French Louisiana French Louisiana The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions: Each term has been in use for many years. Colonial French Louisiana was a part of New France. Beginning in 1682 this region, known in French as "la Louisiane française", functioned as an administrative district of New France. It extended from the Gulf of Mexico to Vincennes, now in Indiana. France ceded the region to Spain and Britain in 1763 after the French and Indian War, regained it by treaty in 1800, and sold it to the United States in 1803 through the Louisiana Purchase. Greater New Orleans and
History of St. Louis (1763–1803) Louisiana to an egalitarian French government. In a show of strength, the Spanish governor sent a fleet of galleys and soldiers with military supplies to reinforce Spanish control of St. Louis. However, even while the Spanish colonial officials were trying to maintain control of Louisiana, the Spanish government was attempting to transfer the territory to France. The Spanish government secretly returned the unprofitable Louisiana territory to France in October 1800 in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. After a promise by French leader Napoleon Bonaparte not to sell Louisiana without giving Spain the right of first refusal, the Spanish officially transferred