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Show Centuryot growth P'f U - 1 Kf ' 1 San Francisco Seen From the Air. Prepared by National Geographic Society Wa-hlngton. D. c WNU Service. EVEN one with the wildest imagination imagi-nation finds It difficult, while strolling down San Francisco's Market street, or Chicago's Michigan boulevard, to visualize the former city as a sleepy Mexican village vil-lage and the latter as a tiny frontier town around a stockade-encircled fort a century ago. Then the Mississippi was "way out West." It was as late as 1702 that separate statehood made the momentous momen-tous first step west of the Alleghenies, as Kentucky's lines ran out In their own right (the area had been a part of Virginia), the first state to reach the once remote river. With the beginning of the Nineteenth Nine-teenth century, however, the Union seriously se-riously took up the real estate business busi-ness in a large way. Ohio's outlines had barely taken map form In 1S03 when a huge territory was pegged out for future states, the Louisiana Purchase, which more than doubled the area of the original Union. This taking over of 000,130 square miles by the stroke of a pen was probably prob-ably the greatest real estate transaction transac-tion in all history. For this potential empire the United States paid France In all principal. Interest, and debts assumed 523,213.507.73. It works out at a little less than 4 cents an acre! The purchase was a happy accident a bit of high-handed patriotism that lawyers have said "strained the Constitution." Con-stitution." Robert R. Livingston was sent in 1S01 by the United States as minister to France to attempt to buy the "Island "Is-land of New Orleans," on both sides of the Mississippi, and so to gain control con-trol of the mouth of the river. He was authorized to offer $2,000,000 and, If necessary, to go as high as $10,000,-000 $10,000,-000 for the patch of land. I Negotiations dragged on for two years, when suddenly war was declared de-clared on France by Great Britain. More to embarrass Great Britain than to accommodate the United States, Napoleon Na-poleon decided to sell the entire Louisiana Lou-isiana territory. The historic decision was reached while the first consul was In his bath. Napoleon Decides to Sell. James Monroe had Joined Livingston as a special commissioner, and to them was made the proposal to sell. The French negotiators asked $15,-0W.000 $15,-0W.000 nn amount once and a half as great as the highest authorized figure. The two Americans were aghast. Cables and steamships did not exist To get word to America and nn answer back would require many weeks. Napoleon Na-poleon was in a hurry. So the two envoys en-voys figuratively threw their Instructions Instruc-tions out the window and signed the agreement. Nobody knew enough about the new domain west of the Mississippi to draw an intelligible map of it. They knew only that there were prairies and "deserts"; that beyond were mountains of some sort; and that somewhere farther far-ther on, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands thou-sands of leagues away, lay the half mythical South sea. Lewis and Clark, and soon after them ('apt Zehulon Pike, struck into the new country to see what It was like, and as a result of their explorations explor-ations Americans begun to learn a few things about their vast West. When Powell led his party of adventurers adven-turers by boat down the Colorado river, riv-er, In 1S00, they wore the first to navigate navi-gate the stream through Its long canyons, can-yons, although the early Spanish explorers ex-plorers had seen the Grnnd canyon from above 300 years before. The Florida Purchase, In JS10, Involved In-volved a relatively small urea. That acquisition really made the United States smaller than It was before. The treaty with Spain definitely marked the eastern and northern Spanish boundary all the way from the southeast south-east point of Texas to the northwest point of California. Parts of present Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, draining to the Arkansasareas Arkan-sasareas which had been thought to be In the Louisiana territory were lost to the United States by the treaty and had to be bought back from Texas later. More territory came to the United Stales In the decade 1NI0-1S50 than during any other ten years In Its history. his-tory. Texas was added In IS 15; the I title to Oregon territory was established estab-lished by treaty with Great Britain the following year; and the cession from Mexico In ISIS, at the close of the Mexican war, brought In the California Cali-fornia country and all the region east to Texas, In all, the forties added to the United States map more than 1,200,000 square miles of territory an area larger than 20 Floridas. Taking In Texas. The Texas addition was unique. Texas had existed for nearly ten years as an Independent republic, with diplomatic dip-lomatic representatives in Washington and at European courts and with foreign for-eign ministers in its own capitaL A separate nation entered the Union, the only case of the sort in United States history. More than 3SS.OO0 square miles of territory were added by the Texas accession. There was rejoicing when the Oregon Ore-gon matter was settled, even though the "Fifty-four-forty or fight" slogan was not lived up to. Here was a shining shin-ing mile-post in the history of the United States. In 70 years from the Declaration of Independence the new nation had pushed across nearly 3,000 miles of virgin territory, had brought almost half of It into statehood, and had marked the other half for future development Balboa's hazy sea had become the Incontrovertible Pacific, and in that mighty ocean the United States had now taken the first step to establish its vital interest After the California country (including (includ-ing the present Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and part of Colorado) became United States territory, in 1S4S, the developments that mean map changes came to the Far West with dizzy speed. One of the world's greatest gold rushes started in '49. By 1S50 so many people had poured in that California was made a state. This was another outstanding milestone. mile-stone. Statehood had hurdled hundreds hun-dreds of miles of territory and had made its first appearance on the shores of the Pacific. By 1S50 railway trains were puffing back and forth from Massachusetts to Georgia, and even west of the Alleghenies; Alle-ghenies; yet California still was farther far-ther out of travel reach with the seat of government than even the remotest of the thirteen original states had been in the days of Thomas Jefferson. Nearly All of It Bought In almost every Important addition to its territory which the United States has made, save Oregon territory, terri-tory, a money payment has played a part The Louisiana Purchase cost $23.-213.507.73; $23.-213.507.73; Florida cost $0,074,057.47, Including interest; Texas and its creditors cred-itors were paid $15,490,447.77 to relinquish re-linquish claim to lands outside the present state boundaries; Mexico was given $10.205,14S.S9 for Its cession of territory In 1S4S. In 1S54 the final addition was made to continental United States as it now exists, when the Gadsden Purchase was made of 20,070 square miles south of the Gila river. In Arizona. For this tract $10,000,000 was paid to Mexico. These five accessions to the United States proper cost $71,C79,221.S0. A circle with a radius of only 1,000 feet drawn around the business center of Washington, D. C, Incloses land assessed as-sessed for almost exactly the amount paid for this far-spreading empire. Territory outside the borders of continental con-tinental United States bought since 1S54 was more costly. Russia was paid $7,200,000 for Alaska In 1807; the Hawaiian national debt of $4,000,000 was assumed when the Islands were annexed, in 1S9S ; Spain was given $20,100,000 for Islands annexed after the Spanish-American war. The ten-mile strip of the Canal zone In Panama has cost the United States so far $15,000,000 paid to Panama and $25,000,000 paid to Colombia. In addition, ad-dition, the United States paid $40,000,-000 $40,000,-000 to the Now Panama Canal company com-pany of France. And Panama continues contin-ues to receive $250,000 annually. The latest territorial purchase by the United States was the Virgin Islands. Is-lands. For the 133 square miles of these Caribbean Islands Denmark received re-ceived $23,000,000 In 1910, That works out approximately $294 an acre 7.350 times the ncrc price paid for the Louisiana Purchase. The total payments for outlying territory ter-ritory made since 1S54 amount to $130,-300.000. $130,-300.000. These payments have nil been In cash. Hurler and land trades have never played a part In the growth of United Stales territory, as they did with the Dutch, who purchased Manhattan Man-hattan Island for $21 worth of trinkets; trink-ets; and the English, who later got nil Dutch claims to Manhattan and the rest of New York slate In trado for what Is now flitch Guiana. |
