Louisiana Purchase Transfer Document

Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis, Louisiana Purchase Transfer Collection

Once the U.S. Congress ratified the treaty which purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in October 1803, the actual transfer took place in two phases. Lower Louisiana was transferred in New Orleans in December 1803, but due to difficult winter travel conditions up the Mississippi River, Upper Louisiana wasn’t transferred in St. Louis until the following spring, in March 1804.

This is the second (signature) page of the document that moved the Upper Territory first from Spain to France and then from France to the United States.

Three witnesses, one from each country, observed the proceedings and signed the document: Meriwether Lewis (U.S.), Antoine Soulard (Spain), and Charles Gratiot (France).