1805 Thomas Jefferson - James Wilkinson, an American Double Agent

In 1804, all of the Louisiana Purchase south of the 33rd parallel became the Orleans Territory, and the remainder became the District of Louisiana.  William C. C. Claiborne was appointed Governor of the Orleans territory, and Congress set up a temporary government for the District of Louisiana.  This was before the official date of transfer from the French, and it authorized the President to use military forces to maintain order in the district, but left local civil government as it was under French and Spanish Rule.   Then on July 4, 1805 the District of Louisiana was re-designated as the Louisiana Territory and a new government was established.   The first governor of the Louisiana Territory (later renamed the Missouri Territory) was James Wilkinson.  Wilkinson was appointed by President Jefferson and concurrently held the position of Senior brigadier general of the United States Army.  Governor's of a territory were also the commander in chief of the militia for that territory. So, it made sense for a brigadier general to be rewarded with the governorship of the new territory

With new land and new opportunities, American's flocked to the the new territories.  It had been just a few months since the local government was turned over to America, and reports of land and property being seized and plundered by Spanish soldiers had been reported to Jefferson.  One example is that of Thomas F. Oliver of Natchitoces who described a list of items that were seized by Spanish soldiers at "Bayau Pierre" en route to Natchitoches from the Caddo Nation.  Among the items were 15 hoses, 110 buck skins, 3 Spanish saddles, and 2 bear skins.  In response to attacks like this, Jefferson gave "orders to our troops on that frontier to be in readiness to protect our citizens, and to repel by arms any similar aggressions in future."

In his 1805 annual address, President Thomas Jefferson announced his actions to Congress:

"Inroads have been recently made into the Territories of Orleans and the Mississippi, our citizens have been seized and their property plundered in the very parts of the former which had been actually delivered up by Spain, and this by the regular officers and soldiers of that Government. I have therefore found it necessary at length to give orders to our troops on that frontier to be in readiness to protect our citizens, and to repel by arms any similar aggressions in future. Other details necessary for your full information of the state of things between this country and that shall be the subject of another communication."

Now, Jefferson did not specifically mention the Louisiana Territory, but his message of "readiness" was quite likely sent to James  Wilkinson  as well.   But, Jefferson was not aware that James Wilkinson was a spy.  He was a double agent to Spain.   As a land speculator, James Wilkinson became deeply in debt, and turned to selling American secrets to the Spanish Empire.  One of the biggest secrets he let out was about the expedition of Lewis and Clark's secret goal of finding a land route through the Western mountains to the Pacific Ocean.  And in this, case Wilkinson was encouraging Spain to build a line of defense to prevent American expansion westward after the Louisiana purchase.  It may very well be, that Wilkinson was encouraging the land being seized and plundered by the Spanish soldiers.   And, perhaps he shared these new plans of Jefferson's with Spain.

Of course, Wilkinson had notorious fame for another reason.   While governor of Louisiana territory, Wilkinson was said to have received a coded letter from Aaron Burr stating that he was ready to commence his movement to Texas.   Even though Wilkinson had been exchanging letters with Burr since 1804, he feared that his role in Burr's plans and/or his spying for Spain would be expose.   So, Wilkinson sent the letter to President Jefferson and painted Burr's actions in the worst possible light, while portraying himself as an innocent bystander.   This letter led to the arrest of Aaron Burr in 1806 in Bayou Pierre about 30 miles north of Natchez Missippi. Yep, "Bayau Pieere", the same place where Spanish soldiers seized the private property of Thomas F. Oliver of Natchitoces.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29447
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Louisiana
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Territory
http://www.historykat.com/US/statutes/act-further-providing-for-government-district-louisiana-1805.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wilkinson
http://www.npr.org/2010/04/28/126363998/the-man-who-double-crossed-the-founders
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/sites/default/files/sc/findaid/5018.pdf
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/James_Wilkinson.jpg

Note:   Quite often, finding significance of one paragraph in the President's state of the union address can be a difficult investigative task. It's like piecing together a puzzle, and sometimes, as was the case with this one, the significance is not even known by the author at the time it was written.

Little did Thomas Jefferson know, that his own brigadier general and governor of Louisiana Territory was undermining his attempts of establishing a peaceful transition of the territories.