Life Along The Sabine River

The neutral ground began as a truce, not a treaty. In October 1806 General James Wilkinson and Spanish Lieutenant Colonel Simon de Herrera, facing each other across the Sabine, agreed that neither side would claim the country, station troops or admit new settlers until diplomats drew a line. Squatters came anyway, and by 1808 merchants in Natchitoches and Nacogdoches were complaining. A 1810 sweep burned about a dozen buildings, and in 1812 Zebulon Pike ordered a raid on his own, ending joint action. Later writers called the strip No Man's Land and the Free State of Sabine.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kisatchie National Forest: Longleaf Vista — 28 mi
  A free ridge-top overlook and 1.5-mile loop above the 8,700-acre Kisatchie Hills Wilderness on the Longleaf Trail Scenic Byway, in the forest Caroline Dormon helped win in 1930.

More markers nearby

• Phillip Nolan — 1.2 mi
• Llano Del Rio — 1.6 mi
• Camp Polk Heritage Families — 6.8 mi
• Wolf Rock Cave — 12 mi