Residence of G. L. Rule Feb. 18, 1898. Have lived here since Sept. 1893. Family stands in foreground; sod building and cabin in background, Arizona Territory
From the Series: Photographs Accompanying Reports to the Secretary of the Interior
President Thomas Jefferson’s message to Congress communicating the discoveries of the explorers Lewis and Clark, 02/19/1806
Three years earlier President Jefferson had approached Congress via secret message to request funding for the expedition.
Read in the Senate on January 2, 1810, this petition from frontiersman Daniel Boone requests Congress’s help in reclaiming the title to his land in what is now St. Charles County, Missouri. Boone acquired land in Louisiana when it was under Spanish rule, but his title was deemed invalid after the territory came into possession of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. Boone’s request would not be granted until February 10, 1814, when Congress passed an “Act for the Relief of Daniel Boone,” which confirmed his title to the land.
Read more at the Center for Legislative Archives…
Petition of Daniel Boone praying for a grant of land within the territory of Louisiana, read January 2, 1810 (page 1); Records of the United States Senate.; Record Group 46; National Archives.
Homestead Proof Testimony of Almanzo Wilder, 09/12/1884
Dated September 12, 1884, this is the homestead proof of Almanzo James Wilder, husband of “Little House” author Laura Ingalls Wilder. His claim for land in De Smet, Dakota territory, notes a 12’ x 12’ frame house with two doors, one window, and a cellar, a two stables.
Zebulon Pike’s Notebook of Maps, Traverse Tables, and Meteorological Observations; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office.
On July 15, 1806, Zebulon Pike began his expedition to expore the southwest region of the Louisiana Purchase. Shown here is a map from one of his notebooks.
