Existing comment:
The Transfer of Upper Louisiana, March 9-10, 1804:
Although Spain returned Louisiana to France by secret treaty in 1800, a formal transfer had not taken place. The Upper Louisiana Territory was transferred to France and then to the United States in a ceremony held in St. Louis on March 9-10, 1804.
Charles De Hault Delassus, the Spanish Commandant at St. Louis, ordered the transfer ceremony to take place in front of the Government House on First Street, near where the south leg of the Gateway Arch stands today. French authorities in New Orleans deputized an American, Capt. Amos Stoddard, to accept the territory from Spain on behalf of the French Republic. The French flag was raised on March 9.
On March 10, Capt. Stoddard conveyed the territory from France to the United States, represented by the Meriwether Lewis. That ceremony formally opened the vast lands of the Missouri River basin to United States expansion. |