Louisiana Territory
The Louisiana Territory was a historic territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805 through December 11, 1812. It was formed from the District of Louisiana , that part of the territory of the French colony that the United States acquired from France in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 , which was not assigned to the Orleans Territory (which later became the State of Louisiana ). The Louisiana Territory consisted of the area that was acquired north of the 33 ° N parallel (the southern limit of today's state of Arkansas ) upon purchase. The seat of government was St. Louis .
In some contexts, Louisiana Territory is assigned to the French or Spanish Colonial Territories of Louisiana. This term is often used informally as a synonym for the entire territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase .
Meriwether Lewis (1807-1809) and William Clark (1813-1820) were both territorial governors of the Louisiana Territory.
The Louisiana Territory was divided into five parts: St. Louis District , St. Charles District , St. Genevieve District , Cape Girardeau District, and New Madrid District . In 1806, the territorial parliament created the District of Arkansas from the ceded areas of the Osage Nation . The remaining part became known as the Upper Louisiana Territory .
On October 1, 1812, Governor Clark established the five administrative districts of the Upper Louisiana Territory that later became the first five US counties of the Missouri Territory . In 1818, Franklin and Jefferson Counties were formed from the original St. Louis Counties. Current St. Louis County encompasses all of the areas remaining after this division, including St. Louis.
The Louisiana Territory was renamed Missouri Territory in 1812 to avoid confusion with the new state of Louisiana.
See also
Web links
- The Exploration and Legacy of the Louisiana Territory from The Library of Congress