![Sabinefreestate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Sabinefreestate.png)
The Neutral Ground (also known as the Neutral Strip, the Neutral Territory, and the
No Man's Land
No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
of
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
; sometimes anachronistically referred to as the Sabine Free State) was a disputed area between
Spanish Texas
Spanish Texas was one of the interior provinces of the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1690 until 1821. The term "interior provinces" first appeared in 1712, as an expression meaning "far away" provinces. It was only in 1776 that a lega ...
and the United States' newly acquired
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
. Local officers of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
agreed to leave the Neutral Ground temporarily outside the jurisdiction of either country. The area, now in western Louisiana, had neutral 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 de Sandoval
Manuel de Sandoval was a prominent Neomexican soldier who served as governor of Coahuila (1729–1733 ) and Texas (1734–1736). During his administration in Texas, he lived in and worked on the problems of Bexar, but he neglected Los Adaes, wh ...
, was reprimanded for not protesting this violation of what Spain believed was its sovereign territory. In 1740, Governor
Prudencio de Orobio y Basterra
Prudencio de Orobio Y Basterra (–?) was a Spanish merchant, landowner and soldier who served as the Interim Governor of Texas between 1737 and 1740–41 and Mayor of Parras de la Fuente, in Coahuila (in modern Mexico).
Early life
Initially, O ...
was ordered to investigate French intrusion in the Natchitoches area. Other investigations were ordered in 1744 and 1751.
["The Neutral Ground" chronology]
, at ''Louisiana Places''
In 1753, Texas Governor
Jacinto de Barrios y Jáuregui determined that the French had encroached on Texas by occupying territory to the west of Arroyo Hondo, a small creek in western Natchitoches Parish that had previously been used by the French as their western boundary with Texas. In 1764, the boundary dispute became temporarily moot when France
ceded
The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...
its Louisiana colony to Spain. This colony was the large area west of the Mississippi River but drained by the same, plus New Orleans and its immediate vicinity. The transfer was made without resolving the earlier border dispute, which did not seem significant under the circumstances. Spain administered the area from
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. , contracting out governing to people from many nationalities as long as they swore allegiance to Spain and promised to publicly worship in Catholic churches. Many Americans took advantage of these grants that would eventually become known as Rio Hondo claims.
[''Claims to Land Between the Rio Hondo and Sabine Rivers in Louisiana. Communicated to the Senate January 31, 1825'']
By the secret
Third Treaty of San Ildefonso
The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secret agreement signed on 1 October 1800 between the Spanish Empire and the French Republic by which Spain agreed in principle to exchange its North American colony of Louisiana for territories in Tuscany. ...
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
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
, who sought to purchase land at the mouth of the Mississippi to ensure American access to the Gulf of Mexico. Jefferson discovered that Napoleon was willing to sell the entire territory to help fund his wars in Europe. France took formal control of Louisiana from Spain on November 30, 1803, and turned over New Orleans to the United States on December 20, 1803. The U.S. took over the rest of the territory on March 10, 1804. The
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
doubled the size of the United States and opened U.S. expansion west to the Pacific Ocean and 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
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
as the western border, based on the temporary settlement by
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, ...
in Texas in 1684. The more serious U.S. claim, however, was to the
Sabine River, today's boundary between the U.S. states of Louisiana and Texas. Spanish claims were the same as before — to the Arroyo Hondo in Natchitoches Parish and, south of the Kisatchie Hills, to the
Calcasieu River
The Calcasieu River ( ; french: Rivière Calcasieu) is a river on the Gulf Coast in southwestern Louisiana. Approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, ...
.
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.
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
James Wilkinson (March 24, 1757 – December 28, 1825) was an American soldier, politician, and double agent who was associated with several scandals and controversies.
He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, b ...
and Spanish Lt. Col.
Simón de Herrera
Simón de Herrera y Leyva (1754–1813) was a lifelong political and military professional for Spain, primarily in the lands known as New Spain and at times ventured to Europe. He became an interim governor of Spanish Texas at San Antonio and ...
, the two military commanders in the region, signed an agreement declaring the disputed territory Neutral Ground (November 5, 1806), until the boundary could be determined by the respective governments. The agreement 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 (unconnected) Calcasieu River were the eastern boundary, with the Sabine River serving as the western boundary.
The southern boundary was undoubtedly the Gulf of Mexico, and it can be assumed that the northern boundary was the thirty-second parallel, approximately. It included portions of the present-day Louisiana parishes of
De Soto De Soto commonly refers to
* Hernando de Soto (c. 1495 – 1542), Spanish explorer
* DeSoto (automobile), an American automobile brand from 1928 to 1961
De Soto, DeSoto, Desoto, or de Soto may also refer to:
Places in the United States of Ameri ...
,
Sabine
The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome.
The Sabines divide ...
,
Natchitoches,
Vernon,
Rapides,
Beauregard,
Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to:
Buildings
* Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee
* Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas
* Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...
,
Calcasieu,
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...
, and
Cameron.
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
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
and the United States territory began to move in. After the area was recognized as a part of the United States, these settlers were granted third class homestead claims.
(Those with Spanish land grants predating the sale of the Louisiana Purchase to the United States were granted first class claims.
) Some of the settlers from the United States would form the nucleus of the Louisiana
Redbone community. This lawless area also attracted exiles, deserters, political refugees, fortune hunters, and a variety of criminals. Eventually, the
highwaymen
A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...
organized to the degree that they manned outposts and organized spies in order to better fleece travelers and avoid the American and Spanish military. In 1810 and again in 1812 the two governments sent joint military expeditions into the area to expel outlaws.
Resolution and afterward
The
Adams–Onís Treaty
The Adams–Onís Treaty () of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, the Florida Purchase Treaty, or the Florida Treaty,Weeks, p.168. was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the U.S. and defined t ...
, 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 Mexican Empire may refer to:
* First Mexican Empire, the regime under Agustín de Iturbide (Agustín I) from 1821 to 1823
* Second Mexican Empire
The Second Mexican Empire (), officially the Mexican Empire (), was a constitutional monarchy est ...
.) After the treaty, however, the Neutral Ground and the adjacent part of East Texas remained in the hands of the Spanish. The
Regulator–Moderator War
The 1839–1844 Regulator–Moderator War, or the Shelby County War, was a nineteenth century feud in East Texas during the Republic of Texas years between rival factions. The war started out as a dispute of land ownership before becoming a viol ...
in East Texas in 1839–44 had its roots in the earlier anarchy of the Neutral Ground.
"The Worst Feud"
by Bob Bowman, at TexasEscapes.com
See also
*Fort Jessup
Fort Jesup, also known as Fort Jesup State Historic Site or Fort Jesup or Fort Jesup State Monument, was built in 1822, west of Natchitoches, Louisiana, to protect the United States border with New Spain and to return order to the Neutral Strip ...
* Fort Selden
Fort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what is now Radium Springs, New Mexico. The site was long a campground along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was the site of a Confederate Army camp in 1861. The U. S. A ...
*Los Adaes
Los Adaes was the capital of Tejas on the northeastern frontier of New Spain from 1729 to 1770. It included a mission, San Miguel de Cuellar de los Adaes, and a presidio, Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes (Our Lady of the Pillar of the Adae ...
*History of Lake Charles, Louisiana
History
18th and 19th centuries Early historical events, settlement and incorporation
Before European colonisation, the Lake Charles area was home to the Native American Atakapa Ishak tribe. The first European colonizers arrived in the 1760s. ...
*Redbone (ethnicity)
Redbone is a term historically used in much of the southern United States to denote a multiracial individual or culture. In Louisiana, it also refers to a specific, geographically and ethnically distinct group.
Definition
The term has had various ...
* Spain – United States relations
References
Bibliography
*J. V. Haggard, "The Neutral Ground between Louisiana and Texas, 1806–1821," ''Louisiana Historical Quarterly'' 28 (October 1945).
External links
''Handbook of Texas Online''
by Archie P. McDonald and Archie McDonald
of border disputes and territorial transfers between the United States and Spain
The Neutral Zone
by J. Villasana Haggard, ''Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online'', vol. 49, no. 1
The Village of Adaes: A Nineteenth Century Refugee Settlement in Natchitoches Parish Louisiana
by Darryl Pleasant and Randall Pleasant
{{coord missing, Louisiana
Former regions and territories of the United States
Territory of Orleans
Spanish Texas
Pre-statehood history of Louisiana
States and territories established in 1806
Territorial disputes of the United States
Territorial disputes of Spain
Micronations in the United States