#lewisandclark

[katelovessewing]

Vintage Sacagawea Gold Dollar Keychain, NIP Metal Keyring, Bald Eagle, Stars, Lewis and Clark - Etsy

[whencyclopedia]

Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was a land deal made in 1803, in which the United States purchased 828,000 square miles (2,144,510 km²) of land west of the Mississippi River from France for $15 million, or an average of three cents per acre. The purchase nearly doubled the territorial size of the United States and fostered the westward expansion of the young republic.

Background: The Louisiana Territory

The colony of Louisiana was founded on 9 April 1682, when French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi River. La Salle erected a cross at the spot, and, in a ceremony performed before his own men and his Native American guides, he proceeded to claim the entire Mississippi Basin for France, naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV of France (r. 1643-1715). Shortly thereafter, he returned to France, where he convinced the king to give him control of the new colony. La Salle then embarked on another expedition to fortify the mouth of the Mississippi by establishing another French colony around the Gulf of Mexico. This expedition, however, was beset by difficulties from the start. La Salle was unable to rediscover the mouth of the Mississippi and was ultimately assassinated by mutineers in 1687.

Over the next several decades, scattered settlements began popping up around the Mississippi River. New Orleans was founded in 1718, on the site where La Salle had made his proclamation 36 years earlier, and quickly turned into a rich port city. Timber, agricultural produce, and high-quality furs were shipped down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where they would be sent on to Europe or New Spain. Despite the wealth generated from New Orleans, the Louisiana Territory as a whole was not highly valued by France. In 1710, Louisiana governor Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac reported that "the people are aheap of the dregs of Canada" and that the colony was "not worth a straw at the present time" (Smithsonian). Therefore, at the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, France agreed to cede control of the entire Louisiana Territory to Spain. The exact boundaries of ‘Louisiana' were still murky, and the terms of the treaty granted Spain control of all lands west of the Mississippi River. At the same time, France ceded its northern colony of Canada to Britain, thereby unburdening itself of all continental colonies so that it could focus on its much more lucrative sugar colonies in the Caribbean.

Spain enjoyed a tenuous hold on the Louisiana Territory, which it viewed with disinterest, as little more than a buffer between British North America and Mexico. In 1783, the United States won its independence and gained control of the eastern banks of the Mississippi River. This led to rising tensions between the US and Spain, as each nation claimed the right to navigate the Mississippi, which had become a vital waterway for trade. This dispute was settled on 27 October 1795, with the signing of the Treaty of San Lorenzo, also known as Pinckney's Treaty. The agreement gave the Americans the right to navigate the entire Mississippi and allowed American merchants to store goods in New Orleans warehouses. While the treaty de-escalated tensions between the US and Spain, it increased American influence in the region at the expense of Spanish power, which had never been strong to begin with in the Louisiana Territory and was now on the decline.

La Salle Claims Louisiana for France, 1682

Jean-Adolphe Bocquin (Public Domain)

Then, on 1 October 1800, Louisiana changed hands once again. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) – who had risen to power in France a year earlier – made a secret deal with King Charles IV of Spain (r. 1788-1808) in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. In it, Spain agreed to cede the entire Louisiana Territory back to France, in exchange for control over the Kingdom of Etruria in Italy, which King Charles wanted to give to his daughter. Napoleon was pleased by the easy acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, seeing it as the first step in re-establishing France as an imperial power in North America. He envisaged Louisiana as a breadbasket of sorts, shipping food and supplies to France's Caribbean colonies of Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint-Domingue, all highly valuable for their production of sugar. A significant condition of the Treaty of Ildefonso was that France could not turn around and sell the Louisiana Territory to a third party, as Spain was worried about having a hostile power so close to Mexico. At the time, Napoleon intended to adhere to this condition, although his plans would soon be turned upside down.

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[the-fact-site]

One hundred years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Native American leaders sailed to Great Britain to meet the Queen. #FACT

[beautifulklicks]

dark.

🌸🌸Lewicia🌸🌸

day today finished I was

smoked in the cheers for good work

sometime in the Lewisia cotyledon

Japanese name is "rock fireworks". ° ✶ ฺ ︎.ヽ(*'∀︎ `*) Bruno .✶ ฺ ° ︎.

I want to see fireworks ...

[uispecialcollections]

Lewis and Clark, Botanists

In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set on their expedition across North America. A part of their mission was to record everything about the lands they were to travel through. One of many things they recorded was the flora they came across. They collected, pressed, and carried home more than 200 specimens, many of which had been unknown to Western science at the time. While traipsing through Idaho and the Pacific Northwest they found many flowers they had not seen before. The book Common to This Country: Botanical Discoveries of Lewis & Clark by Susan H. Munger uses journal entries of Lewis and Clark to show when and where they made their “disoveries,” while also discussing a bit about the flowers themselves. Beautifully illustrated by Charlotte Staub Thomas, here are some of the flowers Lewis and Clark found on their own #floweryfriday. 

Lewis and Clark came across Lupinus Sericeus, also known as Silky Lupine, while at Camp Chopunnish, in present-day Idaho. This pale lavender flower can be found across western North America, from British Columbia down through Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. It can also be found in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.  

When Lewis found Clarkia Pulchella, commonly called Ragged Robin, on the edge of the Clearwater River in Idaho, its description became one of his most detailed. He wrote in one of his journals, “I regret very much that the seed of this plant are not yet ripe and it is proble will not be during my residence in this neighborhood.” 

When descending the Bitterroot Mountains, Lewis and Clark came across Camassia Quamash, or Camas. A part of the lily family, Camas can bloom with pale blue to deep violet flowers in the spring. It is native to the Pacific Northwest. 

[yourthomasjefferson]

Self-portrait at the @AmPhilSociety , with a vignette cannonade by Megalonyx jeffersonii, during today's "Education of Meriwether Lewis" event . . . The suite I am wearing was crafted by the talented hand of Kim Hanley, Executive Director of American Historical Theatre . . . #ThomasJefferson #YourThomasJefferson #MeriwetherLewis #AmericanPhilosophicalSociety #groundsloth #paleontology #history #science #LewisAndClark #POTUS #USA #America (at American Philosophical Society)

[turoczy]

Honored to chat with the students in the @lewisandclark Center for Entrepreneurship, today. Pro tip: If you get the chance to speak *FOLLOWING* Tim Leatherman of @leathermantools, do it. Thank you SO much @lewisandclarkcollege. One of the coolest speaker gifts ever. . . . #pdx #portland #portlandoregon #oregon #leatherman #lewisandclark #startup #startups #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #entrepreneurlife #startuplife #honored (at Lewis & Clark College)

[blueroofbooks]

The Journals of Lewis and Clark in two modern leather-bound volumes. #rarebooks #lewisandclark #eastonpress #leatherboundbooks #books #oregontrail #bookset #bookstagram