At winter camp at the Wood River across from the mouth of the Missouri, the orders of yesterday’s military court are read. In New Orleans, Spanish Commissioner Casa Calvo asks that the Lewis and Clark Expedition be stopped by military arrest.
1st Marquess of Casa Calvo (c. 1800)
by José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza (1750–1802)
Oil on canvas, 1,07cm × 83cm (42in × 32.8in). Source: Neal Auction Co. (New Orleans) November 2019 Catalogue (Lot #263).
Casa Calvo—formerly Sebastián Nicolás de Bari Calvo de la Puerta y O’Farrill, 1st Marquess of Casa Calvo (1751–1820)—was the governor of Spanish Louisiana prior to Salcedo’s arrival. Although he had no government position during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, he communicated with “number 13,” James Wilkinson, Commander General of the U.S. Army and foreign agent for Spain. He was ordered to leave the Orleans Territory in 1806.[1]“Sebastián Calvo de la Puerta,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebasti%C3%A1n_Calvo_de_la_Puerta accessed 7 August 2022.
Casa Calvo’s Arrest
[New Orleans, March 30, 1804]
No. 5 Reservada
[Marginal Note] The brigadier of the Royal Army, Marqués de Casa Calvo, His Majesty’s commissioner for the retrocession and limits of the province of Louisiana, communicates the steps that he has taken to detain the progress of the discoveries, that a subject sent by the president of the United States is making on the Missouri River towards the direction of the South Sea, where they are thinking of having a port within five years; writing to the Commandant-general of the Provincias Internas to arrest and detain him.
. . . . .
I hope this step will merit approbation of Your Excellency, with all the more reason in that it proceeds from the intimation made in number 13, that he believes and assures that it is of the greatest importance to restrain in that area the progress of the discoverers . . . making themselves masters of our rich possessions, which they desire.
. . . . .
May God Our Lord keep Your Excellency many years
Most Excellent Sire,
El Marqués de Casa Calvo[2]Casa Calvo to Pedro Cevallos, New Orleans, March 30, 1804 in Before Lewis and Clark: Documents Illustrating the History of the Missouri 1785–1804, ed. A. P. Nasatir, Bison Books edition. (Lincoln: … Continue reading
Reading the Court Martial Orders
I red the orders on Parade this evening J. Sh: [John Shields] & J. Co. [John Colter] asked the forgivness & & promised to doe better in future. the other [Robert Frazer] were dismissed &c
—William Clark
Weather Diary
Therm at rise
weather wind Therm at 4 Oclk weather wind River cloudy after rain N W fair N W rise 1 in. —Meriwether Lewis and William Clark[3]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “River” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.
Winter Camp at Wood River (Camp Dubois) is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site, near Hartford, Illinois, is managed as Lewis and Clark State Historic Site and is open to the public.
Notes
| ↑1 | “Sebastián Calvo de la Puerta,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebasti%C3%A1n_Calvo_de_la_Puerta accessed 7 August 2022. |
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| ↑2 | Casa Calvo to Pedro Cevallos, New Orleans, March 30, 1804 in Before Lewis and Clark: Documents Illustrating the History of the Missouri 1785–1804, ed. A. P. Nasatir, Bison Books edition. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990), 727–28. |
| ↑3 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “River” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations. |
