Louisiana Purchase Exploration Trails

Primary Texts:

• Berry, Trey, Pam Beasley, and Jeanne Clements, eds. The Forgotten Expedition, 1804-1805: The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter. LSU P, 2014.
• Flores, Dan L., ed. Jefferson and Southwestern Exploration: The Freeman-Custis Accounts of the Red River Expedition of 1806. U of Oklahoma P, 1984.
• —. Southern Counterpart to Lewis and Clark: The Freeman & Custis Expedition of 1806. U of Oklahoma P, 1986.
• Mc Dermott, John Francis, ed. The Western Journals of Dr. George Hunter, 1796-1805. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, Vol. 53, Part 4. American Philosophical Society, 1963. https://dn720206.ca.archive.org/0/items/westernjournalso00hunt/westernjournalso00hunt.pdf. Accessed February 16, 2026.
• Letter of Governor Folch to the Governor-General of Cuba re: James Wilkinson
• Louisiana Purchase Treaty between the United States and France

Selected Secondary Sources

19th-Century Explorers

“Related Explorers,” LewisandClark.org –Helpful discussions of explorers–and almost-explorers–who were contemporary to Custis, Dunbar, Freeman, and Hunter

“Day by Day,” LewisandClark.org.–Using this reference and the journals of the Southern explorers, you can compare what Lewis and Clark, Dunbar and Hunter, and Freeman and Custis were doing on any given day.

Dunbar-Hunter Expedition

• 64 Parishes
• Dermott, John Francis. “The Western Journals of George Hunter, 1796-1805.” (journal article)
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas
• The Forgotten Expedition. Directed by Trey Berry. Arkansas PBS. September 13, 2023. https://youtu.be/4X4n-p0S1t0?si=DWGeRdkO5Bwlr8R4. Accessed March 9, 2026.
• Milson, Andrew J. Arkansas Travelers: Geographies of Exploration and Perception, 1804-1834. U of Arkansas P, 2019
• Monticello (William Dunbar)
• National Park Service, “The Forgotten Expedition of Hunter and Dunbar”

Freeman-Custis Expedition

• 64 Parishes
• Cole-Jett, Robin. Red River Historian
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
• Monticello
• Texas State Historical Ass’n (TSHA)

James Wilkinson

• Cox, Howard W. American Traitor: General James Wilkinson’s Betrayal of the Republic and Escape from Justice. Narrated by David Colacci. Tantor Media. Audiobook. June 27, 2023.
• Cox, Isaac Joslin. “The Pan-American Policy of Jefferson and Wilkinson.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 1, no. 2, 1914, pp. 212–39. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1894951. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026. [paper detailing Wilkinson’s espionage]
• Gayarre, Charles. History of Louisiana. Vol. 4, Ch. 4-5. 1867. ed., Bill Thayer, April 2010. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/_Texts/GAYHLA/home.html Accessed March 23, 2026. [this text revealed for the first time the depths of Wilkinson’s treachery against the United States with Spain.]
• National Park Service
• Texas State Historical Ass’n (TSHA)

Francisco Viana & Spanish Response to Freeman-Custis

• Pinkerton, Gary L. Trammel’s Trace: The First Road to Texas from the North. 2 ed. Texas A&M P, 2018. see Ch. 4. pp. 52-74, esp. 62-63.
• Texas State Historical Ass’n (TSHA) (Francisco Viana)

No Man’s Land & Neutral Ground Agreement

No Man’s Land. Directed by Bill Rodman and Flo Ulmer-Rodman. Louisiana Public Broadcasting. January 4, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/video/no-mans-land-i9y9xp/. Accessed March 9, 2023.