The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 69
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The House of Barr and Davenport
Lake at Bayou Pierre settlement.7 The Calcasieu River was also
recognized as part of the eastern boundary of the Neutral
Ground by Don Antonio Cordero, governor of Texas. Further-
more, Don Antonio believed that both the Calcasieu River and
the Arroyo Hondo constituted the eastern boundary of the
Neutral Ground.8 It is true that the Prince of the Peace pre-
ferred to have as the boundary a straight or curved line running
northward from the Gulf of Mexico, passing between the
Calcasieu and Mermenteau rivers and continuing midway be-
tween Los Adaes and Natchitoches;9 but this line was never
recognized during the existence of the Neutral Ground. This
line was, however, given partial recognition by the only extant
map of the Neutral Ground mentioned above. Since the Calcasieu
River and Arroyo Hondo were acknowledged to be part of the
eastern boundary of the Neutral Ground, one need only produce
proof to establish the remainder of the eastern boundary. In
addition to Peter Samuel Davenport's testimony in which he
gives the Calcasieu River, Bayou Kisatchie, and Arroyo Hondo
as the basic line,10 the straight line suggested by both the
Prince of the Peace and the artist of the only extant map may
be followed to fill in the gaps not otherwise accounted for.
The southern boundary of the Neutral Ground obviously con-
sisted of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico between the mouth of
Calcasieu River and the mouth of Sabine River.
The northern boundary of the Neutral Ground was a straight
line running in a southwesterly direction from the Bayou Pierre
settlement to a point crossed by the thirty-second parallel of
north latitude and the intersection of the ninety-fourth degree
line of longitude and the Sabine River.1
7Peter Samuel Davenport gave this boundary as follows: the Calcasieu
River, from its mouth to its source, Bayou Kisatchie up to the mouth of
Bayou Don Manuel, and southwest of this bayou, Lake Terre Noir and
Arroyo Hondo, a straight line to the Red River. - Report of the Register
and Receiver of the Land District south of Red River, in Louisiana, upon
land claims situated between the Rio Hondo and the Sabine (24 Cong., 1
Sess., House Doc. No. 49, Serial No. 287). Hereafter this source will be
cited as Doc. 49.
8Quoted in a letter by SebastiAn Rodriguez to the commandant of the
detachment of La Nana and Bayou Pierre, October 18, 1805, MS., Bexar
Archives.
9Anril 6, 1804, A.G.I., Prov. Int. (Hackett Transcripts, Vol. 200, p. 240).
O1Doc. 49.
ziThis northern line is arbitrary. The settlement of Bayou Pierre was
claimed by Spanish authorities, and this claim seems to have been conceded
by the United States, as shown by the fact that the joint raiding expedi-69
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/78/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.