F3703

Louisiana Purchase - Bicentennial

The Nation Moves West

Cover Announcement 

When I envisioned what I wanted to do for this stamp, I came away with three cachet directions in which I might travel. The first was to honor President Thomas Jefferson for his foresight and swift action that ensured our terrilory growth as a nation. The second was to depict the actual transfer of power from France to the United States. After all, the stamp was paying tribute to exactly that. The third possibility was to give medit to the hundreds and then thousands of brave trappers and pioneer families who set out to explore and settle the vast new territory.

The frst two ideas came to fruition when I announced F3701 (Thomas Jefferson) and F3702 (French Troops Retire Their FIag). At that point, I began to think that maybe three cachets would be too many for a single stamp, and I pretty much decided not to do it. As I've thought about it, my original concept seems to be the right course. The purchase of this vast territory from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains has given the United States much of our heartland and has shaped our familiar and permanent borders. Three cachets definitely are not too many for such a stamp.

The hand painted cachet shows covered wagons drawn close together for the evening camp. A frontiersman rides sentry duty and keeps a sharp watch for any potential danger. This scene pays tribute to these hardy pioneers that soon populated the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. Indeed, the nation moved west. Collins #F3703 -$12.25.