Ceremonial Transfer of the Louisiana Purchase
in New Orleans
- 1803
by Mike Wimmer
On December 20, 1803, William Claiborne, former governor of the Mississippi Territory, and James Wilkinson, Commanding General of the United States Army, met with French representative Pierre Laussat in the Sala Capitular (capitol room) at the Cabildo (city council) in New Orleans. There they signed the document transferring the Louisiana Territory and ceremoniously passed the keys of the city from French hands to American hands.
At a cost of $15 million (or less than five cents per acre), the purchase added 828,000 square miles to the United States. It took more than 100 years to finally settle the Louisiana Territory and divide it into 13 states. Oklahoma was the last state carved out of the Louisiana Territory and entered the Union as the 46th state in 1907.
The Cabildo was constructed in 1795-99 and served as the seat of the Spanish municipal government in New Orleans and as the home of the Louisiana Supreme Court. A bicentennial exhibit of the Louisiana Purchase is now on display in the restored Sala Capitular room.
Ceremonial Transfer of the Louisiana Purchase in New Orleans - 1803 by Mike Wimmer was dedicated in 2003. The commission was managed by the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc. The painting is located inside the Oklahoma State Senate Chamber lobby on the fourth floor of the Oklahoma State Capitol and can be viewed daily from 8:30-5:30.
The Artist
Born
and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Mike Wimmer began his career as
an artist during the seventh grade. He earned his B.F.A. from the University
of Oklahoma, where he met Don Ivan Punchatz. Wimmer later moved to
Arlington, Texas to be Punchatz apprentice at Punchatz famous Sketch
Pad Studio. Wimmer learned valuable knowledge regarding the
business aspect of illustrating as well as various painting techniques
and the working methods of the local Dallas illustrators. After his two and a half year apprenticeship, he moved back to Norman, Oklahoma and
set up his own studio using all that he had learned in Texas. Since
then Wimmer has become very successful illustrating children’s
books such as “Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh” by
Robert Burliegh which was the winner of
the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children in 1990. He also illustrated “All the Places to Love” by Patricia MacLachlan which
was published in 1994 and won the Oklahoma Book Award
for Best Illustrated Children’s Book 1995. Wimmer’s latest
book, “Will Rogers” by Former Governor Frank Keating, was
published in 2002 and has won the 2003 Spur Award from the Western
Writers Association of America. Even though Wimmer has worked for some
of the largest corporations in the world including Disney and Procter
and Gamble, Wimmer finds the greatest artistic pleasure within his
creation of fine art.