Dr. Whyte wrote:
> - The original Tx/La boundary was on the west bank of the Sabine River, as per
a Mexican/US agreement of 1828, but this was changed to the median line in 1848,
3 years after Texas joined the union.
As a resident expert, living less than eleven miles from this boundary, I fell
compelled to make a slight correction to this explanation.
The Act of Congress admitting the State of Louisiana to the Union in 1812
described part of its western boundary as "along the middle of said [Sabine]
river." This was prior to the final settlement of the corresponding boundary
between the United States and the Spanish possessions to the west. That was
negotiated in the Adams-de Onís Treaty of 1819, which set this portion of the
boundary between the USA and Spain as "along the western bank of that [Sabine]
river." The USA promptly ratified the treaty, but Spain did not until late in
the following year. Since more time had elapsed between the two nations'
ratifications than the treaty itself allowed, the USA again ratified it in early
1821 and considered it official. In that year, however, the independence of
Mexico became a recognized reality. A treaty between the USA and Mexico in 1828
reconfirmed the same boundary as specified in the Adams-de Onís Treaty.
These treaties established the west bank of the Sabine as the international
boundary, but the western boundary of Louisiana was still at the middle of the
river. The Republic of Texas secured its independence from Mexico by revolution
in 1836, and it was admitted to the USA as the State of Texas in 1845. Thus,
the State of Texas could claim nothing east of the west bank of the Sabine
River, but this left the western half of the river in neither state, and subject
only to federal jurisdiction. To rectify this awkward situation, the Congress
in 1848 gave its constitutionally required consent for Texas to extend its
boundary eastward to include "one-half of Sabine Pass, one-half of Sabine Lake,
also one-half of Sabine River..."
So, the western boundary of the State of Louisiana was never changed, but the
eastern boundary of the State of Texas was.
Lowell G. McManus
Leesville, Louisiana, USA
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