Before the Line VoLume i An AnnotAted Atlas of internAtional BoundAries And republic of texAs AdministrAtiVe units ALong the sabine riVer-cAddo LAke Borderland, 1803-1841 Jim Tiller Copyright @ 2010 by Jim Tiller All rights reserved Bound versions of this book have been deposited at the following locations: Louisiana State University at Shreveport (Shreveport, Louisiana) Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas) Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Texas) Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas) Texas General Land Office (Archives and Records) (Austin, Texas) Texas State Library (Austin, Texas) University of North Texas (Denton, Texas) University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas) To view a pdf of selected pages in this work, see: http://digital.library.shsu.edu/u?/p15061coll3,0 An electronic version of this book is available from: The Director, Newton Gresham Library, Sam Houston State University, PO Box 2281 (1830 Bobby K. Marks Drive), Huntsville, Texas 77341 Phone: 936-294-1613 Design and production by Nancy T. Tiller The text typefaces are Adobe Caslon Pro and Myriad Pro ISBN 978-0-9633100-4-0 ii To the memory of Dr. John W. Morris, late Professor of Geography, The University of Oklahoma Also by Jim Tiller Our American Adventure: The History of a Pioneer East Texas Family, 1657-1966 (2008) (with Albert Wayne Tiller) Named Best Family History Book by a Non-Professional Genealogist for 2008 by the Texas State Genealogical Society Before the Line Volume II Letters from the Red River, 1809-1842 (working manuscript) Before the Line Volume III Caddo Indians: The Final Years (working manuscript) contents Preface . ix Acknowledgements . xi Part I International Boundaries . 1 Introduction . 3 The Northern Portion of the Neutral Ground, 1806 . 5 Pichardo’s d’Anville Line, 1812 . 6 William Darby’s Corner and Line, 1812 . 7 William Darby’s Effort to Locate the Sabine River-32° Intersection . 7 Period Evidence Relating to the Location of Darby’s Corner . 10 The Map of William Darby, 1816 . 10 Period Comments by John Sibley and William Darby Describing the Location of the Corner on the Sabine . 11 The Case for the Location of Darby’s Corner . 13 Where Was Darby’s Line in Eastern Harrison and Panola Counties? . 14 The Adams-Onís Treaty and Subsequent Agreements, 1819-1832 . 16 The Treaty of Limits, 1828 . 16 The Treaty of Limits, 1832 . 16 Terán’s Line, 1828 . 17 Conflicting Views of the United States-Texas Boundary, 1819-1837 . 20 The American View . 20 The Mexican/Texan View . 22 Mid-1830s Mexican Surveys . 23 The Line as Depicted on Period Maps . 24 American-Republic of Texas Maps . 25 Mexican Maps . 25 Caddo Tribal Lands in Northwestern Louisiana and Adjacent Texas, 1835 . 25 American Survey Activity, 1837-1838 . 26 Life in R17W, 1838-1841 . 27 The Period Immediately Following the Running of the Final Boundary Between Texas and the United States in the Spring of 1841 . 29 And What About Those Settlers Found to Have Been Living on the Line? . 30 The Joint Boundary Commission Survey, 1840-1841 . 31 Summary Comments . 32 List of Illustrations . 33 v Part II Republic of Texas Administrative Units . 75 Introduction . 77 Shelby County, 1836-1837 . 77 Land Districts in Northeastern Texas . 77 Green County as Proposed, 1837 . 78 Remarks Regarding the Petition . 79 Caddo County as Proposed, 1838 . 80 Harrison County, 1839 . 81 Panola Judicial District, 1841-1842 . 82 Harrison County, 1841 . 83 Harrison County Militia Districts, 1841 . 84 Summary Comments . 85 List of Illustrations . 87 Endnotes . 101 Map/Graphic Sources and Notes . 111 Bibliography . 117 Index . 121 vi prefAce Just off U.S. Highway 79 in far northeastern Panola that local historians are, for the most part, either County, approximately four miles west of the Texas- totally unaware of the boundary history peculiar Louisiana state boundary, is the small community to this area, or they tend to confuse events in the of Mt. Zion. On many occasions the author, as a region with those of the Neutral Ground located young boy, accompanied his father, grandfather, further south and to the east of the Sabine River. and various aunts and uncles on visits to the Clearly, there is a need to more widely disseminate community’s small Methodist Church and adjacent the content and sources developed by the author cemetery where graves were tended and stories of during and in the years following the completion of the family’s long history in the area were passed the family history project. to the next generation. It was not until the author The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 conveyed the and his younger brother were in their early 60s Territory of Louisiana from France to the United and engaged in what ultimately turned into a six- States. The southwestern boundary of the Purchase, year family history research project that the writer which included portions of eastern Harrison came to more fully appreciate the rich geographical County, was undefined at the time. This area, at history of the narrow strip of land along the border various times under the administrative jurisdictions he knew so well as a child. of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United In recent years, the writer has spent many hours in States/Louisiana, and once again the Republic of the period records of Harrison and Panola Counties, Texas during the 1803-1841 period, has a complex Texas, and Caddo Parish, Louisiana, as well as those and unique early boundary history. Part I of this work of the Texas General Land Office and the Texas will consider the many international boundaries State Archives. Multiple visits have been made to that have passed through or encompassed the the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the Sabine River-Caddo Lake region of Texas including state archives of Louisiana and Mississippi, and a Darby’s Line, Terán’s Line and Louisiana’s Range number of special collections. These efforts have 17 West. yielded a wealth of historical and geographical Part II will discuss the more prominent Republic of information related to the boundary and settlement Texas administrative units associated with eastern history of the area between the Sabine River and Harrison County. Those researching the records of Caddo Lake. the area are certainly familiar with the fact that the Surprisingly, very little of an academic nature has county was initially carved from Shelby County in been written on the Sabine River-Caddo Lake 1839, and that in 1846 the southern portion of the border region during the early Republic years. While county was taken to form Panola County. Less well- academics are certainly familiar with the general known is the influence a number of other boundaries history of the area, they typically have made little and administrative units had on the life and times use of the rich trove of period documents available – of early border settlers. While Green and Caddo especially those materials found in local courthouses Counties are names some intrepid State Archive and special collections. It is the author’s experience researcher may have encountered, these entities, vii along with the original Harrison County, Panola a variety of difficult-to-locate sources, specifically Judicial District and local Republic-era militia federal and state documents, letters, and obscure districts, have never been accurately mapped and court filings. have heretofore largely been lost to history. It is assumed that the reader brings to this work a The goal of this book is to present and analyze from basic knowledge of Texas history and geography, and a geographical perspective the very considerable, that of the Sabine River-Caddo Lake border region but relatively little known, record that exists with in particular. No attempt will be made within these respect to boundaries and administrative units in pages to provide the reader a comprehensive history eastern Harrison County between 1803 and 1841. or geography of the area. Hopefully researchers will This work is intended to serve as a resource to those find the information within these pages helpful in researching the Sabine River-Caddo Lake boundary their effort to better understand the Sabine River- area by providing (1) historically and geographically Caddo Lake borderland. accurate maps of the region, and (2) references to Jim Tiller Huntsville, Texas viii AcknowLedgments Many people have contributed to the development State University, Shreveport. Shreveport, of this work. In particular, the author would Louisiana like to recognize the following individuals and Librarians and Staff, Center for Genealogical organizations. Research, Clayton Library. Houston, Texas First and foremost to John W. Morris (deceased), Librarians and Staff, Newton Gresham Library, longtime Professor of Geography at the Sam Houston State University. Huntsville, University of Oklahoma, who first introduced Texas the author as a young graduate student to the thrill and satisfaction associated with Librarians and Staff, Professional Services archival research and field work. Whether Program Area, Surveying Division, Texas riding the back roads of rural Oklahoma or General Land Office. Austin, Texas analyzing sections of land in and around the Librarians and Staff, United States Department University, Dr. Morris constantly sought to of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. point out the presence and significance of Springfield, Virginia geographically-based patterns. Some, such Staff of the Clerk of Courts Office, Caddo as those between contrasting landform Parish, Louisiana. Shreveport, Louisiana regions or vegetation zones, are obvious to even the untrained eye. Others, such as Staff of the County Clerk’s Office, Harrison those associated with housing patterns or County, Texas. Marshall, Texas the cereal aisle in a grocery store, are more Staff of the County Clerk’s Office, Panola subtle. But, as Dr. Morris always attempted County, Texas. Carthage, Texas to convey to his students, many of the most important patterns, while visible to all, are Staff of the District Clerk’s Office, Harrison almost never really “seen.” County, Texas.