St. Louis Historic Preservation

Event:  Three Flags Day
Brief Description:  Three Flags Day in 1804 marks the occasion of the transfer of Upper Louisiana (including St. Louis) from the Spanish to the French to U.S. rule. The transfer ceremony actually took place over a two-day period on March 9 and 10, 1804. In 1803, the Spanish had returned the Louisiana Territory to France, which then sold the land to the U.S. Transfer of the territory had never been officially completed in St. Louism however, when U.S. Army Captain Amos Stoddard arrived in March 1804. Stoddard had been appointed as the first American governor of the Missouri Territory by President Jefferson. On March 9, 1804, Stoddard, having appointed himself as France´s representative, accepted title to the territory from the Spanish governor. In deference to the City’s French citizens, he allowed the French flag to fly for the next 24 hours. The following day, he handed over the land title to himself as the American governor, thereby completing the transfer to the United States.
Year:  1804
Decade:  1800 - 1809
Beginning Date: Mar. 09, 1804
Ending Date: Mar. 10, 1804

Reference
Time Portal to Old St. Louis

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This site was made possible by: the City of St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency and
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This site was funded in part by Federal funds administered by the Missouri State Historical Preservation Office, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, The National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

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