To Thomas Jefferson from Auguste Chouteau, 20 November 1804
From Auguste Chouteau
St. Louis le 20. Novembre 1804
Monsieur
Monsr. le capitaine Lewis dans le séjour qu’il a fait ici avant son depart pour le Missoury, m’avoit chargé de vous envoyer des notes relatives aux nations sauvages, et au commerce qui se fait dans la Louisiane, et dont ce district est susceptible; Comme Je m’occupois de ce travail conséquent, J’ai été nommé par les habitans du District de la Louisiane, pour présenter au Congrès leur petition; Mission que J’ai accepté avec joie, espérant qu’elle me fourniroit l’occasion de faire votre connoissance, et de vous assurer de mon entier dévouement. J’ai alors suspendu mon travail, préferant répondre de vive voix, aux questions que Mr Lewis m’a laissées par écrit. Mais après cinq jours de route, J’ai été arreté par la goutte, et forcé de revenir chez moi. Je ne puis vous exprimer, Monsieur, combien Je suis peiné de ce contretems, qui m’empêche de répondre à la confiance de mes cometans et en même temps de satisfair aux desirs du Cape. Lewis; mais pour y remedier autant que possible, J’envoye à Mr. J. Wm. Eppes d’après le conseil de Mr Harrison notre gouverneur, la petition de nos habitans, en le priant de vouloir bien être l’avocat de notre cause, et d’aider de ses conseils Mr Eligius Fromentin, qui est comme moi réprésentans des habitans du District de la Louisiane: Je vais reprendre avec ardeur, mon travail, pour vous l’envoyer le plus promptement possible; mais comme il exige beaucoup de reflexions et de temps, Je crois devoir par cette occasion, vous envoyer quelques notes, qui pourront vous intéresser, quoiqu’elles ne repondent point entierement aux questions du Capitaine Lewis.
Par des nouvelles certaines, J’ai appris que le Cape. Lewis étoit arrivé sans aucun accident a Huit cent cinquante mille de l’ambouchure du Missoury a l’époque du 19. d’aoust dernier, que les sauvages l’avoyent parfaitement reçus; et Je presume qu’il passera la saison de L’hivers chez les Mandanes, à environ 1300 Miles d’ici.
Si J’avois eu le bonheur de vous voir, mon intention étoit de vous recommander les habitans de la Louisiane comme des Citoyens soumis et fidels, mais qui ont besoin d’encouragement, et de vous inspirer pour eux, l’état qu’ils meritent. J’ose me flatter que vous ne trouverez pas mauvais, que Je fasse par ecrit, ce que Je conptois faire si J’avois eu L’honneur de vous voir. Mes cometans et moi, Monsieur, nous sommes infiniment jaloux de meriter votre estime, et sommes décidés à faire tout pour l’obtenir Si J’étois assez heureux pour pouvoir vous être utile en quelque chose que ce soit, Je vous prie de disposer sans réserve, de celui qui a L’honneur d’etre avec les sentiments du respect le plus profond
Monsieur Votre Très humble & très obeissant Serviteur.
Augte. Chouteau
Editors’ Translation
St. Louis, 20 Nov. 1804
Sir,
Before Captain Lewis left for the Missouri, he asked me to send you some notes about the native nations and about Louisiana trade that might involve this district. While I was working on this, the inhabitants of Louisiana District asked me to present their petition to Congress. I accepted the mission with joy, hoping it would offer an opportunity to meet you and tell you of my wholehearted devotion. I interrupted my report, since I preferred to reply in person to Mr. Lewis’s written questions. But after five days on the road, I was struck by gout and forced to return home. I cannot tell you, Sir, how dismayed I was by this setback which prevents me both from fulfilling the mission entrusted by my constituents and from carrying out Captain Lewis’s wishes. To compensate as quickly as possible, and following Governor Harrison’s advice, I am sending our inhabitants’ petition to Mr. Eppes, asking him to be an advocate for our cause and to advise Mr. Eligius Fromentin, who also represents the residents of Louisiana District. I will ardently resume my work and send it to you as soon as possible, but since it requires much thought and time, I felt compelled to send some notes that might interest you, even if they do not fully respond to Captain Lewis’s questions.
Through reliable sources, I learned that Captain Lewis arrived safely, 850 miles from the mouth of the Missouri, on 19 Aug. The natives welcomed him impeccably. I presume he will spend the winter with the Mandans, about 1,300 miles from here.
If I had been fortunate enough to see you, I would have recommended the Louisianans as loyal, obedient citizens, who need encouragement, and made a case for the statehood they deserve. I dare flatter myself that you will not judge me badly for doing in writing what I intended to do in person if I had had the honor of seeing you. My constituents and I, Sir, are infinitely eager to warrant your esteem and determined to do everything to obtain it. If I might serve you in any way, I beg you not to hesitate to call upon someone who, with deepest respect, has the honor of being your very humble and obedient servant.
Augte. Chouteau
RC (DLC); in a clerk’s hand, signed by Chouteau; at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson Esqr”; endorsed by TJ as received 3 Jan. 1805 and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) Charles Gratiot to Meriwether Lewis, St. Louis, 13 Nov.; taking advantage of his brother-in-law Auguste Chouteau’s journey to Washington, he encloses information on the Louisiana District; he apologizes for not obtaining answers on all locales, but trusts that Chouteau and Amos Stoddard “will supply to my difficiency”; the statement of Mr. Cousin of Cape Girardeau “can be depended upon for his correctness” (RC in same; endorsed by TJ). (2) Bartholomew Cousin to Gratiot, Cape Girardeau, 24 Aug.; fulfilling his promise to Gratiot, Cousin encloses responses to the questions on the district of Cape Girardeau (RC in same; in French). (3) Cousin’s answers to questions posed by Lewis; the population of the Cape Girardeau district is about 1,300, of whom about 100 have arrived since the end of October 1803; there are about 180 slaves; about 168,000 arpents of land in the district have been granted under Spanish authority, most of that by the lieutenant governors; some land has been granted for services rendered to the government, and there has been some land conceded provisionally by the commandant; he characterizes rights to title of the citizens of the district as uncontestable; the wealth of the district is relatively low, most of it consisting of livestock; the area amounts to about 100 to 120 square miles, and the population density is about one family for every square mile; the largest settlements are at Cape Girardeau and an establishment of Germans about six miles northwest of the main settlement; there is also a settlement of about 40 families on a river known as “l’Eau blanche,” or white water; agriculture remains in its infancy in the district, but progress is being made; merchants have found it hard to establish stores, so he cannot estimate the value of imports to the district; most imports come from the United States; he is also uncertain about the amount of merchandise needed for the Indian trade, but exports from this trade and other activities go through New Orleans; properly speaking, there are no villages in the district; there is some mineral wealth that might be exploited, but so far no salines have been found; Indians in the area speak of salt deposits to the west; he closes by praising the elevated, salubrious situation of the Cape Girardeau district and predicts a bright future for it (MS in same: TJ Papers, 143:24793-5; in French; in Cousin’s hand, and signed by him on 24 Aug.; see Donald Jackson, ed., The Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with Related Documents, 1783-1854, 2 vols., 2d ed. [Urbana, Ill., 1978], 1:161-3).
Auguste Chouteau (1749-1829) was born in New Orleans. His father returned to France, and his mother eventually began a lifelong relationship with Pierre Laclède, a merchant who took Chouteau under his wing. Chouteau accompanied Laclède in 1763 when the latter was granted a monopoly to establish a fur-trading depot in the Illinois country. Having selected a site, Laclède entrusted Chouteau with supervising the construction of the first buildings in St. Louis and in subsequent years made Chouteau his chief clerk and then business partner. Upon Laclède’s death, Chouteau emerged, with the help of his half-brother Pierre Chouteau, as the leading businessman in St. Louis. Equally skilled in attracting the patronage of government authorities as they were in dealing with Indian nations, particularly the Osages, the Chouteaus developed a far-flung trading network. Auguste Chouteau supervised the brothers’ varied economic activities, which included trading, real estate, and banking. Although he jealously guarded privileges he had gained under Spanish rule, he was quick to embrace U.S. sovereignty. He provided logistical support to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, forwarded mineral samples and a survey of the Mississippi River to TJ, and secured appointments as a justice of the peace and commander of the local militia. For about six years after the War of 1812, he became a leading negotiator with trans-Mississippi Indians. He was the founding president of the Bank of Missouri, which became the federal depository in the territory, but in later years he devoted his economic activities to St. Louis’s real estate market (William E. Foley and C. David Rice, The First Chouteaus: River Barons of Early St. Louis [Urbana, Ill., 1983], 1-5, 8, 20, 37-42, 90-3, 98-101, 152-60, 177-9; ; , 13:33-8, 545, 547; Clark and Lewis to TJ, 18 May; Pierre Chouteau to TJ, 12 Oct.).
For the petition of residents of Louisiana District, see William Henry Harrison to TJ, 6 Nov.
Following Harrison’s advice, Chouteau appears to have enclosed the Louisiana petition in a letter to John Wayles Eppes, who likely presented it to the House of Representatives on 4 Jan. 1805 and chaired the committee formed to examine the petition. Harrison relayed to Chouteau Eppes’s opinion that the committee, while rejecting the view of the petitioners that the United States had violated the terms of the purchase treaty with France, would likely confirm citizenship rights and create a separate government for Louisiana District (, 5:78; Logan Esarey, ed., Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison, 2 vols. [Indianapolis, 1922, repr., New York, 1975], 1:116-17).
arrivé sans aucun accident: on 19 Aug., the Lewis and Clark expedition camped about three miles above a village of the Omaha Indians, which Clark located 864 miles from the mouth of Missouri. The following day, they continued upriver but stopped at a river that they named Floyd, after a member of the party who died that day (, 2:485-96).