Receiving no encouragement from the President, Daveiss and Marshall pursued their campaign alone. In July there appeared in Frankfort a publication under the name of the Western World with which Daveiss and Marshall were closely identified. In its September issue it openly charged that there was a conspiracy afoot to combine Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, and the Floridas into an independent government. The newspaper added that while the majority of the conspirators wanted to call a convention and obtain the consent of Congress, a considerable number favored effecting their purpose by force of arms. The statement turned out to be pure speculation; nevertheless it was picked up and widely republished in the East.
Burr by this time was in Lexington, Kentucky. Daveiss now took another step. In his capacity as district attorney he appeared in the Federal Court at Frankfort and accused Burr of having violated the laws of the Union by setting on foot an unauthorized expedition against Mexico, a country with which the United States was at peace. A similar charge was preferred against Senator John Adair of Kentucky. Adair, a veteran of the Revolution, had accompanied Wayne and Wilkinson on a campaign against the Indians in the Northwest in 1791. He enjoyed Wilkinson’s confidence, met Burr through him, and seems to have taken the attitude that Burr was an advance agent of the Federal Government to arouse the West for a war with Spain and conquest of the Southwest.
Learning of the charge, Burr presented himself at Frankfort and demanded an examination. A grand jury was empaneled but Daveiss could not round up his witnesses and asked for its discharge. Thanks to his failure Daveiss was held up to public ridicule. Two weeks later the same performance was repeated. Another grand jury was empaneled, Daveiss again failed to assemble his witnesses, and again Burr was discharged. So too was Adair. To add to his accuser’s mortification Burr’s second victory was celebrated by a public ball.
The silence in Washington in the face of what was going on led to two possible conclusions. One was that the administration was too weak to put up a fight even against its own destruction. The other was that if Burr actually was leading an expedition against Mexico he was doing so with the co-operation and blessing of the Jefferson administration.
Burr’s dinner at the White House of the winter before lent credence to that conjecture. The public could not know that Burr had requested the meeting and had gone to the White House to beg some important office in the administration, and to warn Jefferson that if he did not get it he was in a position to do him much harm. Mr. Jefferson had enough informants on Burr’s trail to comprehend what the threat implied. But he was not to be bullied or frightened. He replied calmly that he had always realized Burr had talent and hoped he would put it to the public good. However, Burr must be aware that the public had lost confidence in him. Mr. Jefferson did not know why Burr should wish to do him harm but he feared no injury.
This was not the first time Burr had enjoyed the hospitality of the White House at his own solicitation. Two years before, when he was about to retire from the Vice-Presidency, he had dined with Mr. Jefferson, had proposed an alliance between them, and on that occasion too had asked for an office. The President had declined the request. He thought the meeting sufficiently important to note it in his diary, remarking that Burr’s conduct had always inspired him with distrust. Evidently Jefferson was not to allow this distrust to forbid Burr the White House. No doubt he hoped to derive information from such contacts and was so confident Burr could do him no harm that he was indifferent to the use which Burr might put the show of intimacy. Unfortunately, at this critical moment the policy left the country uncertain as to how far the administration was implicated in Burr’s operations.
At last the Government at Washington acted. Following discussions by the Cabinet on October 22 and 25, John Graham, secretary of the Orleans territory, who was in the East and about to return to his post, was ordered to stop in Ohio and Kentucky on his way westward and inquire into Burr’s movements. He arrived in Marietta during the middle of November where he was warmly welcomed by Harman Blennerhassett who talked freely with him. It seems that in his effort to impress Blennerhassett, Burr had told him that Graham was concerned in the plot.
Graham proceeded to Chillicothe where the Ohio Legislature was sitting and persuaded that body to authorize the governor to use the militia to seize Burr’s boats that were building at Marietta. He then went to Kentucky and induced its legislature to take action to halt the conspiracy. He was too late, however, to prevent a flotilla under the command of Blennerhassett from passing down the Ohio River to join Burr’s contingent at the mouth of the Cumberland.
On November 27 the President issued a proclamation that was broadcast throughout the western country warning all good citizens to withdraw from unlawful enterprises. Thus he made it emphatic that whatever might be taking place was without the Government’s sanction.
Simultaneously orders were dispatched to the civil authorities, from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, putting them on the alert and directing them to use regular troops and militia to thwart any illegal enterprise that might be brewing. The proclamation was disappointing to the public since it left the nature of the enterprise a mystery and did not so much as mention Burr’s name.