“ ‘account of Louisiana’ through the press. the materials are recieved from different persons, of good authority. I inclose you also copies of the Treaties for Louisiana, the act for taking possession, a letter from D ^r. Wistar, & some information collected by myself from Truteau’s journal in MS. all of which may be useful to you. the act for taking possession passed with only some small verbal variations from that inclosed, of no consiquence. orders went from hence, signed by the king of Spain & the first Consul of France, so as to arrive at Natchez yesterday evening, and we expect the delivery of the province at New Orleans will take place about the close of the ensuing week, say about the 26 ^th. inst. Gov ^r. Claiborne is appointed to execute the power of Commandant & Intendant, until a regular government shall be organized here. at the moment of delivering over the posts in the vicinity of N. Orleans, orders will be dispatched from thence to those in Upper Louisiana to evacuate & deliver them immediately. you can judge better than I can when they may be expected to arrive at these posts. considering how much you have been detained by the low waters, how late it will be before you can leave Cahokia, how little progress up the Missouri you can make before the freezing of the river; that your winter might be passed in gaining much information by making Cahokia or Kaskaskia your head quarters, & going to S ^t. Louis & the other Spanish forts, that your stores & ^c. would thereby be spared for the winter, as your men would draw their military rations, all danger of Spanish opposition avoided. we are strongly of opinion here that you had better not enter the Missouri till the spring. but as you have a view of all circumstances on the spot, we do not pretend to enjoin it, but leave it to your own judgment in which we have entire confidence. one thing however we are decided in: that you must not undertake the winter excursion which you propose in yours of Oct. 3. such an excursion will be more dangerous than the main expedition up the Missouri, & would, by an accident to you, hazard our main object, which, since the acquisition of Louisiana, interests every body in the highest degree. the object of your mission is single, the direct water communication from sea to sea formed by the bed of the Missouri & perhaps the Oregon. by having m ( ^~ r) Clarke with you, we consider the expedition as double manned, & therefore the less liable to failure: for which reason neither of you should be exposed to risques by going off of your line. I have proposed in conversation, & it seems generally to be assented to, that Congress shall appropriate 10. or 12,000 D. for exploring the principal waters of the Mi ( ^~s ) sipi & Missouri. in that case I should send a party up the Red river to it’s head, then to cross over to the head of the Arcansã, & come down that. a 2 ^d party for the Pani & Padouca rivers, & a 3 ^d perhaps for the Moingona & S ^t. Peters. as the boundaries of exterior Louisiana are the high lands inclosing all the waters which run into the Mi ( ^~s ) sipi or Missouri directly or indirectly, with a greater breadth on the gulph of Mexico, it becomes interesting to fix with precision by celestial observations the longitude & latitude of the sources of these rivers, as finishing points in the contours of our new limits. this will be attempted distinctly from your mission, which we consider as of major importance, & therefore not to be delayed or hazarded by any episodes whatever . . . ”

A letterpress copy of Jefferson’s extracts from Truteau’s journal mentioned in this letter is in the Jefferson Papers in the Library of Congress, headed: Extracts from the Journal of M. Truteau, Agent for the Illinois trading company, residing at the village of Ricara, up the Missouri.

On January 13, 1804, Jefferson wrote to Lewis: “ I wrote you last on the 16 ^th. of Nov. since which I have recieved no letter from you. the newspapers inform us you left Kaskaskia about the 8 ^th. of December. I hope you will have recieved my letter by that day or very soon after; written in a belief it would be better that you should not enter the Missouri till the spring; yet not absolutely controuling your own judgment formed on the spot. we have not heard of the delivery of Louisiana to us as yet, tho’ we have no doubt it took place about the 20 ^th. of December, and that orders were at the same time expedited to evacuate the upper posts, troops of ours being in readiness & under orders to take possession. this change will probably have taken place before you recieve this letter, and facilitate your proceeding. I now inclose you a map of the Missouri as far as the Mandans, 12. or 1500. miles I presume above it’s mouth. it is said to be very accurate, having been done ”