Item #22503 An Account of Louisiana, Being an Abstract of Documents in the Offices of the Departments of State and of the Treasury
An Account of Louisiana, Being an Abstract of Documents in the Offices of the Departments of State and of the Treasury

An Account of Louisiana, Being an Abstract of Documents in the Offices of the Departments of State and of the Treasury

Philadelphia: Printed by William Duane, No. 106, Market Street, 1803.

Softcover. Very good. 50 pp, with one folding chart. Disbound. Paper lightly toned, partially unopened. One of several 1803 editions of the first official description of the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, transmitted to Congress by Thomas Jefferson on November 15th of that year. The unidentified compiler describes the area of Louisiana adjacent to New Orleans and then "escorts the reader on a tour up the Mississippi, noting each settlement in turn" (Wagner-Camp 2b:8), and proceeding onward along the Missouri. Information is given about the geography, laws, and resources of the region, and about many of the native tribes, including the Osages, Otos, Panis, Mahas, Poncas, Aricaras, and Mandans. The Streeter catalogue (III, 1576) states that "much of the information for this early account of the Louisiana Purchase was furnished by John Sibley of Natchitoches, Louisiana." Howes (L-493) also credits Sibley (1757-1837), a physician who moved to Natchitoches in 1802, traveled up the Red River in early 1803, and who later served as Indian agent for the Orleans Territory. Sabin 42177.

Item #22503

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