of Parkersburg, that is still haunted with the memory of a strange
conspiracy. In 1805 the island, then some three hundred acres in size,
belonged to an Irish gentleman, Harman Blennerhassett, who had built
a beautiful home there and planted fields of hemp. For a time he and
his family lived there in great content, Blennerhassett himself being
devoted to science and to music, but presently he felt the need of
increasing his small fortune and looked about for a suitable enterprise.
Then there was introduced to him a gentleman from New York, a very
well-known man by the name of Aaron Burr. He also was seeking to make
his fortune, and he took Blennerhassett into his confidence. Together
they plotted a conspiracy. They started to put their plans into action,
and many people called them patriots, and many called them traitors.
History does not know all the secrets of that small island, but it tells
a curious story of the conspiracy.
Aaron Burr was a very talented and fascinating man, but he was a born
adventurer. At this time he was about fifty years old. He had fought
in the Revolution, and practiced law in New York City, where he
divided honors with Alexander Hamilton, the most brilliant attorney
of the period. He had been elected a senator, and then had become
a candidate for President of the United States. In the election of
1800 the Electoral College cast seventy-three votes apiece for Thomas
Jefferson and Aaron Burr, and these two candidates led all the others.
As there was a tie, the choice of President was thrown into the House
of Representatives, and there followed a long and bitter fight. Finally
Jefferson was chosen President, and Burr Vice-President. In the long
campaign Burr made many enemies, chief among whom were the powerful
New York families of Clinton and Livingston. These men charged him
with being a political trickster, and won most of his followers away
from him. When Burr became a candidate for Governor of New York he was
beaten, and his defeat was made more bitter by the stinging attacks of
his old rival, Alexander Hamilton.
In that day it was still the custom for gentlemen to settle questions
of honor on the dueling field. Burr, stung by Hamilton's criticisms,
challenged him, and the two met on the heights of Weehawken, overlooking
the Hudson River. Here Burr wounded Hamilton so severely that the latter
died a few days later. Hounded by Hamilton's friends, the luckless Burr
now found himself cast out by both the Federalists and Republicans, and
with no political future. Yet he knew that he had unusual talents for
leadership. Still filled with ambition and in great need of money, he
saw that there was little opportunity for him at home, and began to turn
his eyes outside of the Republic.
The western world was then a wonderful field for daring adventurers.
Thirteen small colonies lying close to the Atlantic Ocean had less than
twenty years before thrown off the yoke of a great European nation. Men
had already pushed west to the Mississippi, and settled the fertile
fields beyond the Alleghanies. Across the great "Mother of Rivers" lay a
vast tract that men knew little about. To the south lay Spanish colonies
and islands. The Gulf of Mexico was the home of freebooters and pirates.
In Europe a man of the people named Napoleon Bonaparte was carving out
an empire for himself, and stirring the blood of all ambitious men.
Soldiers of fortune everywhere were wondering whether they might not
follow in Napoleon's footsteps.
It is hard to say in which direction Burr was tempted first. He wanted
to hide his real plans not only from his own countrymen, but from the
English, French, and Spanish agents as well. He first pretended to
Anthony Merry, the British minister at Washington, that he intended to
join a conspiracy to start a revolution in the Spanish colonies, in the
hope of turning them into a new republic. Mr. Merry told his government
that it would be to the advantage of England if Mr. Burr's plans
succeeded. But even then Burr was working on a different scheme. He
thought that the people of Louisiana, a large territory at the mouth of
the Mississippi River, which had only lately become a part of the United
States, might be induced to separate into a new nation of their own. He
needed money for his plans, and so he kept pointing out to the British
minister the many advantages to England if either the Spanish colonies
or Louisiana should win freedom. A third plan was also dawning in Burr's
mind, the possibility of entering Mexico and carving out a kingdom
there for himself. So he began by dealing with the agents of different
countries, trying to get money from each for his own secret schemes.
In the spring of 1805 Burr set out for the West. He took coach for
the journey over the mountains to Pittsburgh, where he had arranged
by letter to meet General James Wilkinson, the governor of the new
territory of Louisiana. Wilkinson was delayed, however, and so Burr
embarked in an ark that he had ordered built to sail down the Ohio
River. After several days on the water he reached Blennerhassett Island
early in May. The owner of the island was away from home, but his wife
invited Burr to their house, and he learned from her that her husband
was looking for a way to mend his fortunes.
Next day Burr continued his journey in the ark. He reached Cincinnati,
then a very small town of fifteen hundred people, where he talked over
his plans with several friends. From Cincinnati he went to Louisville,
and from there rode to Frankfort. At Nashville he was the guest of
Andrew Jackson, who was major-general of the Tennessee militia. Word
spread about that Aaron Burr was plotting to free Florida and the West
Indies from Spanish rule, and the liberty-loving settlers welcomed him
with open arms.
Leaving Andrew Jackson, Burr floated in an open boat to the mouth of
the Cumberland River, where his ark, which had come down the Ohio, was
waiting for him. The ark made its first stop at a frontier post called
Fort Massac, and there Burr met General Wilkinson of Louisiana. These
two men were real soldiers of fortune. They had fought side by side at
the walls of Quebec, and Wilkinson, like many another, had fallen under
the spell of Burr's charm. They probably discussed the whole situation:
how a small army might seize Florida, how a small navy could drive the
Spaniards from Cuba, how a daring band of frontiersmen could march from
Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico. Wilkinson seemed delighted with Burr's
schemes, and when he left he provided his friend with a large barge
manned by ten soldiers and a sergeant.
In this imposing vessel Burr sailed on down the Mississippi to New
Orleans, and on June 25, 1805, landed at that quaint old city. It was
already a place of much importance; seagoing ships and thousands of
river flatboats docked at its levees, for it was the chief port for
sending goods to Mexico and the other Spanish colonies. Burr brought
letters to many prominent people, and a public dinner was given in his
honor. The visitor had been Vice-President of the United States, and was
said to be the leader of a band of mysterious patriots. Enthusiasm ran
high in New Orleans when their guest said, as he had already announced
in Tennessee, that he intended to devote his life to overthrowing all
Spanish rule in America.
Day after day the soldier of fortune was busy with his plans. When he
started north on horseback he carried with him the fame of a great
patriot. Wherever he stopped, at cabins, at villages, or cities, the
frontiersmen wanted to shake his hand. He rode four hundred and fifty
miles through the wilderness from Natchez to Nashville, where he again
visited Andrew Jackson, who promised him Tennessee soldiers for a war on
Spain. At St. Louis he learned that General Zebulon Pike was exploring
the best route over the plains to Santa Fé, and many letters told him
that the time was ripe to settle old grudges with the borderers of
Mexico. Everything seemed favorable to his adventure. Burr had only
to decide where he would strike first. He was back in the East by the
middle of November, 1805, having filled the whole country with rumors
of wild plots and insurrections. He was a figure of mystery. People
whispered that Aaron Burr was to be the Washington of a new republic in
the West, or the king of a country to be carved out of Mexico.
By the summer of 1806 Burr knew that he could not get money from England
to further his plans. He would have to depend on his own countrymen in
any attack on Mexico or Spain. His journey had showed him that many
of them were eager to follow his lead. Troubles were daily increasing
along the borders of Florida and Mexico. It looked easy to take an army
into Florida, but there would be more profit in the rich country to the
southwest. His friend, General Wilkinson, had just been sent to drive
the Mexicans across the Sabine River, the western boundary of Louisiana,
and Burr thought this was a good chance to go west again, and perhaps
call the settlers to arms. Men he trusted started west early in the
summer of 1806, and Burr, with his daughter, and a Colonel De Pestre,
who had fought in the French Revolution, and a few friends and servants,
set out in August for their meeting-place on Blennerhassett Island.
When he arrived there he was warmly welcomed by the owner. Burr showed
Blennerhassett how he could make his fortune in Mexico, because if the
conspiracy were successful they could take a large part of that country
for themselves. Fired by Burr's story the men on the island immediately
began preparations. They sent to the town of Marietta for one hundred
barrels of pork, and contracted to have fifteen boats delivered at the
island the following December. A kiln was built near Blennerhassett's
house for drying corn, which was then ground into meal, and packed for
shipping. All sorts of provisions were purchased, and the Blennerhassett
family prepared to send their household goods down the river. Word of
the plans spread, and men in various towns near the Ohio made ready to
join the expedition. When the leader should send out his messengers
recruits would come pouring in.
In the meantime Burr himself had left the little island and covered a
wide stretch of country. He wanted to be sure of Andrew Jackson's aid,
and he found that fiery warrior as ready as ever to fight Spaniard or
Mexican in the cause of liberty. The general still thought that his
friend Burr's only object was to free all of North America. Eager in
that cause, Jackson sent word to the Tennessee militia, urging them
to be ready for instant duty against the Spaniards, who, he said, had
already captured several citizens of the United States, had cut down
our flag, had driven our explorers away from the Red River, and had
taken an insulting position on the east bank of the River Sabine, in the
territory of Orleans. He wrote to President Jefferson offering to lead
his Tennessee militia against the troops of Spain. A large part of the
country expected war at once. Burr, for his own purposes, did all he
could to inflame this warlike feeling.
In October the chief conspirator met his daughter, Theodosia Alston, her
husband, and Blennerhassett at Lexington, Kentucky. He now arranged
to buy a tract, known as the Bastrop lands, which included nearly a
million acres in northern Louisiana on the Washita River. This purchase
he meant to use as a blind, intending to settle there only in case his
other plans failed. If the United States Government should suspect
the conspirators of plotting against Mexico, they could pretend to be
merely settlers, armed to defend themselves in case the Spaniards should
overrun their borders. The tract would be valuable in any case, because
of the rich bottom-lands and vast forests, and made a splendid base for
a raid into the Spanish provinces.
Recruits were added daily to Burr's forces. He told them as much or as
little of his schemes as he thought advisable. To some he said that he
was a secret agent of the government, to others that he only meant to
start a new pioneer settlement. If there should be war with Spain the
men who followed him would share in the spoils, if victorious. If there
was no war they would be ready to protect the border against invaders.
There were some people, however, who could not get over their distrust
of Burr because of what he had done. The mysterious preparations at
Blennerhassett Island caused some uneasiness in the neighborhood, and
on October 6th a mass meeting of the people of Wood County, Virginia,
was held, and the military preparations on the island were denounced.
Blennerhassett was away at the time, but his wife, hearing of the
meeting, grew uneasy, and sent her gardener, Peter Taylor, to tell her
husband this news. Taylor found the conspirators at Lexington, and gave
them Mrs. Blennerhassett's message. The gardener was evidently taken
into his master's confidence, because he said later that the plan was
"to take Mexico, one of the finest and richest places in the whole
world." He added, "Colonel Burr would be the King of Mexico, and Mrs.
Alston, daughter of Colonel Burr, was to be Queen of Mexico, whenever
Colonel Burr died.... Colonel Burr had made fortunes for many in his
time, but none for himself; but now he was going to make something
for himself. He said that he had a great many friends in the Spanish
territory; no less than two thousand Roman Catholic priests were
engaged, and all their friends would join, if once he could get to them;
that the Spaniards, like the French, had got dissatisfied with their
government, and wanted to swap it."
President Jefferson could no longer overlook the adventures of Burr and
his friends. He knew that very little was needed to kindle the flame
of war on the Mexican border. But he had his hands full with foreign
affairs; England was making trouble for American sailors, and Napoleon
was setting the whole world by the ears. So the busy President wrote
to his agents in the West and urged them to keep a secret watch over
Colonel Burr and Blennerhassett Island.
War with Spain almost came that summer. There were many disputed
boundary lines between the United States and the Spanish colonies. The
Spanish troops in Florida, Texas, and Mexico were prepared for an attack
from the United States, and Spanish agents were urging Indian tribes to
rise against the white men. Men protested in Western cities and towns.
The people of Orleans Territory were afraid that Spain was going to try
to win back their country by force of arms. On the 4th of July, 1806,
the people of New Orleans held a great patriotic celebration, and in the
evening a play called, "Washington; or the Liberty of the New World,"
was acted to a huge audience. Even the Creoles, who were more Spanish
than Anglo-Saxon, were eager to fight against the old tyranny of Spain.
In the midst of this war excitement word came that a man born in
Venezuela, named Francesco Miranda, had sailed from New York to free his
native country from Spanish rule. Miranda was looked upon as a hero and
patriot by many people in the United States, and this encouraged Burr
and his friends.
There were in 1806 about one thousand soldiers in Texas, which was then
a province of Mexico. These troops were ordered to cross the Sabine
River, which formed a part of the disputed boundary, and as soon as
they did cross the governor of Louisiana called for volunteers, and
the people of Mississippi Territory prepared to march to the aid of
New Orleans. The meeting place of the volunteers was Natchitoches,
and there hundreds of countrymen came flocking, armed, and eager to
defend Louisiana. Everything seemed ready for Aaron Burr to launch his
great adventure. But at this point Burr's former friend, General James
Wilkinson, the governor of Louisiana, changed his mind as to the wisdom
of Burr's schemes. He would not give the order to the volunteers to
march to the Mexican border, but waited, hoping that President Jefferson
would prevent the war by diplomacy, or that the Spanish troops would
decide to retreat.
On September 27th a great crowd in Nashville hailed Colonel Burr as the
deliverer of the Southwest, and Andrew Jackson proclaimed, "Millions for
defense; not one cent for tribute;" and at the same time the Mexican
General Herrera ordered his troops to retreat from the River Sabine.
Danger of war was over, and the moment the flag of Spain left the
Louisiana shore, Burr's dream of an empire for himself and his friends
vanished.
General Wilkinson knew that the government in Washington was suspicious
of Aaron Burr's plans, and he thought that his name was included among
those of Burr's friends. Some newspapers had even linked their names
together, and the general, knowing perhaps the treachery of his own
thoughts, now decided to prove his patriotism by accusing Aaron Burr and
the others of treason. All the time that he was making a treaty with the
Mexican general on the Texan frontier he was also working up a strong
case against Burr. He saw to it that the agents put all suspicion on
the shoulders of the others, and made him appear as the one man who had
tried his best to protect his country. He intended to show that not only
was he not a traitor, but that he was able to unmask traitors, by having
pretended to join with them earlier.
In his sudden eagerness to prevent war with the Mexicans, General
Wilkinson made terms of peace with them, which proved a great
disadvantage to the United States at a later date, but which pleased
the peace party of the day. He met the Mexican general at the very time
when Burr and his allies were ready to launch their fleet of boats on
the Mississippi River. Then Wilkinson made haste to raise the cry of
"Treason in the West," which was to echo through the United States for
months, and ruin the reputation of many men.
President Jefferson trusted Wilkinson, and when he heard the latter's
charges against Burr he sent a special messenger to see what was
happening at Blennerhassett Island. Before the messenger reached the
Alleghany Mountains, however, another man had accused Burr in the court
at Frankfort, Kentucky, of having broken the laws of the country in
starting an expedition against Mexico. Burr said that he could easily
answer these charges, and sent a message to Blennerhassett, telling
him not to be disturbed. He went to the court at Frankfort, and when
the man who had accused him could not bring his witnesses the matter
was promptly dropped. Burr was more a hero than ever to the people of
Frankfort. They agreed with a leading newspaper that said, "Colonel
Burr has throughout this business conducted himself with the calmness,
moderation, and firmness which have characterized him through life. He
evinced an earnest desire for a full and speedy investigation--free from
irritation or emotion; he excited the strongest sensation of respect and
friendship in the breast of every impartial person present."
Burr then went back to Lexington, and continued raising money to buy
a fleet of boats. Andrew Jackson had already received three thousand
dollars in Kentucky for this purpose. Blennerhassett went on enrolling
volunteers. It looked as if Burr's conduct at Frankfort had put an end
to the rumors of treason.
General Wilkinson, however, was still anxious to make a name for himself
as a great patriot, and he kept sending alarming messages to Washington.
He accused his former friend of all sorts of treason. It was also
perfectly clear that a large number of boats were being gathered on the
Ohio under orders of Burr and his friends, and so President Jefferson
sent word to the officers at Marietta to post one hundred and fifty or
two hundred soldiers on the river to prevent Burr's fleet sailing. With
the news of this order people in the West began to suspect their former
hero, and even some of his old allies grew doubtful of his patriotism.
Wilkinson increased the alarm by orders he gave in New Orleans as
governor of Louisiana Territory. He began to make military arrests,
locking up all those he distrusted, and all those who were admirers
of Aaron Burr. He had gunboats stationed in the river, and they were
ordered to fire on Burr's fleet if it ever got that far, and he refused
to allow any boats to ascend the Mississippi without his express
permission. All this preparation caused great excitement in New Orleans,
which spread through the neighboring country. It seemed as if General
Wilkinson were trying to force the people to believe there was some
great conspiracy on foot.
The colonel and his allies tried to explain that their fleet of boats
was simply to carry settlers, arms and provisions into the Bastrop
tract of land that they had bought; but by now nobody would believe
them. On December 9, 1806, the boats that Blennerhassett had been
gathering on the Muskingum River were seized by order of the governor
of Ohio. Patrols were placed along the Ohio River, and the militia
called out to capture Blennerhassett and the men with him. The next day
the Virginia militia declared that they meant to find out the secret
of Blennerhassett Island. The owner and his friend, Comfort Tyler, had
word of this, and at once prepared for flight. At midnight they left the
island and started down the Ohio by boat. The Virginia troops arrived
to find the place deserted, and, leaving sentinels there, started
in pursuit of Blennerhassett. The next day the sentries captured a
flatboat with fourteen boys on board, who were coming from Pittsburgh
to join Burr. People along the Ohio began to expect attacks from Burr's
recruits. Cincinnati was especially alarmed. One of the newspapers there
stated that three of Burr's armed boats were anchored near the city,
which they meant to attack. That night some practical joker exploded
a bomb, and the people thought that Burr's army was firing on them.
The citizens armed, and the militia was called out, but when they came
to inspect the boats on the river next day they found that those they
thought belonged to Burr were vessels of a Louisville merchant loaded
with dry-goods. No story was now too wild to be believed when it was
attached to the name of Burr or Blennerhassett.
Burr now only intended to sail down to his own lands. On December 20th
he sent word to Blennerhassett that he would be at the mouth of the
Cumberland River on the twenty-third. Two days later he put a number of
horses on one of his boats, and with a few men to help him, floated down
the Cumberland River to its mouth, where Blennerhassett and the rest
of their party were waiting for him. They joined their seven boats to
his two vessels, and had a fleet of nine ships with about sixty men on
board. On December 28th they sailed down the Ohio, and the next night
anchored a little below Fort Massac.
Country people along the river saw the flotilla pass, and sent word
of it to the nearest military post. The captain there stopped all
ships, but found nothing suspicious on any of them. "Colonel Burr, late
Vice-President," the officer reported, "passed this way with about ten
boats of different descriptions, navigated with about six men each,
having nothing on board that would even suffer a conjecture more than
that he was a man bound to market. He has descended the river toward
Orleans."
On the last day of 1806 the fleet reached the broad waters of the
Mississippi River. Four days later they dropped anchor at Chickasaw
Bluffs, now the city of Memphis. Again officers boarded the boats, and
after examining the cargoes allowed them to go on their voyage. On
January 10th they reached Mississippi Territory, and here they found the
excitement intense.
The fleet was now in territory that was under the charge of General
Wilkinson, and he immediately sent three hundred and seventy-five
soldiers from Natchez to prevent Burr's further progress. On January
16th two officers rowed out to the boats, and were received pleasantly
by Colonel Burr, who laughed at General Wilkinson's suspicions, and,
pointing to his peaceful flotilla, asked if it looked as if it were
meant for war? When he was told that the soldiers had orders to stop
him, he answered that he was willing to appear in court at any time.
This satisfied the two officers, who asked him to ride next day to the
town of Washington, which was the capital of Mississippi Territory, and
appear before the court there. Burr agreed, and early next morning rode
to Washington with the two officers who had called on him. There he was
charged with having conspired against the United States government. His
friends on the river remained on their boats, waiting for his return.
The expedition never went any farther.