The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 17, July 1913 - April, 1914 Page: 174
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174 The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
No. 1 and No. 13, but he is none other than the many-sided James
Wilkinson. Casa Yrujo had asked him to prepare a plan of the
western limits of Louisiana, and to establish the line so as to pre-
serve to Spain Adaes, Nacogdoches, and the Sabine River, and at
the same time to utilize the other river courses as suggested above.
Wilkinson possessed his confidence, and he hoped soon to forward
the memoir by express. There is a possibility that Cevallos may
have had this, if prepared, in time to use in his reply to Monroe
and Pinckney, on April 26th, and, if so, it suggests an interesting
situation in which the commander of the American army thwarts
the diplomatic efforts of his chief. It is possible to perceive a
more likely connection between this suggestion of the Spanish
minister and the Neutral Ground Agreement that Wilkinson him-
self made with Herrera nearly two years later.
In the following month Talleyrand informed Turreau of his
position in regard to the western boundary of Louisiana. The
Americans must not extend their pretensions too far, for they had
acquired the territory on the same terms as France. Turreau's task
was to preserve harmony between the two contending nations. This
was the only interest of France in the boundary question. The
United States ought not to claim the settlements of New Mexico
nor the country towards the Northwest. Between these regions and
Louisiana they should leave an intervening desert region and should
follow natural limits, wherever possible. The French government
had no intention of intervening in the matter but simply wished the
American as its successor, to know what plan it had proposed to
follow.16
With such intimations, to use no stronger term, from the French
and Spanish ministers at Washington, and with dispatches of a
similar tenor from Armstrong, Jefferson began by March to doubt
the possibility of Monroe's success. He still hoped to secure the
privilege of navigating the Mobile and an agreement to maintain
the status quo elsewhere.17 Both he and Madison derived some
comfort from the fact that Talleyrand had not openly declared
against them in regard to the western limits of Louisiana, but as
s"Talleyrand to Turreau, February 3, 1805. Adams Transcripts, French
State Papers, Vol. III.
"1Adams, II, 54, 55. Merry's dispatch No. 10 shows that Jefferson had
little confidence in French support but trusted to gain his ends because of
Spain's necessities. Loc. cit. Merry to Harrowby, March 4, 1805.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 17, July 1913 - April, 1914, periodical, 1914; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101061/m1/178/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.