when France possessed it,"—that is, embracing the whole territory drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries, "directly or indirectly."
In 1803, April 30, this vast extent of country was ceded to the United States by France, "with all its rights and appurtenances, as fully, and in the same manner, as they had been acquired by the French republic," by the retrocession of Spain. By this transfer on the part of France the Spanish government seemed at first disposed to be offended, and to offer obstacles to the settlement of the Americans in their newly-acquired territory. Doubtless, this feeling arose from the unsettled condition of the boundary questions, and a fear that the United States would, as they did, demand the surrender of the whole of the original territory of Louisiana, called for by the treaty. Spain then undertook to prove that the pretensions of France to any territories west of the Mississippi could not be supported, and that the French settlements were only tolerated by Spain for the sake of peace. Such a discrepancy between the views of the two nations forbade negotiation at that time, and the matter rested, not to be revived until 1817. In the mean time, however, the United States, in 1811, feeling the necessity of holding the principal posts in the disputed territory against all other powers, took possession of the country west of the Perdido River, which was understood to be the western limit of Florida. But a British expedition having fitted out from Pensacola during the second war with Great Britain, the United States sent General Jackson to capture it, which he did in 1814, and again in 1818, as also the Fort of St. Mark. These repeated demonstrations of the spirit of the United States led to further and more successful negotiations with Spain, which power finally ceded to the American government the whole of the territory claimed to belong to Florida, February 22, 1819, the boundaries being settled as follows:
"Article 3. The boundary-line between the two countries west of the Mississippi shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the River Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the western bank of that river, to the 23d degree of latitude; thence, by a line due north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Natchitoches, or Red River;
