Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 - (Page 65)

opposite page: Staff Members and volunteers portray Spanish colonial soldiers at Los Adaes State Historic Site. photograph by George Avery. left: Le Missisipi ou la Louisiane Dans le Amerique Septentrionale by Francois Chereau, a colored printed map, circa 1720. courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection any kind of incursion,” Lee said. “Anybody who went riding by on a horse and saw corn in the field was willing to come take what they wanted.” Homesteaders in the area were also under attack from land barons who wanted to stake claim to the property, Cox explained. “They’d come in, run them off, kill them if they had to, anything to take the land.” The people coming into the Neutral Strip, in spite of the difficulty of life there, helped define the area for generations to come, Lee said. “You get people who want to seize the opportunity. The land east of the Mississippi was pretty much owned, at least all the good farmland. The further west you went, the more available land there was.” Indian tribes were encouraged by the Spanish to locate in the strip. Persons of mixed heritage came to the area looking for personal freedom. Runaway slaves were attracted by the lack of laws that inhibited their freedom. “They’re doing the same thing as people from the east: they're looking for their own opportunities,” Lee said. THE On February 22, 1819, the Adams-Onis (or Florida) Treaty was signed by John Quincy Adams of the U.S. and Louis de Onis of Spain. In that treaty, the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase was fixed to begin at the mouth of the Sabine River and run along its south and west bank to the 32nd parallel, then directly north to the Red River, “then following the course of the Red River westward to the degree of longitude 100 west from London and 23 from Washington; then crossing the said Red River and running thence, by a line due north, to the river Arkansas; thence, following the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas to its source, in latitude 42 north; and thence by that parallel of latitude to the South Sea.” BEGINNING OF THE END Martin W. Schwartz is a free-lance writer residing in Shreveport. The U.S. was taking no more chances. In renouncing its claim to Texas, the boundaries were clearly and elaborately defined. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. established Fort Jesup commanded by Lt. Col. Zachary Taylor for the sole purpose of re-establishing law and order in the Neutral Strip. As early as 1822, communities began to spring up, taking advantage of timber, cotton and other resources. But the legacy of No Man’s Land has never fully gone away. Even today, residents of the area are said to exhibit symptoms of Neutral Strip Syndrome, Cox said. “They tend to be obstinate. They don’t take kindly to government, don’t want to be told what to do.” Communities such as Florien celebrate the Neutral Strip with its annual Florien Free State Festival, held the first weekend in November in the small Sabine Parish town located 10 miles south of Many on Highway 171. The festival features comedy skits between the Free State Gang and The Law, street dances, food and syrup-making, among other events. Lee said she sees no contradiction in the supposedly law-abiding people glorifying the lawlessness that is their legacy. “They still celebrate that history, the difference, the fact that they weren’t really ruled or governed by any country or system,” she said. “(No Man’s Land) has an interesting dynamic that has never been defined by a particular culture. It’s more of an attitude. And the attitude is, ‘we’re different and we’re going to celebrate that difference.’” LCV Fall 2005/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 65

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005 Contents Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Louisiana State Museum After Katrina and Rita Tabasco: Edmund McIlhenny and the Birth of a Louisiana Pepper Sauce Historic New Orleans Collection Louisiana Association of Museums New Orleans’ Coffee Connection No Man’s Land Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism Bookstand (Book Review by Thomas Uskali) Sound Advice (Music Review by Ben Sandmel) Forum (Commentary by Roy Blount, Jr. )

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Fall 2005

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