XV Fort Jesup
It seems odd that all that had happened in the nearly three hundred years preceding was merely a prelude to a settlement on a vital point, this one hill top in Sabine Parish.
The Caddo Nation of Indians was first to recognize the importance of this land extending from San Antonio to Natchitoches and settled it. What these Indians did not settle or cultivate they commercialized, and they established trade routes there.
Cabeza De Vaca and his companions came in 1530. They claimed no land but were searching for a way out.
Hernando De Soto in 1541 came, but by the time he had reached the Adais, he, too, was searching for a way out. He claimed no land.
Robert de La Salle came down the Mississippi River in 1682 and claimed all land drained by that River for the King of France. In the history of a country there is always one man who has the imagination to see its possibilities and the ability and push to realize his ambitions. Such a man was La Salle.
La Salle’s second venture to the mouth of the Mississippi River resulted in failure. He came by sea, missed the mouth of the Mississippi River and settled on the coast of Texas where he later was killed. La Salle’s expedition, however, aroused the Spanish of Mexico, who then began to extend their operations further to the north.
Padre Hidalgo’s letter and St. Denis’ answer resulted in the settlement of El Camino Real from San Antonio to Natchitoches. Here, then, was cast the first seed, in form of settlers, who learned to live as the Indians—free as the wind, this newly found freedom had been felt by settlers and their descendants for over a hundred years.
The land of Sabine, “’tis mine,” said the Americans, “by right of purchase”; “’tis mine,” said the Spanish, “by the claim of Domingo Teran Del Rio of 1690.”
And so the Neutral Strip was established. Each nation begrudging the other every inch of it. A lawless land which must now be policed for the good of both nations.
The southwestern border of the United States was established by the Adams-Onis Treaty at Washington on February 22, 1821, as being the Sabine River; Adams representing the United States and Onis representing the New Republic of Mexico.
Would the settlers of the Neutral Strip and those from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande recognize the treaty of Washington? The Gutierrez-McGee filibuster expedition had proved that these people wished a new freedom. Not that of the United States or that of Mexico. Many men had cast their eyes toward the land of Texas, there was so much of it for the taking. But the Indians were not just sitting on the sideline observing what was happening, they were pressing for their rights, too, against any and all nations. Surely they realized their prize possession was slowly slipping from them. The Indians recognized no treaty among the white men. Only the agreements with the whites which concerned their welfare were of importance to them.
Many young adventurers of all nationalities and from all walks of life had come into the area and found the excitement to their liking. They would align themselves with the side which offered them the most advantageous opportunities.
General Edmund P. Gaines found himself in a predicament when he received orders on Dec. 21, 1819, to establish a new command post near the border of the Sabine River. He was ordered “to establish a new post in a location that will protect our southwestern border as well as all of the inhabitants within the boundaries of the United States in your area.”
In the Southwest area he had federal troops under his command; at New Orleans, 96 men under Major Many; at Baton Rouge, 212 officers and men; at Fort Claiborne, Natchitoches, 56 men under the command of Major Coombs; and, at Camp Sabine, on the Sabine River, 105 men under the command of General Wilkinson.
On November 15, 1820, Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor and four Companies of the 7th United States Infantry had established Fort Selden on the south bank of Bayou Pierre on the highest hill in the area, one and one-half miles from the confluence of Bayou Pierre with Red River, six miles north of Natchitoches and three miles west of Grand Ecore. Taylor named the Fort, “Selden,” in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Selden, who fought in the American revolution and who was at that time stationed in the Arkansas Territory.
From the vantage point of Fort Selden on Bayou Pierre there was a one-mile view of the channel of the bayou. There was flat-boat traffic on the bayou to the town of Bayou Pierre and on northward to the Petit Caddos in the vicinity of the present day city of Shreveport. Taylor was in position to control the water traffic on the bayou.12
At Fort Selden Lieutenant Colonel Taylor received this message:
Special Order No. 19. Headquarters West Dept., Fort Selden, Red River, March 28, 1822.
Lieutenant Colonel Taylor with the troops under his command, will as soon as possible, occupy the position at Shields Springs, 25 miles south southwest of this place, where he will canton the troops in huts of a temporary kind. The buildings will be constructed by the troops. Supplies necessary, will be sent by the Quartermaster.
Lieutenant Colonel Taylor is charged with the south western frontier of Louisiana. To defend and protect its inhabitants, as well as those of the frontier.
Signed: Edmund P. Gaines Commanding General of The Southwest Frontier.
Order No. 20 Headquarters, West Dept. Fort Selden, Red River, March 29, 1822.
The General congratulates the Troops on the prospects of their immediate occupation of an eligible position near the National Boundary.
Signed: Edmund P. Gaines, Commanding General, Southwest Frontier.
These two orders confirmed a previous order issued to Taylor by Gaines in November of 1821 while he was in Arkansas—an order to explore the vicinity of Natchitoches and the Neutral Land and to locate a site for a cantonment of a permanent nature, which would be nearer the Louisiana and Texas boundary.
In 1831 Fort Jesup had reached maximum in size and no new buildings were added after this date. The scale of the map thus shown, is 132 feet per inch.
A. Dragoon Stables. B. Stable. C. Blissville. D. Soldier’s Quarters—3rd Inf. E. Officers Quarters—3rd Inf. F. Mess House—3rd Inf. G. Officers Quarters No. 1. H. Officers Quarters No. 2. I. Officers Quarters No. 3. J. Store House. K. Powder Magazine. L. Guard House. M. Adjutant’s Office—3rd Inf. N. Quarter Master’s Office. O. Quarter Master’s Office. P. Commissionary Store. Q. Soldier’s Quarters 6 Buildings. R. Cottage. S. Officer’s Quarters—7th Inf. T. Officer’s Quarters. U. Adjutant’s Office. V. Hospital. W. Kitchens to Soldier’s Quarters. Y. Soldier’s Quarters. X. Band’s Quarters. Z. Officer’s Quarters. P. Parade Grounds. - - - - El Camino Real.
Note: Today’s Museum is a replica of one of the buildings listed as Z and Kitchen is original of those listed as W.
Lieutenant Colonel Taylor selected the site and then wrote to General Gaines informing him of his selection—on a hill which was the division between the watersheds of the Red River and the Sabine River. He went as far as he could to the west to establish a permanent command post. Camp Sabine on Sabine River which was established by General Wilkinson was not considered a permanent position, but only an encampment for the benefit of the United States Police Patrol established in the Neutral Strip to police the Sabine River border and to look after the safety of the settlers within the area known as The Neutral Land.
General Wilkinson and his detachment were never entirely successful in quelling the activities of the lawless element. Federal troops stationed at Sabine Town or Camp Sabine or Sabine Block-house (all one and the same site) had some 5000 square miles of territory to patrol. A patrol at that time would have consisted of ten mounted men and one officer. There were approximately 112 men and officers at Camp Sabine, and the detachment post would have consisted of ten patrols. If all were in activity at the same time each patrol would have had 500 square miles to patrol, which, of course, was an impossible task. At this time there were about 50 men and officers in Natchitoches at Fort Claiborne and even the two combined groups would not have been adequate for policing such an enormous area. The outlaws knew this and in the Neutral Strip the lawless roamed and pillaged at will and remained hidden in its thousands of hills and hollows.
It is interesting to note that at the time of the battle of New Orleans in 1815 General Jackson thought the Neutral Strip frontier so important that he did not withdraw the troops from that post to assist in the battle with the British.
In 1822 when Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor established a cantonment at Jesup at Shields Spring by the order of General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, on the highest hill between the Sabine River and the Red River, he had taken into consideration the claim of Cavalier Robert de La Salle, when in 1682, this Frenchman claimed all the land drained by that river for the King of France. With the Louisiana purchase, which consisted of all land claimed by France west of the Mississippi River, this would include the site of Cantonment Jesup on that hilltop. The rainwater falling on the western slope would drain into the Mississippi River via Bayou Adais and Bonna Vista into Bayou Dupont to Little River to Bayou Pierre to the Red River and thence into the Mississippi River. Waters falling on the western slope would find the way to the Sabine River via Phillips Bayou to Bayou LaNann, thence to the Sabine River. Thus, the establishment of Cantonment Jesup at this particular spot had argumentative value in favor of the United States against any outcome of the melting-pot development which could arise west of the Sabine River.
By November 9, 1822, the Quartermaster General’s report stated that the Federal militia was consolidated and located at the Garrison Post at Baton Rouge, three hundred fifteen officers and men of the First Infantry; and at Cantonment Jesup, one hundred forty-one officers and men of four companies of the seventh Infantry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor.
1822 marked the end of the detachment at Sabine Town, Fort Selden on Bayou Pierre, near Grand Ecore, Louisiana and Fort Claiborne at Natchitoches, Louisiana.
When Mexico won her independence in 1821 the Empressario System was continued and by the end of the year 1823, Stephen Fuller Austin had executed the grant which had previously been given to his father, Moses Austin, in which nearly three hundred American families were allowed to settle in the Texas area. Colonel James B. Many, Commandante at Cantonment Jesup, was there to greet the emigrants on their way to Texas. The same year General Gaines decreed that Cantonment Jesup would be known as Fort Jesup, and made it a permanent establishment of the Army of the United States Government, which resulted in a more thorough settlement of the Sabine area known as the Neutral Strip.
Shawneetown, two miles to the west of Fort Jesup on El Camino Real, came into existence to supply the evil demands of the immediate area—gambling, horse-racing and other auxiliaries of dis-order.
The twenty-five-mile house, or Midway House, two miles east of Fort Jesup on the road to Natchitoches was a wayside tavern and Inn.
By 1826 the Mexican Republic had forbidden further immigration into Texas—the direct result of a contract which had been acquired by Hayden Edwards to establish eight hundred families in the Nacogdoches area. Here Edwards organized the short-lived Republic of Freedonia which resulted from the Freedonia Rebellion. Edwards was driven out of the Nacogdoches area and his contract revoked.
In this same year a letter, originating at Fort Jesup, to the Governor of Louisiana, appeared in the Natchitoches Courier, one of the two newspapers published at Natchitoches at that time, answering the President of the United States, who wanted to know about the possibility of establishing steam navigation on the Red River above the Town of Natchitoches. A duplicate of the original, which sent to the President, was placed at the disposal of the Natchitoches Courier. Colonel James B. Many at Fort Jesup wished the local citizens of the area to know that the personnel at Fort Jesup was useful in ways other than military.
The Natchitoches Courier Fort Jesup Natchitoches, Louisiana March 13, 1826
Captain Berch and Lieutenant Lee with a detachment of men from Fort Jesup, have been up the Red River examining the great rafts of debris which block the channel of Red River. This detachment returned a few days ago after an absence on that duty of about two months. We have conversed with these scientific and learned gentlemen on the subject of their excursion, the object of which was to ascertain the practicability of opening steamboat traffic through or around these obstructions.
They report that in a distance of one hundred miles above the Town of Natchitoches, there are 181 log jams, ranging from ten yards in length to a distance of one-half mile. To clear these obstructions would be a tremendous and expensive task.
I wish to be remindful that in as much as the Sabine River which lies west of this place, usually maintains enough water to afford its usage by steamboats. In these trying times such as exists between ourselves and our neighbors to the west, I think it advisable that such an excursion be made up the Sabine River, for military if not to mention commercial purposes.
Signed: Colonel James B. Many, Commander of the Southwest Teritory, Fort Jesup, Natchitoches, Louisiana.13
In the same newspaper on this date appeared the advertisement: “Just arrived on the Steamship-Packet, Superior, Captain Alex Le Sardo, Master.”
And in the same paper on the same date was an advertisement of John Baldwin’s Store on El Camino Real:
“Liquors—Maderia, Teneriff, Malaga, Claret wines, Cognac, Brandy, Holland and English Gins, West Indian Rum, Old and Common whiskey, coffee and tea. Loaf lump and brown sugar. 100 sacks of salt. Boots, Shoes and Headwear. Cravats, Shawls, Collars and Cuffs (In Sets), Handkerchiefs and Lace. Belts, Ribbons and Buckles. Full and half cotton and wool hose. Mosquito bars. English gingham. Satins—black and blue. Bleached and unbleached cotton shirting. Modes de Fasion Casimers, Fancy Calicoes, Superior, friction-matches. Arm and Leg Garters.
Medicines ½ bbl. of hops, Jujube and Pectoral pastes, Swain’s Panacea, Stillman’s Sasparilla pills, Liverwort, Arrowroot, Horehound, Southern Cough drops, New England Cough Syrup, Oldridge’s Balm-Columbia, Lavender Water and Rose Water.
Ready to wear trousers and overcoats from $1.00 to $25.00. Tobacco for chewing and smoking. Extra sweet Havana cigars.
Exquisite Organdies and Embroideries.
Harness Buckles and Pistols. Also Suspenders and Corsets, $1.00 each.
John Baldwin with his wife and two daughters must have established their store prior to 1826. The location of the Baldwin Store marked the site of the later town of Many, Louisiana, which derives its name from Colonel James B. Many. Baldwin’s Store, Tavern, Inn and Blacksmith Shop comprised the area of the Stille home and the present sites of the Sabine State Bank & Trust Co., and The Peoples State Bank in Many.
During this period Manuel and Jose Chellettre operated the “Two Brothers’ Freight Line” between Natchitoches and Nacogdoches. Also at this time the firm of Barr and Davenport had a freight line service between the same two destinations.
The newspaper also listed the names of the steamboats which were vying for the Natchitoches-Texas trade: The Florence, The Superior, The Alexander, The Chesapeak, The Courtland, The Eliza, The Governor Shelby, The Hornet, The Kiamechi, The Plaquemine, The Raven, The Teche, The Telegraph, The Shepardess and The Arkansas.
Henry Stoker, having received a government land grant, had by now established his home, and he enlarged his holdings by trading eleven horses for land belonging to several families of the Adais Indians who were living near his homestead.
Fort Jesup during its existence trained such men as Second Lieutenant Phil Sheridan, Lieutenant Thomas Lawson, Captain Bragg, Lt. L. B. E. Bonneville, Lt. James E. Goins, Captain Davie E. Twiggs, Capt. J. Hardee, and Lt. Rufus Ingalls. These men during the war between the states, became generals either for the North or the South. Lieutenant U. S. Grant, who was stationed at Camp Salubrity near Grand Ecore, was often a visitor at Fort Jesup.
Such important men as David Crockett, James Bowie, Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston; and such famous scouts as Ben S. Lilly and “Big Foot” Wallace visited there. Because they were welcomed and entertained at Fort Jesup, accusations were made by the Spanish that Fort Jesup was a meeting place for those planning the overthrow of the Mexican government. And this may very well have been true, for supplies necessary for the conduct of the war for Texas independence undoubtedly passed through Fort Jesup.
There is evidence that the United States did render secret support to the fighting Texans in their struggle for independence. This fort at such a strategic location could have blocked revolutionary movements in this frontier area if it had chosen to do so. Because of this Fort Jesup became recognized as the heart of the Texas-Mexican revolution. The garrison at Fort Jesup assisted by checking the border Indians of Louisiana, Arkansas and northern Texas, who may have otherwise aided the Mexican forces against the retreating Sam Houston just before the Battle of San Jacinto.
The Gaines Military Road, 1827-1828
The Military Road or The Gaines Military Road, sometimes referred to as General Jackson’s road, connected the two most remote western outposts of the United States’ army, Fort Jesup and Fort Towsin. This last was located at the confluence of the Kiamechi River of Oklahoma and the Red River. The military road was nearly three hundred miles long.
In 1831 Fort Jesup came under the command of Brevet Brigadier General Leavenworth, with six companies of the Seventh Infantry. In 1832 the garrison was increased to two hundred ninety-six men and officers, and Colonel James B. Many again assumed command.
It was during the command of Gen. Leavenworth that some of the settlers or squatters that had moved into the area, some within a half-mile distance of the Fort, made themselves objectionable by selling whiskey to the personnel at Fort Jesup. In order that the sale of whiskey near the fort might be stopped the following order was issued:
Order No. 69
To all whom it may concern:
Having received instructions from General Leavenworth to take possession for the United States, for the purpose of supplying fuel for the garrison, of all public land within three miles of the flagstaff of Fort Jesup; all persons having a “donation or pre-emption” claim are hereby ordered to vacate the said premises immediately, or at the earliest possible date, otherwise they will be dealt with according to the law.
Signed: Francis Lee Acting Assistant Quartermaster U. S. Army
Fort Jesup, Louisiana, 7th November, 1831.