St. Louis - The Fourth City, Volume 1. Walter Barlow Stevens

the continued movement of settlers "from the English Illinois" to the St. Louis side of the river. Cruzat, the second governor, was given authority to encourage immigration to St. Louis, especially from Canada. The Spanish government set apart 40,000 pesos to be used as an immigration fund. In 1780 Shadrach Bond led from Maryland and Virginia a colony of people who settled on the east side of the river between what is now East St. Louis and Kaskaskia. This colony gave to the long, fertile tract the name of the American Bottom. Much correspondence passed between St. Louis and New Orleans upon the policy toward immigration.

      When Governor Delassus was appointed to the important position at St. Louis, Gayoso, the governor-general, at New Orleans in March, 1799, gave him these instructions:

      "I recommend to you Messrs. Chouteau, Cerre and Soulard. Please do whatever you can for them without showing any injustice to the rest. You must consider it a policy that, this being a time of general peace, it is not advisable to form or encourage new settlements unless with Canadian people. These are really the people we want. You can try to get information as to how it will be best to bring people from Canada at the smallest expense. You must not let the public notice you have adopted this policy. You understand that in things which cause interest and excitement you have to act with a great deal of tact."

      Americans, who came to settle in St. Louis and the vicinity while the Spanish flag still floated, seldom complained of the government. They looked forward to the day when St. Louis would be an American city. But they found nothing oppressive in the Spanish authority. Many gave the governor credit for showing them unexpected consideration.

      Spanish authority at St. Louis, or San Luis as it was called in the official correspondence, looked forward to American occupation by force years before the secret treaty retransferred Louisiana to France and paved the way to the cession by Napoleon in 1803. As early as 1797, Governor Delassus was having correspondence marked "confidential" with Carlos Howard at New Madrid as to what should be done if the Americans undertook to seize St. Louis. On the 9th of April, 1797, Don Carlos wrote to Governor Delassus advising him as to the proper course if the attack was made:

       You have shown your prudence and care in your letter of this date, in which you mention the situation on account of the weak state of defense. We have now only one fortification in the post of St. Louis, to wit: one simple stockade, with four cannons, thirty-five soldiers, including two artillery-men. In case anything should come up between our court and the United States, we could not do very much. I must inform you that, although there are some rumors that such a thing will happen, it is improbable. I think, however, it would be advisable to be prepared. In case you feel certain that you will be attacked by the Americans, I am of the opinion that after you throw into the river the cannons, ammunition and powder, you should try to come to me by land. You may advise me in advance so that I may be able to help your march all I can. It is probable that upon the attack of the Americans they will try to call my attention to this side so that they can catch San Luis unprotected.

      The aggressiveness of Americans at St. Louis and in that vicinity was giving Spanish authority occasional shocks before the transfer of the Louisiana provinces. In January, 1801, Ramon dc Lopez y Angulo, the governor-general at New Orleans, felt constrained to warn Delassus in this manner:

       Notwithstanding the advantages which may result from the working of an iron mine in your country, according to the plans presented to you by an American, David Wilcox, which you enclose to me in your communication of the 28th of November last, it will not be advisable to permit any American or foreigner to establish works in our possessions. Therefore you must decline his proposition, not giving him to understand the reason why. Ton will do the same with all foreigners that may come, especially when they want concessions of land and establishments in this province.

      Jefferson, Livingston and Monroe are accorded the credit of the Louisiana Purchase. History tells how the one as President, the second as Minister to France, and the third as Special Envoy or Commissioner conducted the negotiations with Bonaparte and Marbois. Still another eminent American, destined to become President, bore no insignificant relationship to this greatest of peaceful transfers of territory. Yet his name is seldom mentioned in this historical connection.

      When Colonel Charles De Hault Delassus, the Spanish governor, had witnessed the transfer of sovereignty to the United States at St. Louis in 1804, he carried away with him the cannon, munitions and archives. This was under the terms of the treaty of purchase. The instructions to the governor of Upper Louisiana Territory were to leave behind only such papers as related to the private affairs of individuals. These papers included deeds and concessions and the ordinary records, personal in character, of communities. It is tradition in Missouri that, when full of years, Colonel Delassus was gathered to his fathers, he left in a mahogany box a collection of papers with instructions that all be burned after his death. If the tradition is well founded, the injunction was not kept. The contents of the mahogany box were not destroyed. Some of them are of rare historic interest and value, but until recently have not been available for public information.

      The first information that Louisiana Territory had passed to the possession of the United States reached St. Louis through American channels. It was communicated to Delassus by William Henry Harrison, then governor of Northwest Territory, with headquarters at "Old Vincennes."

      The order which bade him remove and return to Spanish dominion the archives of Upper Louisiana Territory was not construed by Governor Delassus to include correspondence with Governor Harrison, covering several years. These Harrison letters were preserved by the Spanish governor of French name and descent. They were transmitted to his heirs. They shed light of no little importance upon the period of the Louisiana Purchase.

      William Henry Harrison's place in American History is that of a soldier, rather than that of a statesman. He was elected to the Presidency on his war record and died before he had opportunity to impress upon the country his qualities as chief magistrate. There was, however, a diplomatic and statesmanlike side to the character of "Old Tippecanoe." The letters reveal it. They show that at one of the crises in the life of the American nation this man was performing a diplomatic part with no ordinary shrewdness. President Jefferson was confronted with a condition, along the Mississippi, of the gravest concern. The action of the Spanish Intendant at New Orleans in placing burdensome restrictions upon the river commerce had brought almost open rupture between the American population east and the Spanish authority west of the Mississippi. Jefferson had Livingston at Paris conducting negotiations with the First Consul through Talleyrand and Marbois. He sent Monroe as a special commissioner to assist Livingston. Spain had secretly transferred Louisiana Territory by the treaty of Ildefonso back to France. France was about to take possession. As between Spain and France the government at Washington hardly knew where American interests lay. While these negotiations were in progress, Jefferson, through William Henry Harrison at Vincennes, was keeping in close touch with affairs in Upper Louisiana Territory; General Harrison was in frequent correspondence with Governor Delassus. The letters he wrote speak for themselves. They show that by way of Vincennes and St. Louis the American government was establishing that relationship with Upper Louisiana which would have been of the greatest significance and importance had the diplomatic negotiations at Paris failed. The histories of that period dwell upon the events at Washington and Paris. They tell nothing of what was transpiring at Vincennes and St. Louis.

      A few years ago President Benjamin Harrison learned of the existence of these letters, written by his grandfather in 1803 and 1804. Recognizing their important bearing upon American history, he endeavored to find some trace of the correspondence which passed, as these letters show, between Governor Delassus and William Henry Harrison. He had investigation made among the archives at Washington, but could not find the correspondence. It is a fair supposition that William Henry Harrison regarded this correspondence of such personal and confidential character as not to warrant the incorporation of it in the public official files.

      Yellowed by the century which has passed, worn and ragged with handling, but bold and distinct in unfading ink, the original letters from Harrison to Delassus are preserved. They passed into the possession of the late A. J. Tullock of Leavenworth, Kansas, who made a collection of books and manuscripts