Chairman Joe here. Welcome to the Wannaskan Almanac for Friday.
On this day in 1803, Spain gave the Louisiana Territory back to France. Yikes! So Roseau County where I live in Northwestern Minnesota was once part of Spain? Now I'll have to get a Spanish flag to go with the French and British flags I was already flying beside the Ojibwa, Sioux, and Mandan flags honoring the tribes who left their archeological remains here. (Only the Ojibwa remain, camped by the banks of their casino east of Warroad.)
It turns out France had given Louisiana to Spain forty years previous to compensate her for losing Florida during the French and Indian War (1756-63). France was always dragging a reluctant Spain into wars against Britain. Spain had once been the superpower of Europe, but had lost steam by the 1700s and let France push her around. Louisiana was a white elephant back then, so France wasn't giving up much. Besides, France knew she could take Louisiana back whenever she wanted which is what she did on this day in 1803.
Napoleon was in charge then and needed cash for his wars in Europe. Within twenty days of becoming French again, Napoleon had sold Louisiana to the United States for fifteen million dollars, or half a trillion in today's money. It would still be a good deal today, but predictably, Congress objected. Jefferson said he was just making a treaty which the Constitution said he could do. "And I'll need that 15 mill yesterday. Boney's not a patient man."
I've looked at the Louisiana Territory map many times. It takes in several present day states, and parts of several others, including the western half of Minnesota. I always assumed this included Roseau County, but when I looked closely I saw a good chunk of northwestern Minnesota and northeastern North Dakota were actually part of Rupert's Land. So we were always part of Britain! I cancelled the order for the Spanish flag and pulled down the French one.
But wait. It gets complicated. Blame it on the fashion for beaver hats in Europe. Everyone in Europe wanted a hat like the one Swedish soldiers wore in the Thirty Years War. Pretty soon the beavers of Europe were wiped out. So the French went up the St Lawrence River and gave the Indians guns and beads for beaver pelts. Two Frenchmen discovered even more beaver up by Hudson Bay, but the St. Lawrence French couldn't be bothered, so the two French explorers went to England and got the king's cousin Prince Rupert to back an expedition to Hudson Bay. This was the beginning of the famous Hudson Bay Company. The company's territory eventually took in a third of the Canadian landmass.
After a while, the French down on the St. Lawrence woke up and sent an army to take over Rupert's Land which it held for thirty years. I put the French flag back up. Roseau ended up in Rupert's Land because earlier treaties had given Britain all the lands in the Hudson Bay watershed which includes the Roseau River. The Treaty of 1818 established the 49th parallel as the border which put Roseau County into the U.S. That was close! We could've been speaking Canadian now, eh.
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| I have to wait till spring thaw to put up a pole for my new flag. |
If you'd been my history teacher in high school, I think I would have been a much better student!
ReplyDeleteThe love of history kicks in about age 40.
DeleteGood grief, don't get him started! Many a poor soul (although now somewhat enriched by one or more of his profusion of instantaneous world history lectures) has recognized him in passing, and innocently asked him if he knows anything, say, -- about England ... ARGH!
ReplyDeleteWell, for instance, are you old enough to remember the "Chatty Cathy" dolls on which you pulled a string protruding from the back of their necks and they would spout some conversational brilliance that would make you laugh, giggle or get excited? Well, the "Chairman Joe's Lively World History Lecture series" performances will flat out awe you--have you the time.
I mean, after all, I can see you're not the impolite type, and since you, had asked him,--and it wasn't the other way around in that he spotted you in a crowd and grabbed you by the shoulder or elbow and said, "Hey buddy, I know a thing or two about England--and the rest of the world, you interested?"-- you feel compelled to politely listen to his answer ... until you realize your mistake was that you weren't specific enough in your question, and that "Do you know anything ..." was too vague a question asked of a lonely history expert who has no equal in the whole of Minnesota, North Dakota and the western part of Nebraska north of the Niobrara River?
Asking Chairman Joe a history question is a pandora's box of stunning visuals, animated gestures, interpretative dance, sonnets, ballads, Irish poetry, drawings of evolving city panoramas from conception to present-day--and don't let him get as far as The Normandy Invasion unless you've packed along your sleeping bag and pillow. Good luck.
Lol! Duly noted! Maybe a camp out at the Shedeau is in order. That way we can comfortably drift in and out of a sweet snooze while he expounds and we'll all be happy. :)
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