THE DISPOSITION OF OUR PUBLIC LANDS 255 



jurisdiction over all the area included within the boundaries of the 

 United States ; as a government, it controls, or provides for the 

 control of, that part of the national territory not organized into 

 states ; as a landholder, it owns large tracts of lands within both 

 states and territories. . . . The Congress of the United States 

 went into the business of governing the nation March 1, 1781, 

 with 819,815 square miles of territory; and this area was acknowl- 

 edged to belong to the United States by the treaty of 1783. The 

 first increase of territory came in 1803. The Interior Depart- 

 ment has committed itself, in its lands and census publications, to 

 the statement that the Louisiana purchase of that year included 

 Oregon. It is more in accordance with the historic truth to say 

 that our title to Oregon south of the Columbia dates from the 

 Lewis and Clarke expedition of 1805. The United States, there- 

 fore, secured 877,268 square miles in 1803, and 225,948 square 

 miles in 1805. In 18 12, acts of Congress extended our jurisdic- 

 tion over about 9740 square miles, claimed by Spain, in west 

 Florida. The Florida purchase of 18 19 added 54,240 square 

 miles. Texas brought us 262,290 square miles in 1845. Here, 

 again, the government publications conflict with history. New 

 Mexico was never a part of Texas, and our title to that region 

 rests upon the same basis as that to California : it was a part of 

 the 58,880 square miles north of the Columbia acknowledged by 

 England. In 1853 we bought 47,330 square miles of Mexico. 

 Finally, in 1867, Russia ceded to us Alaska, with 3,501,509 

 square miles. To speak in round numbers, the original area of 

 the United States was doubled by the Louisiana cession ; almost 

 as much was added out of Mexican territory ; and Oregon and 

 Alaska together make up the fourth quarter of the present area. 



The area embraced in the territories has varied almost from 

 year to year. Between the years 1784 and 1802, cessions by the 

 states had given to the United States 405,482 square miles ; but, 

 besides two little tracts ceded by the United States to Pennsyl- 

 vania and Georgia, the creation of new states, beginning with 

 Tennessee in 1796, withdrew large regions from the territorial 

 status. Each annexation increased the territories for the time 

 being ; each admission of a state again reduced it. At present 



