The $15 million paid back then for Louisiana is the equivalent of just under $171 million dollars in today’s money—a steal even now.
In 1803, the U.S. got Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, nearly all of Kansas, the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains, Oklahoma, the parts of Louisiana that were west of the Mississippi River, and the city of New Orleans.
Of the money paid, only about $11 million went directly to the French government at that time; the rest was paid to residents who had filed claims against France for selling what was their formerly French property.
The U.S. agreed to pay these claims for France as part of the deal.
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