Orleans Territory was a historic, organized territory of the United States formed out of the first subdivision of the Louisiana Purchase. All of the Louisiana Purchase south of the 33rd parallel became the Territory of Orleans, and the remainder became the District of Louisiana. (The District of Louisiana was later renamed the Territory of Louisiana, and still later, when the Territory of Orleans became the U.S. state of Louisiana, the Territory of Louisiana was renamed the Missouri Territory.) Orleans Territory was created on October 1, 1804 by the Organic Act of March 26, 1804, and became Louisiana, the 18th state on March 30, 1812. In the history of the United States, an organized territory is a territory for which the United States Congress has enacted an Organic Act. ... From Frank Bond, Louisiana and the Louisiana Purchase. ... The District of Louisiana or Louisiana District was an official United States government designation for the portion of the Louisiana Purchase which was not organized into Orleans Territory. ... A U.S. state is any one of the 50 states (four of which officially favor the term commonwealth) which, together with the District of Columbia, form the United States of America. ... State nickname: Pelican State Other U.S. States Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) Official languages None; English and French de facto Area 134,382 km² (31st)  - Land 112,927 km²  - Water 21,455 km² (16%) Population (2000)  - Population 4,468,976 (22nd)  - Density 39. ... Missouri Territory was a historic, organized territory in the United States. ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in Leap years). ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in Leap years). ... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

On April 10, 1805, the Territorial Legislature organized 12 counties(starting from the southeast corner moving west and north): Orleans County, LaFourche County, German Coast, Acadia County, Iberville County, Attakapas County, Pointe Coupée County, Opelousas County, Rapides County, Concordia County, Natchitoches County and Ouachita County. The Florida Parishes on the east bank of the Mississippi were not included in Orleans Territory at this time, as they were in the Spanish territory of West Florida until they were annexed in 1810. The western boundary with Spanish Texas was not fully defined until the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819. A strip of land known as the Sabine Free State just east of the Sabine River served as a neutral ground buffer area from about 1807 until 1819. April 10 is the 100th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (101st in leap years). ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Florida Parishes are those parishes in Louisiana which were part of West Florida in the early 19th century. ... Map of East and West Florida in the early 1800s. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Spanish Texas is the name given by Texas history scholars to the period between 1690 and 1821 when Texas was goverened as a province of the Spanish colony of New Spain. ... The Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819 (formally titled the Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits Between the United States of America and His Catholic Majesty, and also known as the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819, and sometimes the Florida Treaty) was a historic agreement between the United States and Spain... The Sabine Free State, also known as the Neutral Strip, Neutral Territory, Neutral Ground or No Mans Land of Louisiana, was a strip of land between Americas Louisiana Purchase and Spanish Texas. ... Sabine River can refer to: The Sabine River in the United States The Sabine River in New Zealand. ...

Leaders and representatives

William C. C. Claiborne was appointed the first and only governor of the Orleans Territory. He later became the first governor of the state of Louisiana. William Charles Cole Claiborne (1775 - 23 November 1817) was a United States politican, best known as the first U.S. governor of Louisiana. ...

There were two Territorial secretaries, James Brown (1804–1807) and Thomas Bolling Robertson (1807–1811). Daniel Clark became the first Territorial Delegate to the U.S. Congress, in December 1806. James Brown (11 September 1766 – 7 April 1835) was a United States Senator from Louisiana for the years 1813-1817 and 1819-1823. ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Daniel Clark (circa 1766 - August 16, 1813) was the first Delegate from Orleans Territory to the United States House of Representatives. ... Seal of the Congress. ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

See also

• Historic regions of the United States

These are historic regions of the United States, meaning regions that were legal entities in the past, or which the average modern American would no longer immediately recognize as a regional description. ...

External links

• 1805 Orleans Territory Map
• Louisiana Documents The counties as defined by the Territorial Legislature, 1805.
• The Political Graveyard Secretaries of Orleans Territory