hey already possessed. The vital
importance to the Westerners of the free navigation of the Mississippi
has already been shown. Suffice it to say that the control of the mouth
of the great Father of Waters was of direct personal consequence to
almost every tree feller, every backwoods farmer, every land owner,
every townsman, who dwelt beyond the Alleghanies. These men did not
worry much over the fact that the country on the farther bank of the
Mississippi was still under the Spanish Flag. For the moment they did
not need it, and when they did, they knew they could take it without the
smallest difficulty. But the ownership of the mouth of the Mississippi
was a matter of immediate importance; and though none of the settlers
doubted that it would ultimately be theirs, it was yet a matter of much
consequence to them to get possession of it as quickly as possible, and
with as little trouble as possible, rather than to see it held, perhaps
for years, by a powerful hostile nation, and then to see it acquired
only at the cost of bloody, and perchance checkered, warfare.

Terror of the Spaniards.

This was the attitude of the backwoods people as with sinewy, strenuous
shoulder they pressed against the Spanish boundaries. The Spanish
attitude on the other hand was one of apprehension so intense that it
overcame even anger against the American nation. For mere diplomacy, the
Spaniards cared little or nothing; but they feared the Westerners. Their
surrender of Louisiana was due primarily to the steady pushing and
crowding of the frontiersmen, and the continuous growth of the Western
commonwealths. In spite of Pinckney's treaty the Spaniards did not leave
Natchez until fairly drowned out by the American settlers and soldiers.
They now felt the same pressure upon them in New Orleans; it was growing
steadily and was fast becoming intolerable. Year by year, almost month
by month, they saw the numbers of their foes increase, and saw them
settle more and more thickly in places from which it would be easy to
strike New Orleans. Year by year the offensive power of the Americans
increased in more than arithmetical ratio as against Louisiana.

Incursions of American Adventurers.

The more reckless and lawless adventurers from time to time pushed
southwest, even toward the borders of Texas and New Mexico, and strove
to form little settlements, keeping the Spanish Governors and Intendants
in a constant fume of anxiety. One of these