Carmichael writes in his role as the first collector of duties at Fort Adams, Mississippi to U.S. Comptroller General John Steele of the difficulties in receiving goods through the newly established port. This frontier port, at the southwest corner of the United States prior to the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory, had a garrison of nearly 500 regular United States troops. The stronghold included earthworks, powder magazine and barracks. It served as the United States port of entry on the Mississippi river, and export-import duties were collected there until the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 shifted this work to New Orleans. Fort Adams was the setting for Edward E. Hale's famous story, "The Man Without a Country." Meriwether Lewis lived for a time at Fort Adams before leaving for Washington, D.C., to become private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson.