| The Louisiana Purchase |
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"Let the Land rejoice, for you have bought Louisiana for a Song."
--Gen. Horatio Gates to President Thomas Jefferson, July 18, 1803 |
| National Archives and Records Administration |
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| On Apr. 30, 1803, the United States signed a treaty effecting the purchasing of the Louisiana Territory from France. Over 2 million sq km (800,000 sq mi) of land extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains was purchased for 60 million francs, or about $15 million. |
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| image from The Library of Congress |
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| Dakota Territory |
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 On March 2, 1861, President James Buchanan signed the Organic Act creating the Dakota Territory, which originally included the area covered today by both Dakotas as well as Montana and Wyoming. The name was taken from that of the Dakota or Sioux Indian Tribe. Beginning in 1877, efforts were made to bring Dakota into the Union as both a single state and as two states. The latter was successful and on November 2, 1889, both North and South Dakota were admitted. President Benjamin Harrison went to great lengths to obscure the order in which the statehood proclamations were signed, so the exact order in which the two states entered is unknown. However, because of alphabetical position, North Dakota is often considered the 39th state. |
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