The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, July 1949 - April, 1950 Page: 2
538 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
territory of Orleans, with boundaries defined as all that portion
of the Louisiana purchase
which lies south of the Mississippi territory and of an east and west
line to commence on the Mississippi river, at the thirty-third degree
of north latitude, and to extend west to the western boundary of the
said cession.
No mention was made of any claim as to what constituted this
portion of the western boundary of the cession. The act which
created the territory of Orleans named the remaining portion of
the Louisiana purchase the district of Louisiana, which, in turn,
Congress designated as the territory of Louisiana by an act ap-
proved March 3, 1805.6 The act of Congress approved on April
8, 1812,6 which admitted the greater portion of the Orleans ter-
ritory7 as the state of Louisiana, definitely placed the western
boundary of this new state on the Sabine River. Having admitted
the state of Louisiana, on June 4, 1812, Congress changed the
name of the territory of Louisiana to that of Missouri Territory.s
The act admitting Louisiana defines the western boundary of
this state as
beginning at the mouth of the river Sabine; thence by a line to be
drawn along the middle of said river, including all islands, to the
thirty-second degree of latitude; thence due north to the norther-
most part of the thirty-third degree of north latitude.
Hence, the United States was asserting a claim to territory at
least as far west as the western boundary of Louisiana thus de-
fined. The area included in the designated limits of the state is
referred to merely as "part of the territory or country ceded, un-
der the name of 'Louisiana.' " Of course, the act of April 8, 1812,
did not determine the international boundary at this point since
the declaration of Louisiana's western limits was purely by uni-
lateral action on the part of the United States. Spain had not
recognized the claim of the former country to lands extending
to the Sabine.
elbid., II, 701.
TThe portion omitted, north and east of Lake Pontchartrain, and the addition
to Louisiana on April 14, 1812 (ibid., II, 7o8-709), had no relation to the Sabine.
8lbid., II, 743.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 53, July 1949 - April, 1950, periodical, 1950; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101126/m1/20/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.