1To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 22 May 1800 (Jefferson Papers)
I have been obliged by a letter from you, with reference to two Italian Busts, which you Expect to receive by way of New Orleans, and being on the Eve of my departure hence for that City, in my route to the Atlantic States, (probably to land at the City of Washington) I embrace the present occasion to make this acknowledgement, and to offer you my assurances of attention, to the Commission...
2To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 1 September 1800 (Jefferson Papers)
I will rely on your goodness to excuse this intrusion produced by my desire to prevent interpretations, which I should be sorry to merit— Your Letter of the 16th. Jany:, after some considerable lapse of time, reached my Hands at Natchez, & was answered by a Mr. Nolan, anterior to my departure from thence in May— I had then cause for belief that Mr. N. would have presented Himself to you, long...
3To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 29 November 1800 (Jefferson Papers)
I enclose you a series of the Meteorological observations, which, should they be deemed worthy of record, may I hope be ascribed to the Author, the Honble Willm: Dunbar of the Forest near Natchez.— Some petrifactions, an Indian Knife, & a Sketch of the settled parts of the Mississippi Territory, are also offered for your amusement, but I must request that no copy of the Sketch may be allowed...
4To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson and Benjamin Hawkins, 1 September 1801 (Jefferson Papers)
Understanding from the public prints, that you are at Monticello, we avail ourselves of the direct conveyance to intrude on you our communications of the 25th ult , and of this day , to the secretary of War; and we hope you may approve of this deviation from the regular course of our correspondence, which we hazard, with the intent to secure time, for the seasonable arrival of any order you...
5To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 18 January 1802 (Jefferson Papers)
presuming that a sample of the Waters of the Mississippi & Arkansaw Rivers, remarkable for their difference to each other & to the Waters of all other Rivers within my Knowledge, may not be unacceptable to you, I avail myself of a conveyance by Doctor Carmichael of the Army, who will have the Honor to deliver this, to send you a Bottle of each, taken from those Rivers in their lowest & least...
6To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson (Jefferson Papers)
Your kind invitation to dinner this Day, increases the mortification I experience, from not being able to pay my respects to you—An affection of my Head & Breast, which I have resisted several Days, compeled me last Evening to lose blood & I am now under the operation of medicine—I lament the sudden departure of Baron Humbolt as I feel a strong Interest in having his answers to the quere?...
7To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 19 June 1804 (Jefferson Papers)
about 130 Leagues above the Cado nation & 230 from Natchitoches, we have discovered on either side the Red River, Cliffs of rock Salt—we also find several salt springs above this point & one below it, which discharge themselves into the River, & actually give a brackish taste to its Waters, as low down as the settlement of Natchitoches, during the recess of the floods, or rather before their...
8To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, with Jefferson’s Note, 1 July 1804 (Jefferson Papers)
General Wilkinson has the Honor to submit, to the private Inspection of the President, Portraits of several prominent Characters in Louisiana, (the Territory of Orleans) from the Pens of two Gentlemen, strangers to each other, of different Nations & opposite prejudices—The one a French Man, the other an Atlantic American—But both of them, decidedly opposed to the French Government, & as...
9Enclosure: Comments on Orleans Residents, with Jefferson’s Notes, 1 July 1804 (Jefferson Papers)
84. Borés—Character is not fully drawn,—for it might be said, that he is Industrious; Honorable in all his transactions, the ablest agriculturist in the Province and the author of the culture of Sugar, but He does not speak a word of English. 85. Detrihan—is well described, but does not understand English. 86. Poydras—of Pointe Coupeé, the Patron Friend & Representative of that very opulent...
10To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 5 July 1804 (Jefferson Papers)
I regret that Indisposition should have prevented the earlier acknowledgment of your obliging Note of the 3rd. Inst., and I hope it may not be unseasonable at this time, to submit to you the following brief remarks, in reply to that Note.— Mr. Borés intemperate conduct may be imputed to national prejudice, to a false estimate of his own importance, & a delusive reliance on the maternal...
11To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 10 November 1804 (Jefferson Papers)
I regret that a variety of interruptions & engagements, should have so long prevented my attention, to the subject you did me the Honor to mention to me.— On turning it in my Mind, the Idea occurred to me that your proposition could not be better sustained, than by an examination of the System of defences, heretofore adopted for our Towns & Harbours, and a comparative view of its merits with...
12James Wilkinson to Thomas Jefferson, 21 January 1811 (Jefferson Papers)
It is a long time since I have been inclined to write to you, but the pressure of my persecutions, the desolation of my humble fortunes, the abandonment of those who owed me support, and that inextinguis h able pride which is inseperable from conscious Honor, have prevented me.— And now I should not intrude on your time, but to repel a falsehood which has recently come to my knowledge, viz...
13James Wilkinson to Thomas Jefferson, 4 August 1818 (Jefferson Papers)
Residing as I do on the right Bank of the Mississippi seven Leagues below N. Orleans , it is no matter of surprize that your Letter , of the 25 th of June , was not received before the 1 st Inst. I perceive with great pleasure, that the chat chaste harmony which has distinguis h
14To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 27 September 1822 (Jefferson Papers)
Should this letter reach your hands, it will be through the medium of his Excellency Don José Sosaya, Minister Plenipotenciary from this Empire to the United States. This gentleman, a native Mexican of Castilian descent, is highly respected by his Countrymen for his intelligence & amiable dispositions, & he enjoys the entire confidence & esteem of his majesty the Emperor; I know your...
15To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 21 March 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
Confidential It is rather to gratify curiosity than from the expectation of Utility, that I send you by Mr. Jn o Andrews of Phil a samples of a few of the Seeds of this Country, to amuse your agricultural avocations; and therefore should they be turned either to pleasure or profit under your fostering direction, I shall experience unexpected complacency—should Col. Randolph be near you? I will...
16To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 21 March 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
Seed & Grain committed to the care of M r Andrews For M r Jefferson Chirimolla, Avocatò, Zapotè, & Mameè arboras tropical Fruits Beans in great variety, call’d Frijol; & compos g the chief aliment of the Natives Two kinds blue early Corn, 1 Red, 1 White Flour, & 2 white of Cantilope from “tierra Caliente” plucked before ripe for this Market—I have seen neither Melons n or Oranges on this Plain...
17To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 31 March 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
This package has been in the hands of the Banditti on the Road from Mexico DLC : Papers of Thomas Jefferson.
18To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 20 July 1824 (Jefferson Papers)
The Bearer the Honble Col. Dawson, having, proposed to make the Tour of our beloved Country; I could not do otherwise than present Him to the Chief of Monticello, where I am pursuaded this distinguished young Gentleman, will experience that Urbanity & those sweet Courtesies, which are familiar to the Master of the Mansion. It is not the noble descent of Col. Dawson, who claims for maternal...
19To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 27 June 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
In a case which excites the sharpest self-reproach & exposes me to severe reprehension, I venture to address myself directly to you, with the hope that you may spare me the publick humiliation, which I have merited by an inexcusable (tho innocent) omission of Duty. The precise injunctions of the Law, relatively to the Oath of Office I am to take, as Governor of the Territory of Louisiana, had...
20To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 22 October 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
The Bearer hereof Capt. Amos Stoddard, who conducts the Indian deputation on their visit to you, has charge of a few natural productions of this Territory, to amuse a leisure Moment, and also a Savage delineation on a Buffaloe Pelt, of the Missouri & its South Western Branches, including the Rivers plate & Lycorne or Pierre jaune; This Rude Sketch without Scale or Compass “et remplie de...
21To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 6 November 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
I have the Honor to enclose you a list of the Articles transmited you by Captain Stoddard, which may I hope afford you an Hours amusement.— The Cotton Tree (Populus Deltoide of Bartram) is rarely to be found above limestone on the Ohio, but abounds on the Bottom of that River below the Rapids, and on the Mississippi & Missouri as high up as I have been—The favourite Soil of this Tree is...
22To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 23 December 1805 (Jefferson Papers)
The opposition of a party of Kances Indians, to a small detachment destined up the Missouri, for the purpose of returning to their respective Nations, the Riccari & otto Chiefs, sent down last Spring by Captain Lewis, puts it in my Power to introduce the former to You. From observation & the limited Enquiry to which I am confined by an illiterate Interpreter, I think you may be able to derive...
23To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 29 March 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
Could I be so vain as to impute aught of personal regard, to the generous & paternal support which you have recently given to my official pretensions, I should not hesitate to implore you to forbear the indulge of every sympathy towards me, which might cause you one single Enemy, however undeserved or contemptible—Dispose of me Sir as your private Interests, or the National Service may...
24To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 21 October 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I find from a public print lately established in Kentucky, the main object of which is the ensuing presidential Election, That the cause of Easton, Case, Lucas, Hammond & other Mal Contents of Louisiana, has made a powerful acquisition in the Pen of John Wood, by whom I have “en passant” been bespattered with Obloquy, & slandered with a degree of virulence & indecency surpassing all example,...
25To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 21 October 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
Whatever may be the general impropriety, I pursuade myself that on a Subject irrelative to my official obligations, I shall be excused for addressing you directly & confidentially; But I have another & a more cogent reason, for deviating, in this instance, from the ordinary course of my Correspondence; It is possible the momentous occasion of this Letter, & the vital importance attached to it,...
26To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 26 October 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
The following information appears to rest on such broad and explicit grounds, as to exclude all doubts of its authenticity: A numerous and powerful association, extending from New York through the western states to the territory bordering on the Mississippi, has been formed with the design to levy and rendezvous eight or ten thousand men in New Orleans at a very near period; and from thence,...
27To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 12 November 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I again intrude upon you the subject of the duplicate under cover, which presents a spectacle of human depravity, to excite our sorrow, indignation and abhorrence. Many circumstances have intervened since my last, confirmatory of the information previously received, and demonstrative of a deep, dark and wicked conspiracy. My doubts have ceased, and it is my opinion, that nought but an...
28To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 28 November 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
Claiborne appears to be properly impressed par le awful crisis which awaits us, and promises every support in his power. Les troops are behind moi 145.24 & la 195.4 321.14 a commencer. My difficulties are stupendous—my means to be provided—my time prompt unthriving and the occasion urgent and critical. Mais une good cause—the favour du ciel—religious and patriotic hearts 126.19 work wonders....
29To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 9 December 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
I must trust to the peculiar delicacy and difficulty of my situation for the motive and the excuse of this third intrusion on the same momentous subject.—Between the alternatives of waiting for instructions from the proper department (whose last orders to me bear date the 9th. of June) until from the feeble and defenceless condition in which I find this place, the enemy should gain the portal...
30To Thomas Jefferson from James Wilkinson, 9 December 1806 (Jefferson Papers)
Accompanied by governor Claiborne, I, a few minutes since, met the merchants of the city, and in a short address, to which my sensibilities gave direction, I explained to them the causes which had produced the assembly of the troops at this place, and the preparations which were making to fortify the town; painted to them, in glowing colors, the impending dangers which menaced the city and...