Lousiana Purchase

As we crossed Arkansas, we saw the Louisiana Purchase State Park on a map. We decided it might be work a stop for a hike.

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase from Emperor Napoleon of France. Napoleon was fighting a war for the control of Europe and, since wars are notoriously expensive, Napoleon needed money. He sold 828,000 square miles of land in the American west to the United States for a mere $15 million.

Right after the treaty was signed, giving us title to the land, President Jefferson organized three expeditions to explore this new land. Most famous of these was the expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The two other expeditions were the Red River Expedition and the Pike Expedition.

President Jefferson also ordered a survey of the newly purchased lands. This survey did not get started until 1815, during the term of President Madison.

The first step in any survey is to establish a base point. Since the purchased land was from the 31^st parallel north, the base point had to be on the 31^st parallel. This meant hiding into the roadless swamps of Arkansas.

This stone, placed years later, commemorates this base point.

The trail to the base point stone is actually a raised boardwalk. This protects the visitors from the worst of the swamp (although the mosquitoes are a real nuisance) and the swamp from damage of endless feet. Along the boardwalk, the parks service has placed metal signs, such as shown below, explaining the swamp and other key facts about the base point and the Louisiana Purchase.