I was unaware of this chapter of American history...
I knew that the Spanish had control of that region from some of my own digging. Some of our clan settled in Missouri in the very early days and I found that they were dealing with Spanish officers which suprised me since I knew from history that we bought the territory from the French. The French, as it turns out, had obtained it from the Spanish and left the Spanish officers in place. In fact it was only nominally French for a very short time before being resold to the US. Boone actually lost out on the deal, since his agreements with the Spanish were not honored by the American government.
Daniel Boone’s dealings in opening up the territory meant that he was appointed to office by the local Spanish government and through them he obtained permission to bring in settlers. The first settlers obtained their titles from the Spanish in the region, and Boone was in effect a Spanish government functionary.
It’s rather fascinating, how much leverage Wilkinson had, and how pivotal he was to Burr’s plans, which didn’t always jive with Wilkinson’s.
Wilkinson awaited a provocation from Spain, which despite some efforts to provoke a confrontation never materialized.
That was to be the trigger for the invasion of Mexico, a new country in America, the seperation of Mexico from Spain.....no one really knew.
Early secessionist tendencies of the Kentuckians, Ohioans and Tennesseans were a reaction to the high prices of tobacco in New Orleans and the restrictions placed on trade with Spain by the Eastern Colonies.
Anyway, New Madrid was apparently one of the most forward forts set up by the Spanish.