Louisiana during the Wild West days?

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"No Man’s Land," also known as the Neutral Strip, was a slice of western Louisiana that became one of the most violent and lawless places in early America.For nearly 15 years, it belonged to no country and had absolutely no laws, turning it into a perfect haven for pirates, bandits, and runaway slaves.

The Borders of the StripThe region was a narrow, vertical strip of land located in western Louisiana.The West Border: The Sabine River (the current Texas-Louisiana border).The East Border: The Calcasieu River and the Arroyo Hondo (a small bayou near Natchitoches).

The Territory: It stretched from the Gulf of Mexico all the way north to the Sabine River's upper bends.

Why It Happened (The History)In 1803, the United States bought Louisiana from France. However, Spain still owned Texas. Neither country could agree on the exact border between Louisiana and Texas.To prevent a full-scale war, an American general and a Spanish governor signed a temporary agreement in 1806. They declared the disputed land a neutral zone. Under this deal, neither the U.S. military nor the Spanish military was allowed to enter the area or enforce any laws there.

Life in the Neutral Strip. Because there were no police, courts, or soldiers, the area quickly filled with people fleeing the law. It became a wild, untamed frontier.

Outlaw Safe Haven: Highwaymen, murderers, and counterfeiters set up camps in the dense pine forests. They would rob travelers passing through and then vanish into the woods.

The Adams-Onís Treaty: The lawlessness finally ended in 1821 when Spain officially gave Florida to the U.S. and fixed the Texas border at the Sabine River. The U.S. military finally marched in to clear out the bandit camps.

A Unique Culture: Because the area was isolated for so long, it developed a deeply unique mix of cultures. Today, the descendants of the original settlers—including Spanish, French, Anglo, Choctaw, and Biloxi-Chitimacha people—still celebrate this distinct heritage.

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Sandbar Fight

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The Ouachita Telegraph (Monroe, LA)
September 13, 1866
Page 2, Column 4
We learn from a letter from Hon. E.E. Kidd, of Jackson parish, published in the North Louisianian, that recently a dead body was found in Winn parish which answers pretty well to the description of Lieut. Butts, who, it has been alleged, was killed in Jackson parish. Lieut. Butts had gone to Natchitoches, it seems, aided with money and means by some of the best citizens of Jackson; and upon his return through a country notoriously infested with Confederate deserters who espoused the strong side when they saw the Confederacy waning, he is supposed to have been foully murdered for his horse, a very fine one, and his money. Not only Jackson and Winn parishes disown such characters, but every community abhors them, and has reason to dread them as they prey upon all alike. Our people do not travel through these infested districts alone; but Lieut. Butts presuming too far on the protection which he thought his uniform would afford, has doubtless pain the penalty of his recklessness with the forfeiture of his life. He is represented to have been a good officer and had the people's confidence, which in these corrupt times renders his loss a greater affliction to the people he served than to those who will moan loudest over his fate.

Four years later, the Nightriders were wiped out and another article cleared up the mystery:

The Ouachita Telegraph (Monroe, LA)
Saturday, May 28, 1870
Page 2, Column 1
[Excerpt from article headlined, Mystery and Retribution in Winn Parish]
Among these victims, it now turns out, was a Lieutenant Butts of the Federal army, whose unaccountable disappearance in 1866, while en route from Natchitoches to Vernon where he was detailed as a Bureau agent, excited at the time the virtuous indignation of the people of Jackson parish, and was the cause of calumny in Northern prints upon the reputation of that people, the New York Tribune taking the lead in the work of denunciation. Mrs. West and a man named Dean, one of West's accomplices, now clear up the mystery of the Lieutenant's death. He was killed by West not far from the Saline Mills in Winn parish. Information had been conveyed to West that the Lieutenant had drawn $2,700 at Natchitoches, and this sum West desired to obtain and did obtain from the Lieutenant's person after his murder. West, Dean and another man [NOTE: rumor, legend and family stories have said that Laws and Bill Kimbrel may have been involved.] overtook Butts on the road, and to allay suspicion told him they were hunting cattle. Riding on, they came to a point near where there is a fine spring. Butts was induced to turn off to the spring to get some water. — While drinking from the spring, West deliberately shot the unsuspecting man through the head. His bones were some time after discovered, but until now the manner of his death was a profound mystery.

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The West Border: The Sabine River (the current Texas-Louisiana border).The East Border: The Calcasieu River

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Because the area was isolated for so long, it developed a deeply unique mix of cultures. Today, the descendants of the original settlers—including Spanish, French, Anglo, Choctaw, and Biloxi-Chitimacha people—still celebrate this distinct heritage.

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and the people of that area were called "redbones".

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