"The Signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty" by Karl Bitter, St. Louis, MO - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

In the annals of American history, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty is considered the third most important document (after the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States). All or parts of thirteen states, from Louisiana to Montana, were carved from the massive Louisiana Territory purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million.

The vast Louisiana Territory, first claimed for France by La Salle in 1682, was ceded to Spain after the Seven Years’ War in 1763 but returned to France in 1800 in exchange for some land in Europe. All this European colonial volatility was cause for concern to the young United States which had become increasingly dependent on the Mississippi River and the port city of New Orleans. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson authorized his minister to France, Robert Livingston, to negotiate for the purchase of New Orleans and sent future president James Monroe to assist when those negotiations stalled. But, to their surprise, before Monroe had even arrived, France offered the entirety of Louisiana for sale.

Apparently, Napoleon, who had just suffered some setbacks in the Caribbean and who was facing impending war with Great Britain, felt that France would lose Louisiana anyway and should take what it could get at that time. He authorized his secretary of the treasury, François de Barbé-Marbois to negotiate a price with the Americans. On April 30, 1803, the treaty was signed effecting the land transfer.

In celebration of the centennial of this event, a World’s Fair (called the Louisiana Purchase Exposition) was planned for the city of St. Louis, MO. So grand was this fair that the organizers needed an extra year of preparation, so the exposition actually took place in 1904 rather than 1903. The city of St. Louis, which had become the “Gateway to the West,” as well as the entire state of Missouri was part of the old Louisiana Territory.

Karl Bitter, an Austrian emigrant, was director of sculpture for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (as he was for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo and would be for the 1913 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco). As part of the huge (100 ft. tall) Louisiana Purchase Monument, located near the main entrance to the fair, Bitter created a high relief sculpture called “The Signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty.” It showed James Monroe and Robert Livingston looking on as François de Barbé-Marbois signs the document. The sculpture and the monument, as well as most of the buildings of the fair were made of “staff,” a mixture of plaster and hemp. Though lacking durability, staff was cheap and easy to work with making it ideal for the temporary structures of a World’s Fair. After the exposition, the monument and sculpture were destroyed.

In the years following the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, two bronze castings of Bitter’s “Signing of the Treaty” sculpture were made based on his original plaster model. One was installed in the Jefferson Memorial, dedicated in 1913 and built with proceeds from the exposition. It was located in St. Louis’ Forest Park, near the main entrance of the 1904 World’s Fair. The other was incorporated into a monument located on the grounds of the Missouri State Capitol in 1927. (This latter casting was authorized by Karl Bitter’s wife as he had been killed in a car accident in 1915.) The original plaster model and the two bronze versions all differ slightly, especially in the details of the chair on which Robert Livingston is seated. A close examination of these details reveals that the 1913 bronze version in the Jefferson Memorial was the one used for the stamp.

The Jefferson Memorial in St. Louis was the first memorial of its kind to the third President. In addition to the “Signing of the Treaty” sculpture, it contained a nine-foot tall statue of Thomas Jefferson also sculpted by Karl Bitter. It was once open to the elements but has since been enclosed and expanded and is now the Missouri History Museum.

The stamp was issued in 1953 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty. It was issued on April 30, the exact date of the original signing.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 30-Apr-1953 Denomination: 3c Color: violet brown Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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