In the spring of 1805, immediately after terminating his duties in Washington, Burr set out on horseback along the highway for Pittsburgh, even then a flourishing center of trade. There he purchased a commodious houseboat and began a journey down the Ohio River. The boat contained a dining room, kitchen with fireplace, and two bedrooms; the roof, running the length of the craft, served as a porch and a place for exercise. Burr’s ultimate destination was New Orleans but he made a leisurely progress, stopping frequently at settlements along the river. In that remote country any visitor from the East was welcome and none more so than the distinguished and charming ex-Vice-President. In the West no stigma was attached to dueling, but rather admiration was bestowed on a man who had practiced it. And, since most westerners were Jeffersonian Republicans, the fact that Burr’s victim had been a Federalist leader was more reason for applause than for condemnation.
One of Burr’s stops was at an island a few miles below Marietta, Ohio. It was owned by an Irish gentleman named Harman Blennerhassett who had erected a handsome mansion on it. The master was away but Burr was graciously entertained by Mrs. Blennerhassett. The island and its owners were to figure prominently later in the alleged conspiracy.
At Cincinnati Burr was entertained by Senator John Smith of Ohio, a versatile fellow who, in addition to representing his state in the Senate, acted in such diverse capacities as Baptist preacher, storekeeper, speculator, and army commissary. There too Burr ran into his old friend Jonathan Dayton, former U.S. Senator from New Jersey, a kindred spirit whom he had known since college days at Princeton. Dayton, like Burr, was now out of a job; and, like Burr, on the lookout for an improvement in his fortunes.
Burr left the river and proceeded by land to Frankfort, Kentucky, and from Frankfort to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was received with public honor and invited by General Andrew Jackson to be his guest at the Hermitage. Of his relations with Jackson more will appear later.
From Nashville Burr journeyed to Fort Massac, an army post on the Ohio River not many miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, where he had another significant meeting with an old friend of Revolutionary War days, Maj. Gen. James Wilkinson. They had served together on the expedition to Quebec. Wilkinson now held the important offices of Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army and of Governor of Louisiana Territory. In the previous winter Burr and Wilkinson had met in Washington and it was reported they spent much time studying maps of the Spanish territories that adjoined those of the United States in the South and Southwest. They had become sufficiently intimate to devise a cipher to be used in their personal correspondence and so protect it from prying eyes.
Wilkinson supplied Burr with a new houseboat equipped with sails and assigned to it a detachment of soldiers which enabled Burr to make an impressive entry into New Orleans in keeping with his station as a statesman temporarily out of a job. Wilkinson provided him as well with several letters of introduction. Wilkinson was to play a major role in the alleged conspiracy.
On his arrival in New Orleans Colonel Burr was cordially welcomed by Governor W. C. C. Claiborne as well as by the governor’s numerous and vociferous enemies. He saw much of the leaders of the Mexican Association, an organization sympathetic with Mexico’s aspirations for liberation from Spain. He was well received also by the Roman Catholic Bishop of New Orleans who favored this cause since at the time the Spanish rulers were threatening to confiscate church property in Mexico.
After three weeks in New Orleans Burr retraced his steps northward as far as St. Louis. Again he gave an impressive demonstration of his physical fitness by traveling on horseback from New Orleans to Nashville through the roughest sort of country. By the end of the year he was back in Washington dining with President Jefferson at the White House.
Late in the summer of 1806 he again set out for the western country. Summer gave way to autumn and as the days grew shorter alarming rumors about his doings spread through the East. Some of them reached the White House. What was Burr up to?
Foremost among the informants was Joseph Hamilton Daveiss, U. S. District Attorney for Kentucky, who owed his appointment to President John Adams. As early as January he was writing letters to the President warning him of a plot and implicating Burr. But the President was not happy about this source of information. Daveiss was aided and abetted by former U. S. Senator Humphrey Marshall of Kentucky. Both were Federalists; both were brothers-in-law of the Chief Justice for whom Mr. Jefferson had no fondness. Humphrey Marshall, a first cousin of John Marshall, and Daveiss had married John’s sisters. Furthermore all the people they mentioned as being involved in the conspiracy were Republicans. Naturally the President wondered why his political enemies should be taking so much trouble to keep him informed, and suspected their motives.