763, in the settlement of boundaries at the close of the Revolutionary War, the LTnited States took over from Great Britain all that part of the original Louisiana ceded to the latter by France in 1763, viz, the territory of Louisiana east of the Mississippi River and north of latitude 31° N. At this time also, September 3, 1783, owing to Spanish claims and aggression. Great Britain ceded back to Spain, without boundary delimitations, the territory south of latitude 31° and east of the Mississippi River, which the former had received, also LOUISIANA PURCHASE PROGRESS MAPS. 9 without boundary delimitations, through the definitive treaty of 1763. It should be remembered here that that part of this territory shaded in agreement with the rest of the area called "Louisiana" formed a part of the original territory of Louisiana proclaimed by La Salle and ceded by treaty stipulation to Spain in 1762. The Government and people of the L^nited States, who, in 1783, came into possession of that part of the original Louisiana ceded by France to Great Britain, had no reason to question the validity of the cession of 1763 by France, since Spain had indorsed it and approved it. James Madison, Secretary of State, in a letter .to Robert Liv- ingston, minister to France, of date March 31, 1803,^ says of this cession: Spain might not unfairly be considered as ceding back to France what France had ceded to her, inasmuch as the cession of it to Great Britain was made for the benefit of Spain, to whom, on that account, Cuba was restored. The effect was precisely the same as if France had, in form, made the cession to Spain and Spain had assigned it over to Great Britain; and the cession may the more aptly be considered as passing through Spain, as Spain herself was a party to the treaty by which it was conveyed to Great Britain. Spain obtained title from France to "the whole of Louisiana" in 1762, and was therefore in position to cede the Gulf coast to Great Britain in 1763. There was nothing peculiar in the retrocession of this tract by Great Britain to Spain in 1783; no tiling apparent to justify the contention of Spain, following the retrocession to France in 1800 of "the colony or province of Louisiana with the same extent it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France pos- sessed it," that this territory belonged to and formed a part of her original possessions in Florida. By secret treaty, known as the "Treaty of San Bdefonso," of October 1, 1800, Spain retroceded to France "the colony or province of Louisiana ^viih. the same extent it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it should be after the treaty subsequently entered into between Spain and the other states." By this treaty France again came into possession, so far as Spanish interests were concerned, of the original territory of Louisiana; but the same was, of course, shorn of the large area east of the Mssissippi River and north of latitude 31°, which for 17 years past had been a part of the United States. This retroceded Louisiana undoubtedly embraced that portion of the original territory which lies south of latitude 31° and east of the Mississippi River, whatever may have been its extent. The wording of the treaty of San Bde- fonso precludes any other view than that of retrocession, and the United States so held and undei-stood it, as shown by acts of sover- eignty hereinafter noted. Vol. 2 of American State Papers, Foreign Relations, p. 577. 10 LOUISIANA PURCHASE PEOGEESS MAPS. TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA, 1803-1819 (MAP No. 4.) Map No. 4 shows tlie area of the territory of Louisiana as purchased from France in 1803. It mil be noted that no change in the boundary of that part west of Mississippi River has occurred since 1762, but that the area of the tract along the Gulf coast east of the river is materially reduced. April 30, 1803, France ceded to the United States the territory of Louisiana "with the same extent that it now has in the hands of Spain, and that it had when France possessed it, and such as it should be after the treaties subsequently entered into between Spain and other States," using the identical language employed in the cession to France by Spain in 1800, but adding: "The French Republic has an incontestible title to the domain and to the posses- sion of said territory." The confinement of American claims, under the treaty of 1803, to the area west of the Perdido River was doubt- less due to the fact of early Spanish settlement at Pensacola Bay and at Fort St. Marks, on the Appalachee River, and to the common mis- understanding of the real rights of the United States to all of the territory south of latitude 31°, which formed a part of the original Louisiana proclaimed by La Salle. The first settlements in this territory were made by French colonists in 1699, but 17 years after La Salle's proclamation, and there can be no shadow of doubt that these settlements were made for the purpose of occupying and exploit- ing the vast domain added to France under the name "Louisiana" through the courage and energy of the great explorer. The real meaning and significance of La Salle's claim to the eastern Gulf coast as far as Palm River seems fco have been overlooked, but this can not be said of that portion between the Perdido River and the Mississippi River. While Spanish diplomacy was undoubtedly aimed at.retahiing this territory at the time of the retrocession to France, in 1800, notwithstanding the unequivocal wording of the treaty of San Ildefonso to the contrary, the Goverimient of the United States refused to accept any such boundary delimitation in 1803. February 24, 1804, Congress passed an act for laying and collecting duties in tliis territory, and on March 26 the district was added to the new Territory of Orleans. In October, 1810, the President, by procla- mation, directed the governor of Orleans Territory to take possession of the territory. April 14, 1812, a part of these lands was annexed to Louisiana territory, and one month later the remainder, lying between the Pearl and Perdido Rivers, was annexed to the territory of Mssissippi. March 3, 1817, Congress divided tliis tract, giving approximately- half of it to the Territory of Alabama. Both Missis- sippi and Alabama came into the Union before the treaty with Spain for Florida was ratified, Mssissippi the year before the treaty was negotiated and Alabama the same year, but two years before ratifica- LOUISIANA PURCHASE PROGRESS MAPS. 11 tion. During this period, also, the United States made a census of the population of the district. These citations are offered for the pur- pose of showing that this Government, in its sovereign capacity and through both its lawmaking and executive branches, had settled and finally disposed of all questions of ownership of the territory between the ^Mississippi and Perdido Rivers and south of latitude 31° wliich were raised by Spain after the purchase from France in 1803, and prior to the Florida treaty of 1819. The fact that the United States Supreme Court in many cases has supported the pohtical acts of the Government relating to this territory is of passing interest. These decisions, however, can have no direct bearing upon questions of title affecting the territory in the aggregate. TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA, 1819-1904 (MAP NO. 5). Map No. 5 shows the extent of the "Louisiana Purchase" after its boundaries of 1803 had been modified through the treaty with Spain ceding Florida to the United States and fixing the boundary between the United States and Spanish possessions west of the jMississippi River in 1819. It is of interest because the American gains and losses by that treaty are shown and because Spain was satisfied to fix her most northern boundary west of the Rocky Mountains at the parallel of 42° north. This western United States-Spanish boundary as finalh' settled was later accepted as the boundary between the Republic of Mexico and the United States, and still later in part as the northern boundary of the Republic of Texas. It will be noted that two small tracts, marked "A," not forming a part of La Salle's Louisiana, became a part of the United States, and that two tracts, marked "B," of much larger area shown upon the map, which are a part of the IMississippi watershed and were therefore a part of La Salle's Louisiana, were surrendered to Spain in exchange. SUMMARY. 1. French title to the territory called "Louisiana" in the ^Mississippi Valley had its origin and was based upon the discovery and proclama- tion of La Salle, April 9, 1682. The title "Louisiana," as proclaimed by La Salle, may not properly be applied to other and doubtful French possessions in America, and since French ownership of territory beyond the watershed line at the time of the purchase is a matter of grave doubt and can not be established. La Salle's "Louisiana" may not properly include such alleged possessions. The Spanish territory directly drained into the Gulf of Mexico west of the ^lississippi River, or into the Gulf of California, or the Spanish and Oregon territory drained into the Pacific Ocean, or the territory drained into Hudson Bay, never belonged to France by' virtue of La Salle's discovery and pj^oclama tion of 1682, when the limits of Louisiana were defined and 12 LOUISIANA PURCHASE PROGEESS MAPS. title to these districts was neither offered nor transferred by France to the United States in the sale of 1803. 2. French title to Gulf territory from the Mssissippi River to Paim River, on the Gulf coast of Florida, as a part of original Louisiana, was as good as French title to the Mississippi Valley, for both districts came under the French flag at the same time and for the same reason, viz, the discoveries of La Salle and his proclamation based thereon, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, April 9, 1682. It therefore follows that subsequent cessions of "the whole territory known under the name of Louisiana," or of "the colony or province of Louisiana, with the same extent * * * i^j^^^ j^ j^^d when France possessed it," conveyed title to this territory just as surely as they conveyed title to territory drained by the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and the title thus conveyed was just as good. 3. The Government of the L^nited States acted strictly witliin its treaty rights when, following the purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803, it occupied the territory between the ^Mississippi and Perdido Rivers, took a census of the people, leaded and collected taxes, and finally, prior to the ratification of the purchase of Florida, divided the tract into three separate parcels and added one each to the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Map No. 4, therefore, prop- erly exliibits the outboundaries of the Louisiana purchased from France in 1803, and asserted by the LTnited States thereafter, and Map No. 5 shows the modifications of that boundary west of the Mississippi River agreed to in the treaty with Spain in 1819. OTHER CONTIGUOUS ACQUISITIONS (MAP NO. 6). Map No. 6 shows in addition to the Louisiana Purchase boundaries the boundaries of the Texas annexation of 1845, the Oregon Territory, title to which was settled in 1846, the Mexican cession of 1848, and the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. The Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce and Labor, by letters of February 2, 1912, and February 10, 1912, respectively, formally accepted these bounda- ries and the areas thereby determined for use in all pubhcations of the several bureaus of each department.^ The north and east boundaries of the Texas territory are identical with those of the Texas Republic which conformed to the compromise boundary between Spain and the United States, estabhshed by treaty of 1819. The west boundary of the Texas annexation conforms to the former west- 1 A committee representing the Department of the Interior, consisting of Messrs. Frank Bond, Chief Clerk of the General Land Office, and S. S. Gannett, geographer of the Geological Survey, was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, Jan. 9, 1911; and a committee, representing the Department of Commerce and Labor, consisting of Messrs. O. P. Austin, Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, and C. S. Sloane, geographer of the Bureau of the Census, was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, Jan. 13. 1911. These committees were instracted to mutually confer and definitely and finally decide as to the boundaries and areas of the several acquisitions and of the States created therefrom. Their joint report was signed Jan. 26, 1912, and the same was approved by the heads of the respective departments, as noted above. LOUISIANA PURCHASE PEOGRESS MAPS. 13 ern boundary of the Texas Republic. The common boundary along the forty-second parallel, between the Mexican cession and the Oregon territory, is the line also fixed by the treaty with. Spam of 1819. The eastern boundary of the Oregon territory conforms to the western boundary of the Louisiana of La Salle and the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the same being the watershed between the Mississippi River drainage and the drainage toward the Pacific Ocean. Area of the territory of the original 13 States and of the successive acquisitions tvithin the continental limits, excepting Alaska and Panama Canal Zone. Acquisitions. Area of original acquisition. Net area after Louisiana delimitation, and net area of United States. Territory of original 13 States as recognized by Great Britain in 1783, includ- ing the drainage basin of the Red River of the North (46,253 square miles).. Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803 This acquisition suffered loss in area amounting to 96,292 square miles by Spanish-American boundary delimitation of 1819. Territory gained through treaty of 1819 with Spain Florida ceded by Spam in 1819 Texas, annexed in 1845, includes 94,815 square miles of original Louisiana excluded from Louisiana Purchase by treaty of 1819 witli Spain Oregon Territory, American title established in 1846 Mexico, ceded in 1848, includes 1,477 square miles of original Louisiana ex- cluded from Louisiana Purchase by treaty of 1819 with Spain Gadsden Purchase, in 1853 Total Square miles. 892, 135 924,279 13, 435 58, 666 389.166 286,541 529, 189 29,670 Square miles. 892, 135 827,987 13,435 58,666 389, 166 286,541 529, 189 29,670 3,123,081 3,026,789 NONCONTIGUOUS ACQUISITIONS (MAP NO. 7). Map No. 7 shows the geodetic location and approximate configura- tion of the noncontiguous acquisitions of the United States, of which, only Alaska and and the Panama Canal Zone are situated upon the continent, properly speaking, Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, and Samoa being islands of the sea. Of these acquisitions, Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867, the location of the LTnited States-Canadian boundary thereof being finally fixed by treaty pro- claimed March 3, 1903. The Philippine Islands, Guam, and Porto Rico were acquired as indemnity and by partial purchase from Spain in 1898; the Hawaiian Islands were annexed in 1898, and the Tutuila group was acquired in 1899. The Panama Canal Zone was ceded by the Republic of Panama in 1904. Areas of noncontiguous acquisitions. Square miles, Alaska 590, 884 Guam 210 Hawaii, including Palmyra Island 6, 449 Panama Canal Zone 436 Philippine Islands 115, 026 Porto Rico 3, 435 Tutuila group, Samoa 77 Total 716, 517 14 LOUISIANA PURCHASE PROGRESS MAPS. Grand total area of United States, including all acquisitions, 3,743,306 square miles, or 2,395,715,840 acres. Area of States and District of Columbia. [These areas have previously been used by the Departments of the Interior and Commerce and Labor and their several bureaus, being based upon careful joint calculations made in the General Land Office, the Geological Survey, and the Bureau of the Census.] States and District of Columbia. Land surface. Water surface. Total areas. Alabama Arizona Arkansas *. . California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia. Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky , Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Total 2, 973, 890 Sq. m. 51,279 113,810 62,525 155,652 103,658 4,820 1,965 60 54,861 58,725 83,354 56,043 36,045 55,586 81, 774 40, 181 45,409 29,895 9,941 8,039 57,480 80,858 46,362 68, 727 146, 201 76,808 109, 821 9,031 7,514 122,503 47,654 48, 740 70,183 40,740 69,414 95,607 44,832 1,067 30,495 76,868 41,687 262,398 82, 184 9,124 40,262 66,836 24,022 55,256 97,594 Acres. 32,818,560 72,838,400 33,616,000 99,617,280 66,341,120 3,084,800 1,257,600 38,400 35,111,040 37,584,000 63,346,560 35,867,520 23,068,800 35,575,040 62,335,360 25,715,840 29,061,760 19,132,800 6,302,240 5,144,960 36,787,200 51,749,120 29,671,680 43,985,280 93,568,640 49, 157, 120 70,285,440 5,779,840 4,808,960 78,401,920 30,498,560 31,193,600 44,917,120 26,073,600 44,424,960 61,188,480 28, 692, 480 682,880 19,516,800 49,195,520 26,679,680 167,934,720 52,597,760 5,8.39,360 25,767,680 42,775,040 15,374,080 3.5,303,840 62, 460, 160 1,903,289,600 52,899 Sq. m. Acres. 719 460, 100 140 93, 440 810 518,400 2,645 1,692,800 290 185,600 145 92,800 405 259,200 10 6,400 3,805 2,435,200 540 345, 600 534 .341,760 622 398,080 309 197, 760 561 359,040 384 245, 700 417 266,880 3,097 1,982,080 3,145 2,012,800 2,386 1,527,040 227 145,280 500 320,000 3,824 2, 447, 360 503 321,920 693 443,520 796 509,440 712 455,680 869 556, 160 310 198, 400 710 454, 400 131 83,840 1,550 992,000 3,686 2,359,040 654 418, 560 300 192,000 643 411,520 1,092 698,880 294 188, 160 181 115,840 494 316, 160 747 478,080 335 214,400 3,498 2,238,720 2,806 1,795,840 440 281,600 2,365 1,513,600 2,291 1,466,240 148 94, 720 810 518,400 320 204,800 Sq. m. 51,998 113,956 53,335 158,297 103,948 4,965 2,370 70 58,666 59,265 83,888 56,665 36,354 56, 147 82,158 40,598 48, 506 33,040 12, 327 8,266 57, 980 84, 682 46,865 69, 420 146,997 77, 520 110,690 9,341 8,224 122, 634 49, 204 52,426 70,837 41,040 70,057 96,699 45. 126 1,248 30,989 77, 615 42,022 265,896 84,990 9,564 42,627 69. 127 24, 170 56,066 97,914 33,855,360 3,026,789 Acres. 33,278,720 72,931,840 34,134,400 101,310,080 66,526,720 3,177,600 1,516,800 44,800 37,516,240 37,929,600 53,688,320 36,265,600 23,266,560 35,934,080 52,581,120 25,982,720 31,043,840 21,145,600 7,889,280 5,290,240 37,107,200 54,196,480 29,993,600 44,428,800 94,078,080 49,612,800 70,841,600 5,978,240 5,263,360 78,485,760 31,490,560 33, 552, 640 45,335,680 26,265,600 44,836,480 61,887,360 28,880,640 798,720 19,8.32,960 49,673,600 26,894,080 170,173,440 54,393,600 6,120,960 27,281,280 44,241,280 15,468,800 35,882,240 62,664,960 1,937,144,960 Owing to their location adjoining the Great Lakes, the States enumerated below contain approximately an additional number of square miles as follows: Illinois, 1,674 square miles of Lake Michigan; Indiana, 230 square miles of Lake Michigan; Michigan, 16,65:5 square miles of Lake Superior, 12,922 square miles of Lake Michigan, 9,925 square miles of Lake Huron, and 460 square miles of Lakes St. Clair and Erie; Minnesota, 2,514 square miles of Lake Superior; New York, 3,140 square miles of Lakes Ontario and Erie; Ohio, 3,443 square miles of Lake Erie; Pennsylvania, 891 square miles of Lake Erie; Wisconsin, 2,378 square miles of Lake Superior and 7,500 square miles of Lake Michigan. In addition to the water areas noted above, California claims jurisdiction over all Pacific waters lymg within 3 English miles of her coast; Oregon claims jurisdiction over a similar strip of the Pacific Ocean I marine league in width between latitude 42° north and the mouth of the Columbia River; and Texas claims jurisdiction over a strip of Gulf water 3 leagues in width, adjacent to her coast and between the Rio Grande and the Sabine River. o LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS Mil I 009 837 513 2 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS I !l 11111111111 009 837 513 2