The Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas covered a huge area from Canada south to Louisiana and east to Florida. Luis Peñalver y Cárdenas was the first bishop of the then-Spanish ruled territory. The Louisiana Purchase brought the diocese under American sovereignty in 1803, and Louis Dubourg becamse the first bishop under American auspices in 1818. Sections to the north and to the east were split off with the creation of the dioceses of St. Louis and Mobile, and the see became known as the Diocese of New Orleans in 1830.