Third-person ALS signed within the text using his title, "The Secretary of State," one page, 7.75 x 10, February 17, 1791. Handwritten letter from Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to President George Washington, in full: "The Secretary of State has the honor to send to the President three copies of a report & message relative to Kaskaskia, Kahokia & Prairie, to wit, one for each house, & one to be retained by the President. He sends also the original report which contains some things worth the President's reading, tho not mentioned in the report. The passages reported on are marked with a pencil." In very good to fine condition, with fold splitting, slight edge chipping, and toning from prior display. Accompanied by a 1978 certificate of authenticity from noted autograph expert Charles Hamilton.
In early 1791, the American Army found itself mired in the center of the great Northwest Indian Wars, hard pressed to deliver on their president's promise of expanding American frontier territory throughout what is now Ohio. To accommodate the influx of French, British, and American soldiers, supply centers were established en route amid the villages of the Illinois Confederation, with the lands of the Kaskaskia and Cahokia tribes, as well as the nearby settlement of Prairie du Rocher, serving as makeshift rest stops. Despite such reconnaissance, Washington's troops would suffer resounding losses later that summer, when nearly 2,000 Native American warriors overran the sorely undertrained forces of Major General Arthur St. Clair.
Handwritten letters from Jefferson to Washington are virtually unobtainable and represent one of the finest combinations in presidential autographs. A hugely desirable piece on a significant topic.
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