The pages below are from early Louisiana Territory records that were published by the government in the early 1800s. They reveal a bit about the political turmoil involved in governing the new territory and give us insight into the earliest families in St. Louis and the surrounding areas.
Louisana Territory: Wilkinson Memorial, 1805: This page contains a list of men in the eastern Louisiana Territory, later known as the Missouri Territory, who wrote in support of Governor James Wilkinson, first governor of the Missouri Territory, signing petitions in favor of keeping Governor Wilkinson in his job in spite of “unfounded and injurious” rumors about his behavior.
Louisana Territory Petition to President, 1806: This page contains a list of residents in the eastern Louisiana Territory who signed a petition asking President Jefferson to reconsider his choice of a new governor, after he removed Governor Wilkinson from office.
Louisiana Territory Petition to Congress. 1810: This page contains a list of residents who signed a petition in 1810 asking Congress to allow them the right to vote for their own political leaders, since the citizens of New Orleans already had that right, and Missourians felt they were entitled to proper local government.
Louisiana Territory Petition to Land Commissioners. 1810: This page is a set of lists of male residents in the Upper Louisiana Territory (what would become eastern Missouri) who were trying to make known their dissatisfaction with how the federal government was handling land claims of men who were not able to clear their land or build houses as the law required.
