US Expansion - The Louisiana Territory (2nd Ed, 1989)

[Music] [Applause] in 1800 the American people celebrated the inauguration of President Thomas Jefferson and Jefferson faed the fact that other nations claimed land in America Canada to the North had French and British settlements there were Spanish territories in the South and the far Southwest and in the center of the continent was a tract as large as the United States itself the Louisiana [Music] territory in the early 1600s the region was entered by French Traders sent by Samuel the Champlain the founder of Quebec they explored the great lakes in the Mississippi Valley they built alliances with Indian tribes Champlain and his people traded weapons tools and household goods for [Music] Furs they con the French government to invest in further exploration during the 1600s French explorers pushed Southward and to the [Music] West Pierre Rison built alliances with Indians at the Western tip of Lake Superior Father jacqu Marquette a Jesuit priest traveled with Lou jolet a fur Trader down the Mississippi River to the Arkansas father Louie hennipin a Franciscan headed west into land that would become Minnesota and the [Music] dtas hennipin and Marquette were missionary explorers sent to christianize the Indians and cement their loyalty to France for a Time father henpen accompanied the most ambitious French explorer of all Ro be Ser [Music] Lal in 1682 Lal followed the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico he built forts on land that would become Illinois and Missouri reaching the mouth of the Mississippi River he named The Great Valley to the north Louisiana to honor King Louis the 14th lal's Lieutenant HRI detonti was skilled at working with the Indians tant's left hand Lost At War had been replaced by a metal hook so the Indians called him the man with the iron hand in 1683 Lal left tati with the Indians in Louisiana he returned to Europe to find people and money for a planned settlement at the mouth of the Mississippi River the French government under King Louis the 14th provided funding in 1684 Lal set out from Europe with four ships 400 men and supplies storm stroke Heavy Seas tossed the ships and they overshot the Mississippi River by more than 500 mil landing at a site now called Matagorda Bay Texas deciding to remain there they built a settlement that would expand France's trading empire but trouble developed between Lal and his people one day he left the settlement on an Overland trip he was found dead his killer unknown though Lal was gone his dream of a trading empire lived on in the early 1700s French Traders settled at the mouth of the Mississippi [Music] River by 1718 New Orleans was a town planned and mapped by a French nobleman the Ser de banvil the French did not colonize Louisiana's Central Plains they did not think of America as a permanent home the few french families who did come settled in Quebec or New Orleans while French Trappers and Traders worked [Music] Inland Louisiana was profitable for France more successful in some ways than surrounding English and Spanish [Music] colonies when war broke out between England and France the English attack French posts in Louisiana for half a century beginning in the 1690s the French and British in America fought while Spaniards and Indians supported one side or the [Music] other in 1763 the French and Indian War brought victory for Britain and defeat for France representatives of France Britain and Spain met in Paris they signed the Treaty of Paris which gave nearly all French land east of the Mississippi to Britain New Orleans and French territory west of the Mississippi went to Spain in the years before America's Revolutionary War the British Parliament insisted that land West of the Appalachians was to be reserved for Indians but British Colonials defied the law and began moving Westward and Southward they built farms and settlements some British colonial leaders like George Washington supported the illegal settlers Washington declared any person who neglects the opportunity of marking good lands for his own will never regain it so British Americans kept on settling the West in the 1780s they celebrated the winning of the Revolutionary War those who had moved West earlier now legally claimed their land adventurers and Traders followed and the Mississippi River became an important trade route with Spanish permission new New Orleans became a transfer point for American cotton whiskey and Furs Bound for the east coast and around the [Music] world and then in 1801 American traders in New Orleans and Florida learned that a powerful new French government under Napoleon bonapart was pressuring Spain to return Louisiana to French rule the Spaniards gave in and Americans were concerned would the French ask an unreasonable amount of money to let Americans travel and trade on the Mississippi the crisis came in 1802 when a new French law closed New Orleans and the Mississippi to Traders Americans objected they urg their government to attack and capture New Orleans president Jefferson publicly threatened France he secretly asked whether New Orleans and West Florida could be purchased to discuss a purchase he sent James Monroe on a secret mission to Paris there in March 1803 Napoleon's foreign minister Charles dataland offered to sell the Americans more than they had hoped for all of Louisiana France's leaders did this because they had just fought and lost lost a revolutionary war on the island of Santo Domingo to avoid another similar loss they signed a treaty for $15 million Louisiana but not West Florida would be sold in December 1803 at a ceremony in New Orleans Louisiana joined the United States now President Jefferson planned to explore the huge territory he wanted to know if there was good hunting in farmland and whether Indian tribes were peaceful in 1804 he sent Captain Merryweather Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark on a 2-year 5,000m Journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean and back they explored land that would one day be become the dtas Montana Iowa and Nebraska Lieutenant Zebulon Pike went on several shorter missions into Kansas Arkansas and Spanish Colorado Lewis and Clark endured great hardship on the trail Pike was arrested by Spanish authorities and returned to the United [Music] States but the Explorers reported that there was a wealth of wildlife there were great possibilities for Indian trade there was strong potential for developing the land no wonder when Americans in the East read the news they began to travel to the new territory in the 1820s and 30s Pioneer settlers took to the trail because of migration population grew people in populated regions campaigned for Statehood Louisiana was admitted as the territory's first state Missouri the Region's second state became a center for hunters and fur Traders Bound for the Rocky [Music] Mountains some crossed the frontier to the Mexican trading center at Santa Fe Western Travelers were led by skilled explorers mountain men who had themselves been fur Traders and Trappers when the fur business declined some mountain men became Wagon Train leaders guiding westbound settlers some were easterners who could not afford Farmland in their home States some were immigrants trying to build new lives in a new country they settled their settlements grew and in time they applied for Statehood a part of the Arkansas territory and Missouri became States but the northern part of the region the Missouri territory remained a vast Wilderness with isolated farms and lumber camps there were very few people on the land and then around 1858 more began to [Music] come among the first was a party of gold Hunters who had failed to find riches in California 100 frontiersmen led by William green Russell prospecting in the Colorado region that Zebulon Pike had mapped 54 years before they discovered gold [Applause] newspapers published exaggerated stories a 100,000 Prospectors streamed into the Pikes Peak area most found nothing and left but some stayed and by 1860 Pikes Peak was one of many Frontier communities in the West connected to Civilization by hundreds of miles of Dusty Trails people needed good transportation and communication and in 1857 the US Post Office asked stage coach operators to bid on Western mail service the contract was won by John Butterfield and William Fargo their Overland Express took a month to travel from Missouri to California [Music] other routs were established and in 1860 Californians willing to pay a high price could get mail from Missouri in just 8 Days by Pony [Music] Express The Pony Express marked the death of old ways the birth of new fast horses and Riders were replaced by the tel the stage coach began to be replaced by railroads artists and engravers made way for photographers who carried their equipment Westward they took pictures of railroads being built the Southern Pacific in the South the Union Pacific in the North every year 250 Mi of track were laid by Crews who worked day and night they built towns to live in every 60 Mi along the way then tore them down as the work progressed the crews had to eat and fresh meat was available 3 million Buffalo lived on the plains the railroads hired Hunters to kill them Buffalo Bill Cody was a hunter for the railroads when it was found that Buffalo hides made good leather The Killing increased and in 20 years all but a few Buffalo were dead to most Americans This was unimportant to IND Indians on the plains it was a disaster their religion food and clothing had depended on the buffalo in 1871 the Indians had suffered another loss when Congress decided that tribes would no longer be independent nations reservation land could be sold to cattle ranchers and farmers who were coming in ever increasing numbers families were coming for economic [Music] reasons the grassy Plains of the West provided food for cattle railroads enabled ranchers to profitably ship cattle to Eastern markets from Kansas Wyoming and South Dakota animals were raised on open rangeland with no fences when Farmers built fences to keep keep cattle from trampling their crops some Cattlemen reacted [Music] violently but Farmers kept coming West some came from the Eastern unit United [Music] States some came from [Music] Europe some came from the south former slaves settling in a land where there had never been slavery they were called Exodusters wherever they came from the pioneer farmers who settled the central plains faced hardships the soil was dry and rainfall scarce often only wheat and barley could be grown there were insects that ate and destroyed crops there were Prairie fires there were attacking [Music] Indians but hardworking Farmers stayed on the land Law and Order came dry farming methods were developed farm machinery made it possible to cultivate dry land and harvest vast fields of grain from 1865 to 1900 more American land was put to the plow than since America had been settled and most was in the region that had been the Louisiana Territory by 1900 the Louisiana Territory had been divided among 12 States Oklahoma would be the 13th the promise of Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike was fulfilled the central plains from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains from the can Adan border to New Orleans were a part of the United [Music] States for