THE LOUISIANA
PURCHASE; A
CLASH OF
CULTURES; NEW
LAND, NEW
BEGINNINGS
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
 Napoleon Bonaparte seized power in France at the
end of the French Revolution in 1799 and he set out
to conquer the world. He wanted to restore the
French Empire in North America and persuaded
Spain to give up Louisiana Spain to give up
Louisiana. President Thomas Jefferson was alarmed
to learn that France would control New Orleans. After
a failed attempt to gain control of the Mississippi
because of a yellow fever epidemic, Napoleon agreed
to sell the territory and New Orleans for $15 million.
The United States bought some 600 million acres for
about 4 cents an acre. Congress first created two
territories – Oklahoma was part of the District of
Louisiana
EXPLORING THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE
In 1803, President Jefferson asked Congress to fund
an expedition that would cross the Louisiana territory.
Jefferson was very interested in learning about the
geography of the West, the people, plants, animals,
soil, rocks, and weather. Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark were in command of an expedition for which
$2,500 was appropriated (set aside). The expedition,
known as the Corpse of Discovery, traveled over 4,000
miles by water and land to reach the Pacific Ocean.
They returned with an enormous amount of
information.
The Sparks Expedition – Jefferson wanted
another expedition to firmly establish the
boundary between Spain and the United States.
Jefferson told the explorers to take detailed
notes and to let the Native Americans know that
there was a “Great Father” in Washington.
Sparks was confronted by a large Spanish Army
and forced to turn back.
 The Pikes-Wilkinson Expedition - Zebulon M. Pike
joined the army and became the protégé (young person
who receives experienced guidance) of James
Wilkinson. In 1805, Pike was ordered to explore the
upper Mississippi River. Then, he was sent to explore
the Arkansas and Red Rivers and make contact with
the various tribes. Pike left St. Louis and went up the
Mississippi River with 23 men plus 51 Osage he was
escorting to their villages. At the Arkansas River,
Wilkinson, 5 privates, and an Osage Guide left Pike to
explore the river. Pike continued west toward the Rocky
Mountains and arrived at the peak named for him. Pike
and his men were arrested by a Spanish patrol and
held until July 1807.
a. The Sibley Expedition – Salt, essential in diets and to
preserve food and tan hides, was a valuable
commodity (article of trade). Jefferson was intent on
learning more about the rumored salt mountains on
the Plains. In 1811, he sent Native American agent,
George Champlin Sibley, to make friends and allies
with the Natives and find the salt mountains. They
came to an area that was “glistening like a brilliant
field of snow in the summer sun”. Sibley called the 20
mile area of the “Great Saline” and described it as 2-6
inches of clean, pure salt.
 The Long Expedition – Stephen H. Long traveled 26,000
miles in five expeditions, two of which ventured into
Oklahoma. The War Department decided to establish a
military post on the western boundary of the Arkansas
territory to address the growing hostilities between the
Osage and other tribes. Major Long had the job of
finding a suitable site. He selected Belle Pointe, where
the Arkansas and Red Rivers converge, for the post
that became Fort Smith in 1817. He then explored
parts of eastern Oklahoma.
 The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819
 Spain sold Florida for 5 million; border between Louisiana
and Texas was established as the west bank of the Sabine
River; Spain’s northern border was the south bank of the Red
River; Spain gave up its claims to the Oregon Territory
 In 1819, Major William Bradford, from the Fort Smith post,
had orders to expel people who were in eastern Oklahoma
illegally; many of these were renegades (deserters) or
fugitives. The noted botanist Thomas Nuttall joined. He
studied plants and animals along the rivers and in the
mountains of eastern Oklahoma. He wrote about his
experiences in the area in the “Journal of Travels into the
Arkansas Territory”
THE THREE FORKS AREA
 Americans continued moving west. Fort Smith was established
in 1817; that same year, two Americans, Robert M. French and
Samuel M. Rutherford, started a trading post on the Verdigris
River a few miles north of present-day Muskogee. In the next
few years, more and more American traders came into the
area. Brothers Pierre and Auguste Chouteau had a large
trading operation.
 Waterways were extremely important to early commerce, and
trading posts were located near them. When water levels were
high, rivers were the best way to travel. Indians used either
rafts or dugout canoes (pirogues) made from trees found along
the streams. Canoes carrying light loads were ideal for
navigating through the narrowest waterways. Canoes helped
move produce and deer, bear, otter, beaver, and buffalo skins
to the Three Forks trading area and to the military posts Fort
Gibson and Fort Smith.
The location just northeast of present-day Muskogee where three major
rivers – the Arkansas, Verdigris, and Grand – joined (called the Three
Forks area) soon became the hub of trading activity. Trappers and hunters
used the trading posts in the area to stock up on supplies and sell furs.
The Osage brought furs, fowl, wild honey, bear oil, and buffalo robes to
trade for beads, blankets, knives, trinkets, and cloth. Nathaniel Pryor, a
member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, opened a small trading post
in the area. Colonel A.P. Chouteau and partner Joseph Revoir established
the Osage Outfit trading post just north of Saline Creek. When Revoir
and his Osage wife were killed by a band of Cherokees in 1821; Chouteau
moved from St. Louis to take over operations of the post.
1830s, game was becoming scarce and the fur trade was slowing in
eastern Oklahoma. Contrary to earlier reports of Oklahoma being unfit
for agriculture, products like salt lead, pecans, and grain shipped out of
the Three Forks area were certainly agriculture related.
RED RIVER TRADING POST
OPENING TRADE ROUTES
 In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain.
Traders to the north hoped this would open up trade
with Santa Fe and other settlements. Glenn and Pryor
set north into Kansas and followed the Arkansas
River into southeastern Colorado. They found
excellent trading in the Pueblo area and returned to
St. Louis when they had more furs then they could
carry.
 About the same time, William Becknell, a Missouri
trader, left with a caravan headed for Santa Fe. The
route Becknell took became known as the Santa Fe
Trail; hundreds followed this route.
RIVER - PIROGUES
TREATIES
A. President Jefferson wanted to tie the Indian nations to
the United States with treaties, partly to help assure
the security of the new country. Jefferson intended to
gain land and trade and keep the Indian tribes as allies
of the US and not any European country. He hoped the
treaties would encourage the Native Americans to
adopt the European way of life, shifting from hunting
to farming. While others felt they were inferior,
Jefferson believed they could “Americanize”
NEW STATES
When Louisiana became a state, the territory
including Oklahoma was renamed the Missouri
Territory. Missouri Compromise – Missouri was
admitted as a slave state and Maine was
admitted as a free state. Kansas-Nebraska Act,
Dred Scott decision
EARLY MIGRATIONS
 For years, many Native Americans tribes had found
the land of Oklahoma ideal for hunting and trading,
despite some calling it “desert”. Tribes sometimes
moved from one area to another to find better food
sources or to escape enemy tribes. An average
territory or roaming area for many Plains Indians was
500 to 800 miles. Early on Oklahoma was included in
the roaming area of several tribes.
 The Wichita tribe had relocated from the northern
part of Oklahoma to the southern Red River Valley
partly to escape their hated enemy, the Osage.
 Some Caddo were also living along the Red River in
southeastern Oklahoma. The sociable, industrious tribe
was known for its use of sign language, which had been
developed to facilitate trade with other tribes.
 The Kiowa tribe drifted to the Central Plains where they
fought the Comanche. In the late 1700s, the two tribes
became allies. In 1833, Osage warriors attacked a Kiowa
camp in southwestern Oklahoma killing some 150 Kiowa
in what is now called the Cutthroat Massacre. The Osage
lived between the Missouri River and the Arkansas River
which includes northeastern Oklahoma.
 Some Shawnee migrated (moved from one place to
another) into Oklahoma in the early 1800s
EARLY FORTS
 In an attempt to halt violence between tribes that discouraged
other tribes from relocating to Oklahoma, the US Secretary of
War ordered the establishment of Fort Smith.
 Originally known as Cantonment, Fort Gibson was established
on the Grand River by Colonel Matthew Arbuckle to protect
white people and Native Americans in the area. While work
had been underway on Fort Gibson, Arbuckle had other troops
at the joining of the Red and Kiamichi Rivers called Towson.
Here, soldiers regulated the trade between Native Americans
and white people and helped to keep the peace in the region.
Later, this Fort would help to protect the relocated Cherokee.
Federal funds were appropriated to build a road from Fort
Smith to Fort Towson.
CHEROKEE OUTLET
a. White settlers continued to press into Western Cherokee land in
Arkansas. In 1828, the Western Cherokee agreed to exchange their
Arkansas land for land in Indian Territory. The new Cherokee lands
included 7 million acres in northeastern Oklahoma and a “perpetual
outlet west”, which extended their land west in approximately 60 mile
wide strip to the border of the U.S. territory (Oklahoma’s western
border). This strip became known as the “Cherokee Outlet”.
b. In addition, the treaty included $50,000 for the inconvenience of
moving, $2,000 a year for three years for livestock, $2,000 a year for
ten years for education, $1,000 for printing press and type, $500 to
Sequoyah for the “great benefits he has conferred to the Cherokee
people. This treaty laid the groundwork for relocating the eastern
Cherokee to Indian Territory.
REMOVAL
 in 1817, President James Monroe declared that the
security of the nation depended on quick settlement
along the southern coast which meant moving the
natives west. Like Monroe, Jackson believed in
speedy removal of the Natives despite the fact that
some had adopted “civilized” lifestyles. By 1824,
Jackson had negotiated nine treaties that added
large parcels of land to the southeastern states. In
the 1820 treaty of Doak’s Stand, the Choctaw gave
up their fertile southeastern lands for a large area in
southern Oklahoma, southwest Arkansas, and part of
New Mexico.
THE 5 TRIBES
 The five major tribes in the southeastern United
States were the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw,
Cherokee, and Seminole. The U.S. government’s plan
of “educating” Indians so they would conform to the
way of white settlers had been underway for several
years. Missionaries, primarily Presbyterian, Baptist,
and Methodist, had worked among the tribes for
some time to educate and Christianize them. A
number of racial intermarriages had also taken place
over the years between Indians and Europeans
combining their cultures.
 Because of their willingness to accept the new
“civilized” ways, these tribes came to be known as
the 5 Civilized Tribes. The lifestyles of many in the 5
Civilized Tribes changed from nomadic hunting and
subsistence farming to raising livestock and
operating large farms. Some with larger plantations
bought black slaves and built large mansions. Tribal
government became more centralized, and some
tribes opened their own stores and trading posts.
Sequoyah’s invention of a written Cherokee syllabary
(alphabet) greatly assisted the teachers and his tribes. By
1828, the first Cherokee newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix,
was published. Using the Syllabary, Samuel Worchester
translated the Bible into Cherokee. The Cherokee developed
a written constitution modeled after the U.S. constitution and
established a capital at New Echota, Georgia. The capital
included a council house, supreme court building, a building
for a printing press, and a public square. Even though they
were “civilizing”, white settlers continued to demand more
and more of their land. The Cherokee attempted to use the
U.S. legal system to protect their land.
 Recreated Council House
at New Echota
INDIAN REMOVAL ACT
In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal
Act. Pushed by President Jackson, the bill
caused an uproar in Congress. Some were
strongly against the forced removal of the
natives. However, some agreed with Senator
Wilson who urged Congress to, “build a fire
under them. When it gets hot enough, they’ll
move.”
 The intention of the bill was to negotiate treaties with
Indian tribes by which the tribes would exchange the land
they were living on for other land west of the Mississippi
River. Those who wished to remain where they were would
become citizens of the state. The relocation was supposed
to be peaceful and voluntary, and for the few who resettled
quickly, it was. The War Department attempted to protect
the Indians who stayed in their homes but settlers did not
give up their pursuit of land. The far-reaching legislation
affected not only the 5 Civilized Tribes in the southeast but
also many tribes in the North and those who already called
Indian Territory home.
CHOCTAW REMOVAL
 The Choctaw tribe was first encouraged to relocate to Indian Territory
after the 1820 Treaty of Doak’s Stand, which included an exchange of
lands; funds for education, police, and moving; and a government
agent. In 1825, the Choctaw Boundary Treaty helped rid the area of
settlers and established an eastern boundary of what was to become
Oklahoma. Reluctantly, Choctaw leaders saw removal as the only way to
survive. Choctaw chiefs Greenwood Leflore, Moshulatubbe, and
Nitakechi met with the Secretary of War John Eaton and General John
Coffee at the Dancing Rabbit Creek council ground; the 1830, Treaty of
Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Choctaw Nation ceded all its lands east of
the Mississippi River and agreed to move to the Indian Territory for 3
years. The US agreed to pay the tribe education and relocation funds, as
well as to provide plows, axes, hoes, blankets, spinning wheels, looms,
rifles, bullet molds, and ammunition. Choctaw who stayed were allotted
a set amount of land, and they were subject to the laws of the state.
George Gaines, supervisor of the Choctaw removal, set a timetable of
moving 1/3 of the people each year from 1831 to 1833. Removal was
difficult – food shortages, poorly clothed, and epidemic diseases
CREEK REMOVAL
 The Muscogee (Creek) was a confederacy of several tribes in the
Georgia-Alabama area who were referred to as the Upper Creek or
Lower Creek. Chief William McIntosh ceded all Lower Creek land in the
Treaty of Indian Springs in 1825. Angered by the treaty, tribal members
killed McIntosh and other leaders they believed had betrayed them. By
1830 some 3,000 Creek were living on their new land. A few wealthy
Creek built comfortable log homes, but most suffered from hunger and
disease and a delay in government-promised supplies. They also faced
raids by Delaware and Osage who resented newcomers. In 1832, the
Creek signed another treaty – it opened a large portion of their
Alabama land to settlers. Land speculators cheated many Creek out of
their land and the destitute Creek began stealing livestock and crops
from settlers. In 1836, troops were sent to end the “Creek War”.
Defeated, hungry, miserable, almost 15,000 Creek were forcibly
removed and escorted overland to the Indian Territory.
CHICKASAW REMOVAL
 The Chickasaw of northern Mississippi were also targeted for
removal. The Chickasaw, like other tribes, were encouraged to
purchase trade goods beyond their ability to pay for them.
Many would cede their land to pay for the debt. In the 1832,
Treaty of Pontotoc Creek, the Chickasaw agreed to sell their
lands east of the Mississippi River. Each family could stay on
an allotment (portion of land) until suitable homes in the
West were found. By 1836, the Chickasaw agreed to relocate
to a district within the Choctaw Nation for $530,000. The
Chickasaw removal, aided by location and good tribal
management, was probably the smoothest of the 5 Tribes.
But, they too faced hardships – cholera, spoiled rations.
CHEROKEE REMOVAL
 Many Cherokee had embraced the white lifestyle, and they
were prospering. Their capital, New Echota, was a bustling
town; written constitution in 1827; many young people went
to eastern colleges. In 1828, Georgia claimed all of the land
within its borders. Cherokee appealed to the U.S. Supreme
Court but lost. Also, Samuel Worchester and other
missionaries were indicted for working with the Cherokee
without a state license which was an attempt to stop them
from helping the Cherokee resist removal. The case of
Worchester v Georgia was appealed to the Supreme Court in
1832, and the Georgia law was declared invalid. However,
President Jackson ignored the Court’s ruling and said that
Chief Justice John Marshall, “had rendered his decision, now
let him enforce it”.
 Worcester
Then, the discovery of gold in Georgia fueled the frenzy for land.
The state militia destroyed the Cherokee Phoenix printing press,
and many Cherokee began to view removal as the best way to
survive. The Cherokee received $5 million for their eastern
lands and were relocated to the Western Cherokee lands within
two years. Some refused to recognize the treaty – in 1838,
some 7,000 U.S. troops were ordered to round up the remaining
Cherokee and place them in stockades. Groups of about 1 ,000
traveled on foot along various routes to Indian Territory,
enduring bad roads, storms, blizzards, sickness, and sorrow. An
estimated 4,000 Cherokee died before reaching the new land in
early springs. In June 1839, the Western Cherokee and Eastern
Cherokee had separate council meetings. Three days after this
meeting, Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot were
assassinated. In July, the Eastern and Western Cherokee
adopted an “Act of Union” and became one body as the
Cherokee Nation. They adopted a constitution in September,
and it was approved in June 1840.
SEMINOLE REMOVAL
 The Seminole were the last of the 5 Tribes to be forced into
Indian Territory. Freedom -seeking slaves often found protection
and refuge in the Seminole land, which greatly angered slave
owners. From 1817 to 1818, General Andrew Jackson waged war
against the tribe in the First Seminole War. One result of that
war was that Spain ceded East Florida to the US. The 1823
Treaty of Moultrie Creek provided that the tribe move to
swampland in central Florida. The 1832 Treaty of Payne’s
Landing called for the Seminole to move to Indian Territory when
“suitable” land was found for them within three years. Some
Seminole peacefully left Florida beginning in 1836, but a group
led by Osceola fiercely resisted. From 1835 to 1842, U.S. troops
fought, tracked down, and captured 3,000 Indians in the Second
Seminole War, another 500 eluded capture. The war cost more
than $20 million, and 1 ,500 U.S. Soldiers were killed. Those
caught were forced onto steamboats that carried them to New
Orleans and then up the Mississippi. They were sent overland to
Fort Gibson and to the Creek lands.
STOKES COMMISSION
 Some sort of commission was needed to help Indians adjust
and work out problems. President Jackson appointed Montfort
Stokes of North Carolina to chair the Federal Indian
Commission in 1832. Although in his seventies, Stokes proved
to be a tireless warrior for the Indians. Conflicting boundaries
were resolved, and western and eastern tribes were
harmoniously brought together. He argued against, and won,
moving troops from Fort Gibson to Fort Smith.
NEW LAND, NEW BEGINNINGS
Forts - a flurry of military posts, both
temporary and more permanent ones,
were set up in the first half of the 1800s.
The posts helped maintain a variety of
people in the territory, as some cultures
adapted to the changes and others did not.
 Fort Sill
NEGOTIATING PEACE
 The Osage’s Cutthroat Gap Massacre of the Kiowa
Indians was one of the many attacks by Plains Indians on
other Indians, white traders, and hunters. In 1834,
General Henry Leavenworth led an expedition form Fort
Gibson that was designed to impress the Wichita, Kiowa,
and Comanche with the U.S. military power, in hopes of
securing peace. The eight companies of 500 dragoons
(armed cavalry men) wore striking uniforms with gold
adornments, plumed caps, shiny black boots with yellow
spurs, white gloves, steel sabers, and orange silk sashes.
In 1835, a treaty was signed that provided that travelers
and traders would not be harmed and that all tribes
would keep peace with each other.
NEW FORTS
 Fort Coffee was built in 1834 near Swallow Rock on
the Arkansas River in what is now LeFlore County as
an entry post for relocated Osage. Troops also
attempted to prevent illegal whiskey from coming
into the territory. Fort Wayne, in Delaware County,
was built in 1838 in the Cherokee Nation. Fort
Washita was founded in 1842 near Durant to protect
the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes. Fort Arbuckle was
set up near present-day Davis in 1851 to prevent
harm to the southeastern tribes.
SURVEYING
Without a formal survey (making a detailed
map of an area), there was confusion and
overlapping boundaries. In 1831, Reverend
Isaac McCoy was commissioned to survey the
boundaries of the 7 million-acre Cherokee
Nation as set out in the treaty in 1828. It was
not until 1866 that all of the Indian Territory,
except the Panhandle, was surveyed.
ADAPTING TO INDIAN TERRITORY
There were no established towns and little
shelter; broken promises from the U.S.
government were frequent; food – if it arrived –
was spoiled; traders took advantage and
sometimes sold supplies intended for the tribes;
other trades got tribes members drunk and left
them penniless
THE FIVE TRIBES
Food, clothing, and shelter were the
first order of business for the new
arrivals. Once their basic needs were
met, they turned their attention to
reestablishing life.
CHOCTAW
 In 1834, the Choctaw adopted a new constitution
that gave the lawmaking authority to 27 elected
council members and an extensive bill of rights
protects human rights. In 1843, a house of
representatives was added. By 1860, Choctaw
government included 3 branches – leg, jud, and exec.
Missionaries encouraged the Choctaw to formally
educate their children if they were to co -exist; the
first Choctaw school was started in 1821, before
relocation.
 One of the first schools in the territory was Wheelock Academy,
founded in 1833 by Alfred and Harriet Wright. In 1842, the
Choctaw took control of Wheelock Academy and turned it into a
girls’ school with an academy for boys built nearby. By 1837, the
Choctaw were improving and prospering in their new homes.
Extra corn was being sold to troops at Fort Towson and two
cotton gins were built near the Red River. Sheep, cattle, hogs,
and horses were raised. Three of the five stores in Doaksville
were owned by Choctaw Indians. African American slaves helped
make the cotton industry in the territory and helped build the
large plantation homes of their owners. A newspaper, the
Choctaw Telegraph, was published in Doaksville in 1848; the
Choctaw Ingelligencer newspaper began publication in 1850 in
Choctaw and English.
CREEK
 Lower Creek – settled on farms and plantations along the
Arkansas and Verdigris; Upper Creek – reestablished towns
along the Canadian River and its branches. Creeks used logs
to build their houses; cooking was done inside the fireplace
and outside over an open fire. In 1839, the Upper Creek and
Lower Creek joined as a single government at the National
Council at High Springs. Ball games, dances, races, feasts,
and camp meetings provided entertainment. The Creek owned
a large number of slaves who helped them produce crops of
corn, sweet potatoes, beans, peas, melons, peaches, cotton,
and rice. The Creek were suspicious of white people and many
resented missionaries for trying to make them give up their
tribal customs.
CHICKASAW
 The industrious Chickasaw raised cotton, wheat,
oats, rye, and corn. White emigrants on their way to
Texas made up a market for their goods. Hostile
Indians frequently raided the Chickasaw and
desperados (bold outlaws) fleeing Texas law took
refuge in unpoliced areas. In 1844, the first written
Chickasaw law was printed and in 1848, the tribe
adopted its first constitution.
CHEROKEE
 In 1840, Tahlequah was selected as the tribal capital.
Several missionaries – in 1829, the Dwight Mission was
established in Indian Territory. Samuel Worchester was
named superintendent of Park Hill Mission which
included a printing press, grist mills, shops, stables,
farms, book binderies, and dormitories. In 1841, the
Cherokee planned 11 public schools, with the
superintendent and teachers being paid $30 a month. In
1844, the Cherokee published their first newspaper in
Indian Territory, The Cherokee Advocate, in Tahlequah
which was printed in both Cherokee and English.
SEMINOLE
 Battle weary, the exhausted Seminole arrived cold and
hungry in a land that was vastly different form their
Florida home. They were expected to live on the
Muscogee Lands and become part of the Creek nation
but they refused to live under the Creek government. In
1845, the Creek agreed to let the Seminole settle as a
group or as they pleased in the Creek Nation and make
their own regulations, subject to the Creek Council.
Seminole did not adapt to the moves as quickly as the
other tribes. In 1856, a treaty separated the Seminole
and Creek and provided additional funds to other
Seminole to relocate from Florida.
Many historians refer to the time between
removal and the Civil War as the “Golden
Years”.