“We knew it would be an eternal problem for us, and it could not stand,” the former president told a Fort Dodge audience Monday evening.

He then explained how he solved the problem, and in the process, acquired the land that includes what is now Iowa.

Jefferson, of course, gave no such presentation Monday evening. In fact, in his lifetime he never came remotely close to Iowa.

But the man who was the chief author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States was convincingly portrayed by Tom Pitz, who like Jefferson, hails from Virgina. About 40 people came to the library for his presentation.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
President Thomas Jefferson points to a map showing the area acquired by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Jefferson, as portrayed by Tom Pitz, gave a presentation on the purchase at the Fort Dodge Public Library Monday night.

Jefferson/Pitz told his audience that Spain controlled New Orleans originally. He said the United States had a treaty with Spain that allowed free passage of American boats and cargo through New Orleans.

But as Napoleon began consolidating his power, he pressured Spain to give him New Orleans. That worried Jefferson.

In response, he directed his minister to France, Robert Livingston, to offer to buy New Orleans and western Florida for the United States.

Napoleon, he said, wanted nothing to do with such a deal.

But two things worked in the Americans’ favor, he said. One of those was the fact that the British Royal Navy controlled the Caribbean Sea. The other was the fact that France lost thousands of its troops to disease while putting down a slave revolt on San Domingo in the Caribbean. With Britain dominating the sea and saddled with huge losses on San Domingo, Napoleon decided to make a deal.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Tom Pitz portrays President Thomas Jefferson during a presentation Monday night at the Fort Dodge Public Library.

The result was that the Jefferson Administration bought 530 million acres in the heart of North America for $15 million.

“We were pretty pleased as a nation to secure this,” Jefferson said.

He said that no one knew very much about what had just been purchased, however.

“I determined that this condition of ignorance was a risk to us,” he said.

To solve that problem, he asked Congress for $2,500 to fund a Corps of Discovery to explore the newly purchased lands.

To lead the corps, he selected Meriwether Lewis, who then asked for William Clark to be his co-leader.

“These men have given us so much information,” he said.