right. He said that with two hundred men he could drive congress, with the president at its head, into the river Potomac, or that it might be done; and he said with five hundred men he could take possession of New York....

By the end of August, Burr was back on Blennerhasset's Island making final preparations for his expedition. He contracted to purchase fifteen boats capable of carrying 500 men, and a large keel boat for transporting provisions. He made orders for huge quantities of pork, corn meal, flour, and whiskey. Later, in Nashville, he contracted for six more boats, giving $4,000 to Andrew Jackson to pay for them.

Blennerhasset Island in the Ohio River

Burr also bought a 300,000-acre tract of land on the Washita River, an area known asthe Bastrop land. In his efforts to recruit volunteers for the expedition, Burr promised them a share of the Washita tract.

The Conspiracy Defeated

By this time, if not earlier, General Wilkinson had decided to abandon the Conspiracy. When, in early October, a ciphered letter sent by Burr and borne by his trusted aide Samuel Swarthout reached Wilkinson in New Orleans, Wilkinson determined to squash Burr's plans. He rushed troops to the Mississippi Valley and ordered troops in New Orleans to be on alert for an attack. Burr's ciphered letter (decoded by Wilkinson), together with one from co-conspirator Senator Dayton, he sent to President Jefferson. The letter, which some consider to be the most important evidence of a Burr Conspiracy, read:

I have obtained funds, and have actually commenced the enterprise.