Hooray For Jefferson

Today marks the 209th anniversary of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the nation at the cost of four cents per acre.  It is hard to believe that it barely passed through congress and there was great concern about whether or not Jefferson could even negotiate the treaty.  Consider the nation without it, well for starters us Westerners would be likely Mexicans or Canadians or some hybrid of French, British and Spanish settlers.  Another odd thing about the Purchase, Jefferson waited until July 4th, to announce the deal.  Consider that in the modern world, it would be politician suicide.  The wait did allow one Merriweather Lewis to start planning and purchasing supplies for a trip west from St. Louis.  Tonight a photo of a goat trail just outside of Pomeroy that Lewis and Clark and their party used on their return to St. Louis from the Pacific.