Part I, Chapter VIII: The Louisiana Purchase

The emergence of the United States as an independent nation in North America after the Treaty of Paris in 1783 had changed the political boundaries of the continent in a matter of only a few short years. The acquisition of all lands east of the Mississippi River with the exception of Canada by the United States due to its victory had also lead to the creation of the new "Northwest Territory," and opened an entirely new frontier to American exploration and expansion. The regions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan in particular had sparked considerable interest to American expeditionary leaders following the nation's independence due to the area's still profitable fur trade, and this was emphasized by the large amount of monetary debt that the nation had accumulated, which still remained at large and lacked the means to be reduced as a result of America's lengthy and expensive revolution. The regions of the Upper Midwest, however, were still relatively remote as they were located at the farthest extent of the country's northwestern territorial limits, and the amount of Native Americans that voiced hostility to further European and American colonization attempts were still active in between the regions and the Ohio River Valley. To complicate matters further, the British still maintained a sizable garrison of forts and soldiers around the lower peninsula of Michigan, land that was regarded as American in the Treaty of Paris, and also took great measures to monopolize their control of the Saint Lawrence Riverway and the Great Lakes. These issues not only denied American accessibility to the Upper Midwest, but also once again listed the priority of capitalizing on the region's future settlement and fur trade as relatively low in comparison to much broader, sweeping issues. Great Britain's refusal to withdraw from American territory in due haste meant that the Upper Midwest as a result still remained inaccessible, which would continue throughout the close of the 18th century until the signing of the Jay Treaty in 1796, which finally lead to the removal of almost all of Great Britain's forts and garrisoned soldiers in land regarded as American.



Growth of the American economy throughout the 1790's due to peaceful trade with Great Britain lead to prosperity for the young nation, and as a result expeditions and exploratory parties had begun to form along the East Coast, mostly funded directly by the United States government, and then began journeys westward. The signing of the Jay Treaty in 1796 however had also made privately funded expeditions plausible and less dangerous, and by late 1796 several exploratory parties were already underway in both the Michigan and Illinois area. The Upper Midwest saw a small amount of growth in the late 1790's as a direct result, as Fort Beauharnois in Minnesota and the Green Bay colony in Wisconsin were popular destinations and resting points for many American explorers. Some Americans, after the completion of their expeditions, migrated and settled in these areas, where they took part in the profitable and alluring fur trade, and by 1800 a handful had permanently settled in the Green Bay and Prarie du Chien colonies as well as Fort Beauharnois and Fort du Luht. By 1800, the total amount of settlers in the upper peninsula of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin equaled roughly 1,500 people, of which 100 were permanent American settlers.



Across the Atlantic, the opening years of the 19th century had also seen drastic changes in the political climate of Europe. In 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte and his newly founded First Republic, which had been forged out of the fires of the French Revolution, had disposed of the former French monarchy and had begun to apply increasingly hostile pressure towards Spain, particularly with threats of a possible French invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. In response, Spain agreed to sign the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, which secretly negotiated for the return of the Louisiana Territory to New France. This provided a large "stepping stone" for Napoleon to counter the ever-growing colony of New Spain. However, France's ability to counter Spanish expansion in the New World was quickly regarded as an impossible endeavor, and instead capitalized on American eagerness to expand west of the Mississippi. Napoleon had already accumulated a large amount of debt due to his rapid militarization and resulting wars in Europe, and when the Americans offered to buy New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast region from France, Paris underwent considerable deliberation. France instead decided to offer the entire territory to the United States. Thomas Jefferson - the President of the United States - and his cabinet quickly jumped at the opportunity, and in 1803 bought the territory from France in the famed "Louisiana Purchase," doubling the size of the United States overnight.



The acquisition of a vast amount of new territory west of the Mississippi and increasingly positive trade relations between the United States, Great Britain and France lead to notable reinvestment into expeditions and surveyors from both the American government and private enterprise. The still ongoing fur trade in Minnesota and Wisconsin had also reinvigorated American interest, and in 1806, the United States commissioned and ordered the young Zebulon Montgomery Pike, Jr. to lead an exploratory party into the Upper Midwest to find the source of the Mississippi River and to interact with the European and American settlers living there. Pike, an already promising career officer, lead his expedition west and then turned upriver, arriving in Minnesota in the summer of 1806, and stopped briefly at Fort Beauharnois before continuing his expedition north. His party found several watersheds and lakes that all served as viable candidates as the true "source" of the Mississippi, and upon mapping and surveying them turned east to rest and refit at Fort du Luht, where they would then begin their return journey back to Ohio - where their expedition had started - to report their findings. However, as the winter of 1806 began, Pike quickly realized that travel overland in the harsh Minnesota climate was impractical, and instead his party bivouacked in du Luht for roughly two months, where they waited for the emergence of spring. The party's temporary residence in the region later caused Pike to become acquainted with Stephen Carver - the eldest of Jonathan Carver's descendants and the most affluent permanent settler in the Fort du Luht settlement - and the two became good friends. Pike and his party broke camp in March of 1807 after the winter had subsided, and they returned to the Ohio River Valley by summer. Pike's travels in Minnesota and the interaction he had with many of the American and European settlers there in du Luht and Beauharnois had left a profound impact on the young junior officer, and the appealing fur trade and the vast amount of freshwater lakes in the territory would later be the source of inspiration for the writing of his first book, "The Exploration of the North Woods and Upper Mississippi River Valley," which was published in 1807 and described through memory and journal entries his natural findings and the culture of Minnesota in detail. As evidence of the book's popularity, it was later translated into French, German and Dutch editions between 1807 and 1810, and Pike, most likely under influence from continued correspondence with Carver, vowed to return to the territory following the conclusion of his military career.



Pike's findings and his published works, in combination with the natural landscape, the fur trade and the still friendly and stable relations with the Ojibwa and Sioux Natives in the area lead to a surge in migration to the territory between 1808 and 1811, mostly from American Catholics. The establishment of the Catholic faith in the upper Midwest due to early French settlement and the active missionary work and churches in Fort Beauharnois, Prarie du Chien, Fort du Luht and Green Bay appealed strongly to many American Catholics, who were regarded as minorities in the East and South and had undergone slight religious persecution following the end of the American War of Independence. Protestant elected officials in the United States also dominated the early politics of the nation, but as a result of the remote location of the territories, the United States lacked any form of government presence west of Michigan aside from the occasional contracted or military exploratory expedition. The relative distance between the territory and the seats of American government in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and the "territorial government" stationed in Ohio made the Upper Mississippi River Valley highly attractive to Catholic immigrants, and as a result, between the years of 1808 and 1811, the Upper Midwest saw over 600 American Catholics migrate to its territories, with 400 settling in Minnesota alone around the Fort Beauharnois area, quadrupling its population in little more than 4 years. The Ojibwa and Sioux natives saw little disadvantage to this migration, as profits from the fur trade usually climbed in conjunction with rising white settlement, and the expansion of white forts and fur trading posts were never completely closed to negotiation when they threatened lands the Natives held as sacred, mostly since the Natives still far outnumbered them and the settlers could not reasonably afford relations to depreciate.



On an international scale, however, the late 1800's saw the United States and Great Britain's diplomatic relationship slowly take a turn for the worse. British efforts to secure victory against Napoleon in Europe had become elusive, the impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy was widely being used as a tool to help curb obvious manpower shortages in an ongoing naval war in the Atlantic, and the border between the United States and British Canada was still undefined throughout the Saint Lawrence River region, as both nations regarded it as respective sovereign territory. Pike, now a lieutenant colonel, was rushed back to the East in preparation for a declaration of war against Britain, and by 1812, the United States had delivered it to London. The ensuing conflict would drastically shift the spheres of influence in North America - and change the world forever.