Chapter M: Gayoso De Lemos (1)

Reserve this letter.

P. S.--In the other letter I express the reason of my new
regulation, &c.

DANIEL CLARK, Esq.

* * * * *

_Extract from a paper on the commerce of Louisiana, supposed
to be referred to in a letter from Mr. Daniel Clark to the
Secretary of State, of the 18th April, 1798, and written by
him._

About the period of which we are now speaking, in the middle
of the year 1787, the foundation of an intercourse with
Kentucky and the settlements on the Ohio was laid, which daily
increases. Previous to that time, all those who ventured on the
Mississippi had their property seized by the first commanding
officer whom they met, and little or no communication was kept
up between the countries. Now and then, an emigrant who wished
to settle in Natchez, by dint of entreaty, and solicitation of
friends who had interest in New Orleans, procured permission to
remove there with his family, slaves, cattle, furniture, and
farming utensils; but was allowed to bring no other property,
except cash. An unexpected incident, however, changed the
face of things, and was productive of a new line of conduct.
The arrival of a boat, belonging to General Wilkinson, loaded
with tobacco and other productions of Kentucky, is announced
in town, and a guard was immediately sent on board of it.
The General’s name had hindered this being done at Natchez,
and the commandant was fearful that such a step might be
displeasing to his superiors, who might wish to show some
respect to the property of a general officer; at any rate, the
boat was proceeding to Orleans, and they would then resolve on
what measures they ought to pursue, and put in execution. The
Government, not much disposed to show any mark of respect or
forbearance towards the General’s property, he not having at
that time arrived, was about proceeding in the usual way of
confiscation, when a merchant in Orleans, who had considerable
influence there, and who was formerly acquainted with the
General, represented to the Governor that the measures taken
by the Intendant would very probably give rise to disagreeable
events; that the people of Kentucky were already exasperated at
the conduct of the Spaniards in seizing on the property of all
those who navigated the Mississippi; and, if this system was
pursued, they would very probably, in spite of Congress and the
Executive of the United States, take upon themselves to obtain
the navigation of the river by force, which they were well able
to do; a measure for some time before much dreaded by this
Government, which had no force to resist them, if such a plan
was put in execution. Hints were likewise given that Wilkinson
was a very popular man, who could influence the whole of that
country; and probably that his sending a boat before him,
with a wish that she might be seized, was but a snare at his
return to influence the minds of the people, and having brought
them to the point he wished, induce them to appoint him their
leader, and then, like a torrent, spread over the country, and
carry fire and desolation from one end of the province to the
other.

Governor Miro, a weak man, unacquainted with the American
Government, ignorant even of the position of Kentucky with
respect to his own province, but alarmed at the very idea of
an irruption of Kentucky men, whom he feared without knowing
their strength, communicated his wishes to the Intendant that
the guard might be removed from the boat, which was accordingly
done; and a Mr. Patterson, who was the agent of the General,
was permitted to take charge of the property on board, and to
sell it free of duty. The General, on his arrival in Orleans
some time after, was informed of the obligation he lay under to
the merchant who had impressed the Government with such an idea
of his importance and influence at home, waited on him, and, in
concert with him, formed a plan for their future operations.
In his interview with the Governor, that he might not seem to
derogate from the character given of him by appearing concerned
in so trifling a business as a boat-load of tobacco, hams, and
butter, he gave him to understand that the property belonged
to many citizens of Kentucky, who, availing themselves of
his return to the Atlantic States by way of Orleans, wished
to make a trial of the temper of this Government, as he, on
his arrival, might inform his own what steps had been pursued
under his eye, that adequate measures might be afterwards
taken to procure satisfaction. He acknowledged with gratitude
the attention and respect manifested by the Governor towards
himself in the favor shown to his agent; but at the same
time mentioned that he would not wish the Governor to expose
himself to the anger of his Court by refraining from seizing
on the boat and cargo, as it was but a trifle, if such were
the positive orders from Court, and that he had not a power
to relax them according to circumstances. Convinced by this
discourse that the General rather wished for an opportunity of
embroiling affairs than sought to avoid it, the Governor became
more alarmed. For two or three years before, particularly
since the arrival of the Commissioners from Georgia, who had
come to Natchez to claim that country, he had been fearful
of an invasion at every annual rise of the waters, and the
news of a few boats being seen was enough to alarm the whole
province. He revolved in his mind what measures he ought to
pursue (consistent with the orders he had from home to permit
the free navigation of the river) in order to keep the Kentucky
people quiet; and, in his succeeding interviews with Wilkinson,
having procured more knowledge than he had hitherto acquired
of their character, population, strength, and dispositions,
he thought he could do nothing better than hold out a bait to
Wilkinson to use his influence in restraining the people from
an invasion of this province till he could give advice to this
Court, and require further instructions. This was the point
to which the parties wished to bring him, and, being informed
that in Kentucky two or three crops were on hand, for which,
if an immediate vent was not found, the people could not be
kept within bounds, he made Wilkinson the offer of a permission
to import, on his own account, to New Orleans, free of duty,
all the productions of Kentucky, thinking by this means to
conciliate the good will of the people, without yielding the
point of navigation, as the commerce carried on would appear
the effect of an indulgence to an individual, which could be
withdrawn at pleasure. On consultation with his friends, who
well knew what further concessions Wilkinson could extort
from the fears of the Spaniards, by the promises of his good
offices in preaching peace, harmony, and good understanding
with this Government, until arrangements were made between
Spain and America, he was advised to insist that the Governor
should insure him a market for all the flour and tobacco
he might send, as in the event of an unfortunate shipment,
he would be ruined whilst endeavoring to do a service to
Louisiana. This was accepted. Flour was always wanted in New
Orleans, and the King of Spain had given orders to purchase
more tobacco for the supply of his manufactories at home than
Louisiana at that time produced, and which was paid for at
about $9.50 per cwt. In Kentucky it cost but $2, and the profit
was immense. In consequence, the General appointed his friend
Daniel Clark his agent here, returned by way of Charleston in
a vessel, with a particular permission to go to the United
States, even at the very moment of Gardoqui’s information; and,
on his arrival in Kentucky, bought up all the produce he could
collect, which he shipped and disposed of as before mentioned;
and for some time all the trade for the Ohio was carried on in
his name, a line from him sufficing to insure to the owner of
the boat every privilege and protection he could desire.

On granting this privilege to Wilkinson, the Government
came to a resolution of encouraging emigration from the
Western country, and offered passports to all settlers, with
an exemption of duty on all the property they might bring
with them invested in the produce of the country they came
from under the denomination of settlers. All those who had
acquaintances with a few persons of influence in Orleans
obtained passports, made shipments to their address, which were
admitted free of duty, and, under pretence of following shortly
after with their families, continued their speculations. Others
came with their property, had lands granted them, which,
after locating, they disposed of, and, having finished their
business, returned to the United States. A few only remained
in the province, and they were the people who, in general,
availed themselves least of the immunities granted by the
Government. They possessed a few slaves and cattle, but had
little other property, and they generally settled among their
countrymen in the Natchez, and increased the cultivation of
tobacco, at that time the principal article raised for export
in the district. This encouragement given to emigrants and
speculators opened a market for the produce of the Ohio. Flour
was imported from Pittsburg; and the farmers finding a vent for
all they could raise, their lands augmented in value, their
industry increased, and they exported annually to Louisiana,
for some time past, from ten to fifteen thousand barrels of
flour, for which they generally find a ready market. When the
first adventurers began to purchase, flour was to be had for
from eighteen to twenty shillings, Pennsylvania currency, per
barrel, on the Monongahela, but was of a very bad quality, and
was only made use of for biscuit, or in times of scarcity. It
gradually improved, and in 1792 the best kind was supposed
equal to that manufactured in Philadelphia; but, being put up
negligently, does not keep so long, and for that reason alone
is not so much esteemed as Philadelphia flour.

The Court of Spain, informed by its officers here of the
steps they had taken, and the motives which had induced them,
otherwise ignorant of the situation of affairs with respect to
Kentucky, and consequently easily impressed with the ideas they
wished to inculcate, not only approved of what they had done,
but granted a further permission to all the inhabitants of the
Western country to export their produce to Orleans, where it
was admitted on paying fifteen per cent. duty. This increased
the intercourse, as many who would not before adventure, while
it was a matter of favor granted by the Governor, now entered
into commercial speculations; and, from the Ohio, the province
of Louisiana was not only supplied with a sufficient stock of
flour, whiskey, and salted provisions, hemp, and, latterly,
cordage, but a considerable quantity of some of them often was
shipped from hence, as the produce of this province, to Havana
and other Spanish ports; besides these articles, the produce
of their lands, dry goods were secretly imported, and sold in
the different ports along the river; and, although orders were
given to the commandant of New Madrid, the first Spanish port
below the mouth of the Ohio, to prevent such importations,
and seize on all who transgressed these orders, it was easily
avoided. Here the boats gave a manifest of their cargo, under
which a passport was given; this was endorsed by the different
commandants on the river as the boats passed; the owners might
sell their cargoes where they pleased, and by the manifest
which they were bound to deliver to the Government immediately
on their arrival at New Orleans, their duties were calculated.
These duties continued to be exacted at the rate of fifteen
per cent. until after the arrival of the Baron de Carondelet,
when, under the idea of facilitating certain political ideas
of his own, he reduced them, on his own authority, to six per
cent. This measure was highly disapproved of by Gardoqui, the
Minister of Finance, who threatened to make him personally
responsible for the difference, and ordered the duties to be
placed on the former footing. The Baron, who was not easily
diverted from a favorite measure, paid no attention to the
Minister’s first orders; he represented a second time, and
again received a more positive order than the first. Despairing
of being able to gain his point with him, and determined not
to abandon it, he addressed himself to the King, through the
Minister of State. His plans were approved of, and the duty
fixed at six per cent., at which rate it still subsists: and
this is the duty exacted on every thing imported from any of
the American settlements on the Ohio or Mississippi for sale
in New Orleans. This duty is far from being burdensome to the
importer, on account of the low rate of estimation, and the
facility with which, by various means, a considerable part of
it is always avoided. Flour is valued but at four dollars a
barrel; first quality tobacco, three dollars per hundredweight;
other quality, two dollars; whiskey, thirty-seven and a half
cents per gallon; and salt provisions and all other articles
at a reasonable rate, as may be seen in the tariff which
accompanies this, according to which the duties are calculated,
and which naturally fall on the consumer. By degrees the
importation of flour from the Ohio has almost put a final stop
to any from the Atlantic States, and we shortly expect that
such quantities will be manufactured in the Western country,
as to permit the merchant of Orleans to enter into competition
with those of the Middle States at foreign markets. The
quantity of different productions imported from the Ohio since
the opening of that trade has varied considerably from year
to year. In the beginning, tobacco was the principal export
from Kentucky, and, at one period, from one thousand five
hundred to two thousand hogsheads came down the Mississippi
annually for three or four years; they, at the same time,
exported a great quantity of butter, lard, and salt provisions.
Within the last three years, the exportation of tobacco has
considerably diminished, and flour seems to take its place.
Hemp has likewise been imported from thence in considerable
quantities; was formerly reshipped from hence to the Atlantic
States, but what now comes is manufactured here. Cordage is
likewise imported from Kentucky, where some rope-walks are set
up; and, in future, it is to be presumed that little or no
hemp will be exported from New Orleans: for the encouragement
of the manufactory here, that article is exempt from duty on
importation. In the year 1792, the King ceased purchasing the
usual quantities of tobacco in Louisiana, which was formerly
two millions of pounds, on account of some frauds in packing,
and the general bad quality of the tobacco, as the planters,
sure of having theirs received by the inspectors, on giving
a small gratuity, made generally three cuttings, and put up
every thing that ever looked like tobacco. This punishment
was sensibly felt, as a great price was given for it, say
nine dollars and a half per hundredweight. This culture
ceased immediately on the eastern side of the Mississippi on
this event taking place. The people of Natchez turned their
attention to indigo, which they raised with success; but
changed this branch for that of cotton, which now forms the
staple article of their growth, and bids fair to be an object
of the greatest importance; the crop of last year from that
district is supposed to exceed three thousand bales, of two
hundred and fifty pounds each, and the average price has been
twenty cents per pound.

* * * * *

NATCHEZ, June 4, 1797.

SIR: As it is probable that this will reach you before my
despatches of the 27th of last month, by way of New Orleans, I
have enclosed duplicates.

About seven days ago, twenty-five Spanish soldiers arrived at
this place, where they continued one night, and then proceeded
up to the Walnut Hills. On the 28th of May, I received a letter
from Governor Gayoso, No. 1, to which I replied on the 31st,
No. 2. From Governor Gayoso’s letter, it appears that the Baron
de Carondelet is not well satisfied with his conduct; they are
at this time not on good terms, and the breach has been widened
by the artful management of a certain Mr. Power, now at this
place, who was last season intriguing in the State of Kentucky
for the Spanish Government; he is particularly patronized by
the Baron. The transactions which the Baron alludes to, I
suspect, are the arrangements I made with Governor Gayoso,
by which the troops of the United States were brought into
this district with his consent and apparent approbation. The
difficulty of getting them away is now obvious both to himself
and the Baron, and as it was done without consulting the
latter, he feels an inclination to condemn the conduct of the
former.

It is now reported by the Spaniards that a Minister
Plenipotentiary has been sent by the Court of Madrid to the
United States to inform our Executive that the country and
posts now held by His Catholic Majesty on the east side of the
Mississippi, above the thirty-first degree of North latitude,
are not to be given up until a general peace takes place in
Europe, and that, from the uniform pacific disposition of the
United States there can be no doubt of his success. This report
is credited but by few.

The citizens of the United States, who are trading on the
Mississippi, are frequently treated with great insolence at
the Spanish posts, and their property taken for the use of His
Catholic Majesty, when wanted, and always at a reduced price.
About three weeks ago, a cargo of flour, consisting of between
three and four hundred barrels, was taken at the Walnut Hills
from a Mr. McCluny, of Washington County, in the State of
Pennsylvania, against his will, to be paid for in New Orleans
at such price as the officers of Government see proper to give,
which is generally three dollars per barrel less than the
current price in market. A few days ago Mr. Francis Baily, a
citizen of the United States, who had lately come on here with
some goods, had a tender of a commissary’s certificate payable
at the treasury in New Orleans, which species of paper was
passing at a discount of twelve per cent.; Mr. Baily declined
taking the certificate as payment for the debt, and appealed
to Governor Gayoso for redress, who immediately decreed that
the tender was legal. These cases are not singular; they are
particularized because both the gentlemen mentioned will be in
Philadelphia in the course of a few weeks, and I expect will
make a point of substantiating the facts--both cases being a
violation of the late treaty between His Catholic Majesty and
the United States.

From the jealous and suspicious disposition of the Spaniards,
I do not think it possible that any treaty or compact can be
lasting between that nation and our Western people, while the
former have any possessions on the east side of the Mississippi.

Dr. Watrous is now here. He was on his way from Fort Hamilton,
on furlough, to the State of Connecticut, but Captain Pope and
myself prevailed upon him to stay with us, until we have some
intelligence respecting our continuance in this country.

I am, sir, with great esteem and respect, your friend and
humble servant,

ANDREW ELLICOTT.

Hon. SECRETARY OF STATE.

P. S.--At the moment I was folding this, the enclosed
proclamation, No. 3, by the Baron de Carondelet, was put into
my hands. The various and contradictory reasons assigned by the
Spanish officers for their delay in carrying the late treaty
into effect, are too obvious to need a comment.

A. E.

* * * * *

NATCHEZ, June 5, 1797.

SIR: I have this moment received private information that
Mr. Power, who I have mentioned to you in my communication
of yesterday, is, by order of the Baron de Carondelet, to
proceed immediately through the wilderness, to the State of
Kentucky. There is every reason to believe that his business
is to forward the views of Spain, by detaching the citizens
of Kentucky from the Union. It has been hinted to me that Mr.
Power will, in the first instance, pay a visit to General
Wilkinson, who, we are informed, is now in Cincinnati.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

ANDREW ELLICOTT.

Hon. SECRETARY OF STATE.

* * * * *

DARLING’S CREEK, November 8, 1798.

SIR: On the 10th of last month, having opened the boundary
between the United States and His Catholic Majesty, from the
Mississippi River to the thin pine country, we ceased carrying
the line on in that accurate scientific manner in which it was
begun, and from the end of the line, designated in the report
which accompanies this, the work will generally be done with
a common surveying compass, and corrected at the different
navigable water-courses which it may happen to cross.

The line mentioned in the report is opened sixty feet wide, and
passes through a country impenetrable to any but Americans. The
labor has been equal to what would in our country have opened
at least one hundred miles. The business, it is evident, will
not go on with that rapidity we could wish; nothing, however,
will be wanting on our part, and I think it will be completed
the ensuing season. Governor Gayoso has evidently been brought
into a co-operation very reluctantly, and certainly has no
desire of having it pushed. Mr. Power, a gentleman well known
for his intrigues in Kentucky and other parts of the United
States, is the surveyor on the part of the Crown of Spain; he
has attended but one week on the line, and I do not believe
that he will attend another, during the execution of the work.
He has, however, employed a deputy, who is Mr. Daniel Burnet,
the same person who carried Mr. Hutchins’s papers to Congress
last winter; he has yet behaved very well. The others employed,
Major Minor excepted, are of little consequence, except to
disorganize and talk politics. The acting commissary is a Mr.
Gensack; he was taken by the British at the Cape, and carried
to Jamaica, from whence he made his escape to the United
States, where he found safety, but, in the true character of
his nation, he equally hates both Americans and British: he
is sullen, reserved, and intriguing. There are no Spaniards
concerned in the business, and but a few of the common
soldiers. Major Minor and Mr. Burnet are Americans; the others,
including the laborers, are generally French, or descended from
French ancestors, or Roman Catholic Irish. When I look over
this strange heterogeneous collection, I cannot help asking
this question: “Can the Spaniards really be serious in carrying
the treaty into effect?” If they are, it is very extraordinary
that there is not one of that nation employed above the rank of
a common soldier.

I have always been of opinion that it was a happy circumstance
for both countries that Major Minor was appointed Commissioner
on behalf of the Crown of Spain; his prudence and sound
judgment will, in all probability, enable us to carry the work
through, which I am confident would not have been the case,
had Mr. Power been appointed to that trust, as was proposed by
Governor Gayoso, and to which I pointedly objected, as did Mr.
Dunbar also.

If our surveyor had been a man of prudence and talents, our
difficulties would have been much less; but his want of
information, extreme pride and ungovernable temper, constantly
furnish the opposite party with weapons. He has insinuated
that the work is erroneous, and that Major Minor and myself
have combined to injure both Governments, and wantonly lavish
away public money. He himself has been the only idle person
on the side of the United States; his whole attendance on the
line as surveyor would not exceed one week. His insinuations,
I am confident, would have but little weight with the people
of the United States, but the case is very different with
the Spaniards, naturally jealous, and uninformed in science,
particularly so far as it relates to astronomical operations.

On Friday, the 12th of last month, General Wilkinson arrived
at our camp, and continued with us until Sunday, the 14th.
We had much conversation on the state and situation of the
country; his ideas respecting both appeared very correct so
far as I was able to determine. He informed me that he had
seen some of Mr. Freeman’s correspondence with Captain Guion,
which, in his opinion, came fully within the meaning of the
late sedition law; and recommended, in the most serious manner,
that he should be immediately suspended from his employment
on the line. This, added to the opinion of Governor Sargent,
(who spent a number of days at our camp,) Colonel Bruin, and
many other respectable gentlemen, determined me in taking that
measure. The surveying at present is done by Mr. Gillespie,
the chain-carrying by Mr. Ellicott and Mr. Walker. General
Wilkinson has removed Mr. McClary from the command of my
escort; his conduct was far less exceptionable than that of Mr.
Freeman, and when he did err it was generally the effect of bad
advice.

Mr. Freeman left our camp on the 30th September, at the very
time we were changing our system of carrying on the work, and
in which the compass only is used, without giving me any notice
of his departure, that arrangements might be made to meet the
want of a surveyor. He was absent until the evening of the 17th
ultimo, and on the morning of the 18th he was furnished with a
note of suspension. He has constantly conducted himself in that
same independent way.

The reference, No. 9, which was in cipher, in my communication
of the 14th of November last, contained an account of an
extraordinary plan; but that plan, in my opinion, is now given
over, and the knowledge obtained of the country, its strength,
and the disposition of the inhabitants, will be turned to
the advantage of the United States by some of the principal
characters concerned. It is the best they can now do. That
the plan is given over may be collected from No. 1, which for
particular reasons is in cipher, and ought to be secret. It
cannot be considered as a literal translation, which you will
see by the introduction, but it conveys accurately the ideas
contained in the letter from which it is extracted.

The plan of Baron de Carondelet, mentioned in my communication
of 27th of June last year, was correct as there stated; the
particulars I have since obtained, and will be detailed to you
by a gentleman, in the course of a few months, who was in the
secret of the whole business. That you may not be at a loss
when that gentleman calls upon you, he will have a letter of
introduction from me, with an official communication, and a
number of questions in the same cipher with reference to No.
1. His answers to those questions will convince you that my
information has constantly been correct.

I shall leave this place (where I have only halted to draw
up this communication) to-morrow, and proceed to the Pearl
River, where the guide line will be corrected. I shall then
proceed down the river to Lake Maurepas, from thence into
Lake Pontchartrain and to New Orleans, where I expect to
arrive about the 1st of January next. From New Orleans I shall
follow the coast to Mobile, and again correct the guide line
as run by the surveyors. From Mobile I shall follow the coast
to Pensacola; I shall pursue the coast to the Chatetucka,
and ascend the river to the guide line; as soon as that is
corrected, I shall proceed to the mouth of Flint River and from
thence to St. Mary’s.

You will easily perceive that my design in following the coast
is to obtain an accurate knowledge of its situation, the
navigation of the different rivers we shall have to ascend,
and to correct the geographical positions where it may be
necessary. My map of the Mississippi, corrected by a great
number of observations, is now made out in the rough, and
ready for copying.

The astronomical observations which I have made since I
left Philadelphia, will make a large and not uninteresting
publication.

Our business now goes on with the greatest harmony. That part
near the coast, in which, as an American and friend to my
country, I feel myself the most interested, will be nearly
completed before Mr. Freeman can join us, if the President
should disapprove of the measures which have been taken with
him; and in that case I must request the favor of being
permitted to return home. All that his friend General Mathews,
Colonel Pannell, and a few others, can say of him, must be
negative evidence; they may say what he has done; but what
they say he has done in forwarding our business must be from
his own report. They have not been visitors at our camp, where
the only information founded upon facts could be had. He has
not made a single observation since we came into this country,
though he endeavored, after my course at the beginning of the
line was furnished, one whole week without success. He is,
nevertheless, by General Mathews and Colonel Pannell, declared
not inferior to Newton! This is not strange; they may possibly
have less scientific knowledge than he has, and the solemn
air and dictatorial manner of a professional schoolmaster may
have contributed much to establish his character with them.
His abuse of me I disregarded, till his caballing got into
the camp; the consequences then became more serious, and the
measure which I took was founded upon the best of motives--the
service of my country, _and I have but one_, added to a
natural desire to live in peace with all mankind. I have but
few observations to add to the depositions respecting his
conduct which are forwarded with this. Mr. Robins, one of the
deponents, is superintendent of the laborers, and always with
them. Mr. Collins, another of the deponents, is as worthy a man
as any in the United States, and assistant to Mr. Anderson; he
constantly resides in the laborers’ camp. Mr. Lindsey likewise
resides in the camp; he is a gentleman of veracity, and agent
for the contractor. These gentlemen have been with us from the
commencement of the business to the present time, and perfectly
acquainted with the conduct of Mr. Freeman, and superior to his
art, which he frequently exerted with them in vain. Similar
depositions to those forwarded might be obtained from the
gentlemen of the Spanish camp, but it appeared to me improper.
You will see I have omitted taking those of Mr. Gillespie and
the chain-bearers; it might be said they were interested. And,
as Mr. Anderson has been equally abused with myself, on that
account his has not been taken. You will see by the depositions
that I rise early: it is generally before the break of day;
from that time until dark I rarely sit down one hour; after
candle-light I am generally engaged until 10 o’clock in writing
and arranging my observations.

I hope the citizens of the United States begin by this time
to be weaned from their attachment to the French nation. For
my part I have experienced so much want of principle and
integrity among them, and their partisans in this country, both
individually and collectively, that my prejudices against the
whole nation are so strong, that it is with difficulty I can
guard my expressions so as not to give offence.

The arrival of General Wilkinson has created considerable alarm
in the Spanish colonies below, and Governor Gayoso has directed
that the militia within his Government he immediately armed.
The fears and jealousies of the Spanish nation will certainly,
in the course of a few years, occasion the loss of all the
country on this side of the Mississippi, to the Crown of Spain.

The whole of my correspondence on various subjects, since
my communication of the 29th of July last, would make a
large volume, and as there is but little of it immediately
interesting to the United States, I shall only refer you to
Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5.

I am sensible you will perceive a great want of arrangement in
this communication; but at the same time I am equally so that
you will excuse it, when I assure you that the whole packet,
except Mr. Clark’s letters and the correspondence with Governor
Gayoso, is the work only of two nights and one day, and that in
the woods, without any other table than a small instrument box,
the weather cold and windy, and all my young men who used to
aid me in copying many miles ahead on the line.

I am sorry that the report mentioned in the beginning of this
is not forwarded; my part has been done some time, but the
Spanish part is not yet ready, owing to the absence of Mr.
Power. I shall write to you again from New Orleans. In the mean
time, believe me to be, &c.

ANDREW ELLICOTT.

Hon. SECRETARY OF STATE.

P. S. Daniel Clark, Esq., of New Orleans, has lately spent a
number of days with me in my camp; from him I have received
much valuable information, which it will be unnecessary for me
to detail, as he will give it to you himself in Philadelphia
the ensuing winter. He intends to visit that city immediately
after our interview in New Orleans.

There is not a gentleman of literature or science, and scarcely
one of respectability in this country, with whom I have not
been upon the most intimate footing ever since I came into it;
and every attack that has been made upon me has arisen either
from envy or misconception, to which I should never have paid
any attention had the principles of opposition not entered our
camp, and begun to embarrass our business.

A. E.

* * * * *

[Communicated to the House, February 4, 1804.]

_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:

In my Message of January 20th, I stated that some papers
forwarded by Mr. Daniel Clark of New Orleans to the Secretary
of State, in 1803, had not then been found in the office of
State, and that a letter had been addressed to the former
chief Clerk, in the hope that he might advise where they
should be sought for. By indications received from him they
are now found. Among them, are two letters from the Baron de
Carondelet, to an officer serving under him at a separate
post, in which his views of a dismemberment of our Union are
expressed. Extracts of so much of these letters as are within
the scope of the resolution of the House are now communicated.
With these were found the letters written by Mr. Clark to
the Secretary of State, in 1803. A part of one only of these
relates to this subject, and is extracted and enclosed for the
information of the House. In no part of the papers communicated
by Mr. Clark, which are voluminous, and in different languages,
nor in his letters, have we found any intimation of the
corrupt receipt of money by any officer of the United States
from any foreign agent. As to the combinations with foreign
agents for dismembering the Union, these papers and letters
offer nothing which was not probably known to my predecessors,
or which could call anew for inquiries, which they had not
thought necessary to institute, when the facts were recent, and
could be better proved. They probably believed it best to let
pass into oblivion transactions which, however culpable, had
commenced before this Government existed, and had been finally
extinguished by the Treaty of 1795.

TH. JEFFERSON.

FEBRUARY 4, 1808.

Extract of a letter from the Baron de Carondelet, dated

NEW ORLEANS, July 10, 1796.

I suppose, sir, that you are now at the Bluffs, and in
possession of a command which requires firmness, vigilance,
conciliation, and prudence, as well with regard to the savages
as to the Americans; for the evacuation of that important
post is not yet so certain as not to admit of doubt, at least
so long as the savages remain attached to us. Besides, it is
proper to keep in view that the neighboring States, that is
to say, Kentucky and Tennessee, are interested that it should
remain in our power, for political reasons which cannot be
trusted to paper. You must, of consequence, keep them in those
sentiments, by treating their inhabitants, to whom the liberty
of the navigation is granted, with kindness and regard. Let
the friendship of the Chickasaws and the satisfaction of the
Americans who navigate the river, be the basis of your conduct;
as for the rest, I have not yet received any official news from
the Court concerning the treaty, which we know nothing of but
through the American gazettes.

All the appearances of an approaching peace in Europe have
vanished; but it is probable that we shall not have war with
the English. Fourteen French ships of the line, with ten
thousand men, are actually to take possession of the Spanish
port of St. Domingo; and France and Spain appear more united
than ever. The Spanish inhabitants have lost their slaves.

Extract of a letter from the Baron de Carondelet, dated

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 12, 1796.

In answer, sir, to your private letter of the 10th of last
month, I will acknowledge to you that I was under the belief
that the Fort of St. Ferdinand was badly constructed, but not
to the degree that you point out to me. You must, however,
without augmenting the expenses which its evacuation would
render useless, put it in a state to maintain yourself there
until I receive new instructions from the Court. Should the
Court think proper, as may very well happen, not to evacuate
our posts on the Mississippi, I will despatch a courier to you
in all haste, that you may change the situation of the fort,
which ought to be done with all diligence, and so as that it be
again sufficiently intrenched to prevent its being surprised or
attacked before it is in a state of defence; for this purpose
I will send immediate and secret orders to New Madrid and to
St. Genevieve, that carpenters, masons, &c., should instantly
be sent to you, and you may also count on a reinforcement of
troops, which I will send to you by the galley Philapa, which I
am causing to be rebuilt without noise; all these dispositions,
I repeat to you, ought to be prompt and secret. I expect the
answer of the Court in ----.

If His Majesty, on the contrary, should persist in it that the
evacuation of the forts must take place, it will be done in the
most simple mode, towards the commencement of January. In the
mean time you must prepare the minds of the Chickasaws, and
of the inhabitants of Kentucky and Tennessee, for one or the
other of these events. You ought to make the latter understand
that their natural interest leading them to separate at some
day (_un jour_) from the Atlantic States, the occupation of
our posts on the Mississippi by the troops of the latter could
not but be disastrous to them, since they would cut off all
communication between them and us, from whom alone they could,
in that case, hope to receive assistance.

Extract of a letter from Daniel Clark to the Secretary of
State, dated

NEW ORLEANS, March 8, 1803.

As a proof that expectations of assistance from ourselves
against our own Government have been always relied on by the
Spaniards, and that they have constantly looked to a division
of our Western States from the General Government, I now
forward you an order to receive from Washington Morton, Esq.,
of New York, a sealed packet which I left in his possession
when I set out for Europe, and which I then mentioned I
would show you at my return, not thinking, at that time,
that circumstances would occur so soon as to render the
disclosure a measure of immediate necessity. Among other
papers of less importance in this packet, is a small part of
the correspondence of the Baron de Carondelet with the officer
commanding Fort St. Ferdinand, at the Chickasaw Bluffs, in
which he suffers his plans and views to be clearly perceived,
and which were solely aimed at our destruction; the remainder
are, as well as I recollect, copies of talks and letters to and
from the Chickasaw Indians; and, by the Baron de Carondelet’s
letter to the officer, you will perceive that the fact I
advised you respecting the annual pension of five hundred
dollars to Uguluycabé cannot be disputed.

Should you think these documents of sufficient importance to
require my presence in Washington to elucidate any part of
them, I shall immediately sacrifice all private business of my
own, and hasten there; and, in the mean time, will endeavor
to collect, from undoubted sources, such other information
relative to this subject as may be acceptable.

Although for four or five years past I had a perfect conviction
that the intrigues of the Spaniards with the Western country
were not for the time dangerous, on account of the incapacity
of the Governors of this province, and their want of pecuniary
means, yet, fearful of what might happen in future, should
more enlightened and ambitious chiefs preside over it, I could
not last year resist the temptation of hinting my suspicions
of what had been formerly done in this way to the President
at an interview with which he honored me, and I even went so
far as to assert that a person supposed to be an agent from
the State of Kentucky had been here in the end of 1795 and
beginning of 1796, to negotiate on the part of that State,
independent of the General Government, for the navigation of
the Mississippi, before the result of the Treaty of St. Lorenzo
was known, wishing that this hint might induce the President,
to cause inquiry to be made into the circumstance, which he
could easily find the means of investigating; but as he made
no other inquiry of me respecting it than merely in what year
the thing happened, it struck me that he must have had other
information on the subject, and that he thought it needless
to hear any thing more about it. By great accident I have
lately learned something which induces me to suppose that any
information he may have received respecting the measure alluded
to has been incorrect, and given with the view of misleading
him, and I request you will mention the subject anew to him,
that you may know how far I am right in my suspicions. The
information I possessed on the subject, could not, from the way
in which it was obtained, be accompanied with what would be
proof to convict the person concerned, or I should have openly
accused him in the face of the world; but to me it amounts to a
moral certainty of his guilt, and my conduct to him showed, on
all occasions, how much I detested his object and his person.
The same want of proof positive, sufficient to convict him,
prevents me at present from naming him; but if inquiry is
diligently made about the influential character from Kentucky,
who at that period was so long in Natchez, and afterwards here,
what his business was, and what was the idea entertained of
him, enough will doubtless be discovered to put our Government
on its guard against him and others of his stamp, and against
all foreign machinations in that quarter in future.

Communicated to the House, April 25, 1808, by Daniel Clark.

Pursuant to the resolution of the House, calling on me for
testimony relative to General Wilkinson’s receipt of money
from the Spaniards, I now lay before it some original papers,
corroborating the statement which I have already given:

No. 1. The first is the translation of a letter, in Spanish,
from Thomas Power to D. Thomas Portell, dated at New Madrid,
June 27, 1796, and containing the reasons why it was proper
for Portell to deliver to Power, without an order in writing
from General Wilkinson, a sum of money which had been placed
for that purpose in Portell’s hands by the Spanish Government
of New Orleans. The original letter is subjoined in the
handwriting of Mr. Power, with which I am acquainted.

This letter explains the deposition of Derbigny, and also makes
mention of the letter in cipher from General Wilkinson to
Gayoso, then Governor of Natchez, of which a translation, in
the handwriting of Gayoso, has heretofore been laid before the
House. It may be proper to add that I am well acquainted with
the handwriting of Gayoso, in which the translation is written,
and that he has been dead more than eight years.

No. 2. A translation of Portell’s answer to the foregoing,
dated Madrid, on the same day, June 27, 1796. The original
is subjoined in the handwriting of Portell, with which I am
acquainted.

The object of this correspondence seems to have been to furnish
to Portell the means of explaining to his superiors his motives
for delivering the money without a written order.

Nos. 3 and 4 are two original papers in the handwriting of
Philip Nolan, with which I am well acquainted. Nolan was the
confidential agent of Gen. Wilkinson in 1796, and has been dead
several years.

These two papers are stated by Mr. Power to be secret
instructions given to him by General Wilkinson, after the
latter received money from Portell, mentioned in Nos. 1 and
2. The instructions, according to Mr. Power’s statement, were
given in the handwriting of Nolan, as a measure of precaution
against the danger of detection. The six hundred and forty
dollars, of which they make mention, are stated by Mr. Power to
be a part of the sum received, for Wilkinson, of Portell, which
Power, after his arrival in Kentucky, was obliged to use for
the expenses of his journey.

No. 5. Is the translation of a letter to the Baron de
Carondelet from Mr. Power, dated at New Orleans, May 9, 1797,
after his return from Kentucky. The original letter in Spanish
is subjoined. It is in Mr. Power’s handwriting, with which I am
acquainted. It explains the affair of the six hundred and forty
dollars, mentioned in the secret instructions, Nos. 3 and 4,
and refers to and quotes those instructions as the instructions
of General Wilkinson.

No. 6. Is the translation of the Baron de Carondelet’s
answer to this letter. The answer is in Spanish, and in the
handwriting of Don Andres Armesto, Secretary to the Government,
which I know. It is signed by the Baron de Carondelet, with
whose signature I am acquainted.

DANIEL CLARK.

No. 1.

Translation of a letter from Thomas Power to Don Thomas
Portell, Commandant of New Madrid, dated

NEW MADRID, June 26, 1797.

Having received verbal instructions from Mr. James Wilkinson,
the American General, to take charge of the money, which, by
a letter, he received from the Secretary of the Government,
Don Andres Armesto, under date of 7th or 8th of March last,
of which I was bearer, he has advice, is deposited in this
post, and being informed by the official letter which you have
received on this business from the Governor General of the
Province, of which you will be pleased to furnish me a copy,
that said money is not to be delivered without an express order
from the said Mr. Wilkinson, I find myself forced to relate
circumstantially some particulars to smooth and remove the
difficulty which the want of a written order on the part of the
aforesaid General Wilkinson presents. Although this relation
may appear an abuse of the confidence with which the Governor
General of the Province and the Governor of Natchez, and
particularly General Wilkinson, have honored me, I am persuaded
that the urgency of the case which offers will serve me as an
excuse and justification.

You are not ignorant of the fact, that Don Manuel Gayoso
de Lemos being here in the month of September, of the
year last past, he intrusted to me some despatches of the
greatest importance for General Wilkinson, which I carried
to Cincinnati, and I returned with the answers in the month
of November. By order of the said Don Manuel Gayoso, I made
immediately another journey to the Ohio, and I ascended it to
Red Bank in search of Sebastian, who came with me to the mouth
of the Ohio, where we met with the Governor of Natchez. At the
end of December, I accompanied this gentleman to Natchez, and I
went thence to New Orleans.