﻿HISTORICAL 
  OUTLINE. 
  75 
  

  

  southern 
  boundary 
  the 
  tliirty-first 
  degree 
  of 
  north 
  latitude. 
  

   The 
  definitive 
  treaty 
  between 
  Great 
  Britain 
  and 
  the 
  

   United 
  States 
  was 
  signed 
  at 
  Paris 
  on 
  the 
  3d 
  of 
  Septem- 
  

   ber 
  followinc:. 
  

  

  Great 
  Britain 
  having, 
  in 
  the 
  latter, 
  warranted 
  the 
  

   province 
  of 
  West 
  Florida 
  to 
  Spain, 
  the 
  claims 
  of 
  Spain 
  

   and 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  were 
  not 
  easily 
  recognized, 
  as 
  the 
  

   King 
  of 
  Spain 
  claimed 
  to 
  the 
  line 
  drawn 
  east 
  from 
  the 
  

   Yazoo 
  River, 
  as 
  the 
  north 
  boundary 
  of 
  that 
  province, 
  it 
  

   having 
  been 
  so 
  extended 
  by 
  Great 
  Britain 
  in 
  the 
  com- 
  

   mission 
  of 
  Governor 
  Johnston 
  of 
  the 
  10th 
  of 
  June, 
  

   1764, 
  and 
  had 
  remained 
  unchanged 
  to 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  the 
  

   treaty. 
  "The 
  United 
  States 
  contended 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  

   the 
  right 
  of 
  going 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  thirty-first 
  degree,and 
  

   Spain 
  could 
  not 
  urge 
  her 
  warranty 
  from 
  Great 
  Britain 
  

   against 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  who 
  had 
  s, 
  previous 
  title 
  from 
  

   her 
  warrantor."* 
  

  

  Piernass 
  having 
  withdrawn 
  to 
  New 
  Orleans 
  in 
  June, 
  

   1783, 
  Francisco 
  Collett, 
  a 
  captain 
  in 
  the 
  garrison, 
  be- 
  

   came 
  civil 
  and 
  military 
  commandant 
  ad 
  interim. 
  On 
  

   the 
  3d 
  of 
  August, 
  he 
  was 
  superseded 
  by 
  Don 
  Philip 
  Tre- 
  

   vino, 
  Lieutenant-Colonel 
  of 
  the 
  Regiment 
  of 
  Louisiana. 
  

   That 
  the 
  Natchez 
  District 
  would 
  soon 
  come 
  under 
  the 
  

   government 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  as 
  embraced 
  within 
  

   her 
  limits 
  as 
  established 
  by 
  the 
  treaty 
  recognizing 
  her 
  

   independence, 
  was 
  now 
  the 
  confident 
  expectation 
  and 
  

   desire 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  inhabitants, 
  and 
  the 
  influence 
  

   which 
  a 
  free 
  and 
  stable 
  government 
  would 
  exert 
  on 
  the 
  

   prosperity 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  was 
  thus 
  early 
  foreseen. 
  Mr. 
  

   William 
  Dunbar 
  writes 
  to 
  his 
  friend 
  in 
  June, 
  1783. 
  

   " 
  I 
  am 
  sorry 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  our 
  plantation 
  (near 
  Baton 
  Rouge) 
  

   falls 
  considerably 
  without 
  the 
  American 
  line, 
  in 
  conse- 
  

  

  * 
  Judge 
  Martin. 
  

  

  