The Neutral Ship

After the Louisiana Purchase, the Spanish and the Americans
still had a difference of opinion as to territorial boundaries.

The Spanish claimed all the land up to the Red River while
the United States claimed much of what is now Texas.

In February of 1806, this dispute brought the US
to the brink of its first war since the American Revolution.

But negotiations were taken out of the hands of politicians
and a treaty worked out by the commanding officers of opposing armies.

The agreement stated that neither army would send patrols
into a forty mile strip between the Arroyo Hondo on the east
(near present day Hagewood, LA)
and the Sabine River on the west.

This created the Neutral and Free States of Sabine.
Murderers and bandits from both countries converged
on the area making it one of the most lawless places
ever to exist in the confines of United States.