Sabine Free State

The Sabine Free State, also known as the Neutral Ground, Neutral Strip, Neutral Territory or No Man's Land of Louisiana was a disputed area between Spanish Texas and the United States' newly acquired Louisiana Purchase, which the two countries agreed to leave temporarily outside the jurisdiction of either. The area, now in western Louisiana, had this special status from 1806 to 1821.

Background

Spain had been concerned for many years with what it viewed as the encroachment of the French from Louisiana into Texas. About 1734 the French moved their post at Natchitoches from the east to the west side of the Red River. The Spanish governor of Texas, Manuel Sandoval, was reprimanded for not protesting this violation of what the Spanish saw as the boundary. In 1740 the then governor, Prudencio de Orobio y Basterra, was ordered to investigate French intrusion in the Natchitoches area. Other investigations were ordered in 1744 and 1751. [http://enlou.com/places/neutralground.htm "The Neutral Ground" chronology] , at "Louisiana Places"]

In 1753 Texas Governor Jacinto de Barrios y Juaregui determined that the French were encroaching on Texas by occupying territory to the west of Arroyo Hondo (Calcasieu River), which meanders south between the upper Sabine River to the west and the lower Red River to the north and east.In 1764 the boundary dispute became temporarily moot when France ceded its Louisiana colony to Spain. This was the large area west of the Mississippi River but drained by the same, plus New Orleans and its immediate vicinity. [See Louisiana (New Spain)] The transfer was made without resolving the earlier border dispute, which did not seem significant under the circumstances. Spain administered the area from Havana, contracting out governing to people from many nationalities as long as they swore allegiance to Spain.

By the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso of October 1, 1800, Louisiana was formally transferred back to France, although the Spanish continued to administer it. The terms of the treaty did not specify the boundaries of the territory being returned. Rumors of the treaty reached U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, who sought to purchase land at the mouth of the Mississippi to ensure American access to the Gulf of Mexico. He instead found Napoleon willing to sell the entire territory to help fund his empire in the Old World. France took formal control of Louisiana back from Spain on November 30, 1803, and turned over New Orleans to the United States on December 20, 1803. The US took over the rest of the territory on March 10, 1804. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, and it led to the US expansion west to the Pacific Ocean and along the Gulf Coast.

The boundary dispute between Spain and the United States

The precise boundaries of the area had still not been determined. The United States, having purchased the territory from France, claimed the same boundaries France had claimed before the transfer to Spain. In fact, the U.S. asserted a claim to the Rio Grande as the western border, based on the temporary settlement by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in Texas in 1684. The more serious U.S. claim, however, was to the Sabine River, the current boundary between the U.S. states of Louisiana and Texas. Spanish claims, of course, were the same as before — to Arroyo Hondo.

Negotiations to resolve the dispute broke down in 1805 when Spain severed diplomatic relations with the United States. From October 1805 until October 1806, there was continual skirmishing, both verbal and military, around the Sabine River. There were rumors that both sides were amassing troops near the disputed area. [ [http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/cabildo/cab5.htm "The Cabildo"] , at the Louisiana State Museum web site]

Establishment of the Neutral Ground

Neither side, however, wanted to go to war over the dispute. In order to avert further armed clashes, U.S. General James Wilkinson and Spanish Lt. Col. Simón de Herrera, the two military commanders in the region, signed an agreement declaring the disputed territory Neutral Ground (November 5, 1806) until the boundary could be formally established by the two governments. This was not a treaty, and was not ratified by either government, although it was largely respected. Even with this agreement, the boundaries of the Neutral Ground were not entirely specified.

The Arroyo Hondo and the Sabine River were named the eastern and western boundaries, respectively. The southern boundary was undoubtedly the Gulf of Mexico, and it can be assumed that the northern boundary was the thirty-second parallel, approximately. [John V. Haggard, [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/NN/nbn2.html "Neutral Ground"] , "Handbook of Texas Online"] It thus included portions of the present-day Louisiana parishes of Desoto, Sabine, Natchitoches, Vernon, Rapides, Beauregard, Allen, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, and Cameron. [ [http://enlou.com/documents/countiesdefined.htm "Louisiana Documents: The Territorial Legislature Defines Counties in 1805"] , at "Louisiana Places"]

The area covered by the agreement was declared off limits to soldiers of both countries. The agreement also stipulated that no settlers would be permitted in the Neutral Ground. Nevertheless, settlers from both New Spain and the United States territory began to move in. Some American settlers took Spanish land grants known as the "Rio Hondo claims". Others simply squatted on unclaimed land. This lawless area also attracted exiles, deserters, political refugees, fortune hunters, and a variety of criminals. Eventually, the highwaymen organized to the degree that they manned outposts and organized spies in order to better fleece travelers and avoid the American and Spanish military. [ [http://www.txarch.org/txtales/texas.html "Texas 1806"] , Texas Archeological Society] In 1810 and again in 1812 the two governments sent joint military expeditions into the area to expel outlaws.

Resolution and afterward

This part of central and southwestern Louisiana was settled in part by people of mixed-race informally called Redbones. Some of their family surnames can be traced back to African Americans who were free in Virginia and North Carolina during the colonial period. Their origins and ancestry continues to be debated. [Paul Heinegg, "Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware", 2005 [http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/] , accessed 15 Feb 2008] During the years of migration from the Upper South, it is likely that some Native Americans also married into the community.

The Adams-Onís Treaty, signed in 1819 and ratified in 1821, recognized the U.S. claim, setting the border at the Sabine River. Spain surrendered any claim to the area. (Two years after the treaty was negotiated, New Spain won its independence as the Mexican Empire.) Even after the treaty, however, the Neutral Ground and the adjacent part of East Texas remained largely lawless. The Regulator-Moderator War in East Texas in 1839-44 had its roots in the earlier anarchy of the Neutral Ground. [ [http://www.texasescapes.com/AllThingsHistorical/The-Worst-Feud-BB1006.htm "The Worst Feud"] by Bob Bowman, at TexasEscapes.com]

References

Bibliography

*J. V. Haggard, "The Neutral Ground between Louisiana and Texas, 1806-1821," "Louisiana Historical Quarterly" 28 (October 1945).

External links

* [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/NN/nbn2.html "Handbook of Texas Online"]
* [http://www.texasescapes.com/AllThingsHistorical/Neutral-Ground-Agreement-304AM.htm "Neutral Ground Agreement"] by Archie P. McDonald and Archie McDonald
* [http://enlou.com/places/neutralground.htm Chronology] of border disputes and territorial transfers between the United States and Spain
* [http://www.library.mcneese.edu/depts/archive/noman.htm The Neutral Territory or No Man's Land Bibliography]
* [http://www.dogwoodpressonline.com/redbone.php#area The Neutral Zone]
* [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v049/n1/contrib_DIVL798.html "House of Barr and Davenport"] , by J. Villasana Haggard, "Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online", vol. 49, no. 1