The Louisiana Purchase ( the above map is the original displayed at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair which was created as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase) is arguably the single most important event in American History. Its importance goes far beyond the mere fact that the land area of the United States was doubled for a bargain basement price. Before the purchase the USA was simply an extension of European civilization. The population was huddled on the Atlantic coast while all trade and culture looked east to Europe. With the addition of the Louisiana territory the United States began to seriously develop a unique and indigenous society and culture and , more importantly, the direction of the country began the monumental shift from east to west which has continued to the present day.
     Those who study such things agree that the Great Plains was a great sea many thousands of years ago, which accounts for the extreme fertility of the land today. This sea divided the North American continent much the way the Mediterranean Sea divides Europe from Africa.
     The inspiration for these paragraphs about the Louisiana Purchase was a book I have recently read. The book Undaunted Courage , which I heartily recommend , is a no holds barred account of the Lewis and Clark expedition into the Louisiana territory c. 1803, most of which is taken from the diaries and notes of Meriwether Lewis.