NO MAN’S LAND | Louisiana Public Broadcasting

imagine part of the early united states left unclaimed its residents countryless having to survive completely on their own not by some accident or bureaucratic mix-up but by an international agreement never happen you say think again the following program is brought to you by america's byways gateways to adventure where no two experiences are the same the national scenic byways program invites you to come closer to america's heart by the louisiana office of tourism louisiana feed your soul and by louisiana's myths and legends byway barely 20 years a nation the united states of america in 1803 negotiated one of the greatest land deals in the history of civilization by purchasing the louisiana territories from france [Music] but lost in nearly every historical account [Music] is the fact the deal did not go down without dispute the western boundary was pretty much undefined thomas jefferson believed that the united states had bought all the way to the rio grande spain was not amenable to that the spanish belief the border extended much further east into present-day louisiana so in 1806 they send a fairly large force across the sabine river the united states responded by calling troops and militia to repulse the perceived spanish threat this tension was the result of decades of posturing between colonial empires in the new world over a neutral strip of land that for one reason after another had defied jurisdiction now two international powers stood face to face ready to defend their interest a storied land of pirates and contraband outlaws and lawlessness that bred a culture of fierce independence and self-reliance [Music] that still exists [Applause] and is celebrated to this day a precursor of what was to become the wild west and one of the most unique and little-known international border disputes in north american history the last piece of the puzzle in the 18th state becoming louisiana in the early 1700s france was claiming all the lands drained by the mississippi river spain was claiming the territory west of that the british colonies were a world away france made the first move in settling their claim by sending louis saint-denis to establish trade with the nakkitish indians in 1716. so they were both looking to control the interior of north america and they kind of come and meet really for the first time right here at nakadish and los adeis the purpose of lhasa dias was really to protect the spanish interest and to keep the french from moving into spanish territory with no accurate maps and few distinguishing geographic features the generally accepted boundary between the colonial empires was the rio hondo and kalkashu rivers and there is another empire of native peoples to contend with it does set it apart from other places because you had a very benevolent caddo confederation here that in a sense welcomed both the spanish and the french the spanish were looking to convert them to catholic catholicism the french were just happy to trade with them spain further secured its border by extending the royal road the el camino real from mexico city and making los adias the capital of spanish texas in 1729 then things changed in 1762 france seeded the louisiana territory west of the mississippi and new orleans to spain its territory east of the mississippi to britain lands that had been french became spanish even the french fort saint jean-baptiste in natchez with no border to protect los adias was abandoned in 1773 and the soldiers sent back to san antonio but their story does not end there because their lives have become deeply intertwined with the land and the people of the neutral strip all those soldiers who were here are intermingled with our genealogy rhonda gaucher descends from one such soldier gil ibarbo elie barbow was the son of mateo ibarbo mateo was stationed here at los adeis elie barbo he was born here in 1729 and that's actually one of my grandfathers the political situation in europe changed yet again and in 1800 spain ceded the louisiana territory back to france and before the borders between the two empires could be re-established in 1803 the united states purchases the louisiana territory from france spain was still climbing part of what is now louisiana because the boundaries of spanish texas was at robolane when the united states bought that that land from france they didn't really know exactly where that western boundary was south of nakatish 30 second parallel i think the u.s was a little bit reluctant to get into a war or get into a struggle with spain over going ahead and pushing them back to the sabine or even father the united states was represented by general james wilkinson the spanish by simone di herrera as wilkinson pushes his troops further west he decides he does not want to fight and so what wilkinson proposes is that we'll move back east of rio hondo which is a boundary that went back all the way to the founding of natchez and los angeles this was a historic boundary between the two between the french and the spanish and the spanish were to stay west of the sabine river according to wilkinson's proposal and they made a gentleman's agreement literally saying for the time being we will not send anyone to protect to tax or to control the inhabitants of this area this strip between what we view as our territory and what we view as your territory it's sort of this dissolved neutral strip and the way we're going to deal with it is just not bother with the people who are living there and in 1806 with this gentleman's agreement no man's land was born and until such time that diplomats could work out the details there would be no new settlers no government assistance and no law the quirkiness of the the no man's land thing is essentially government making claims to things they had never explored and did not thoroughly understand once those boundaries were specifically drawn out through a treaty by simone de herrera and general james wilkinson then you have a real line where people are realizing there's an opportunity there hello and welcome into the lpb studios on a very exciting night i'm chuck perdin long time volunteer and friend of lpb you're watching the premiere of the documentary no man's land we are going to meet one of the film bakers bill rodman in just a moment but first it is during this brief intermission that we invite you to help lpb continue to tell louisiana's story as only lpb can do think about all the intriguing stories you've seen here like the one tonight and from no man's land and we have the spirit of a culture cane river creoles to deeply rooted a chaffelaia houseboat and attack a paw the cajun story boy they're great only on lpb it's viewers contributions like yours that made this possible so here's your chance to make a difference and help us continue this tradition of sharing the culture of our great state simply call or text g-i-v-e to 888-769-5000 or become a member of lpb online at lpb.org or you can scan that qr code that funny-looking thing you see on your screen do it with your camera in your smart device and it's going to hook you up and consider becoming a sustaining member with easy monthly donations now i would like to tell you about the thank you gifts that we have for your pledge of support during this broadcast and they are quite impressive if you choose to pledge two hundred and forty dollars that's just twenty dollars a month you're going to receive the no man's land combo which includes the marshes to mansions hardcover book and a pair of lpb gumbo mugs the naketish in louisiana's timeless cane river hardcover book by philip gould and the program dvd just 20 bucks a month if you want to go a little less 120 you'll receive the nacogdish in louisiana's timeless cane river hardcover book by philip gould that's just ten dollars a month or for six dollars a month you can receive the program dvd we also have some credit card specials a 400 special credit card offer for a pledge of 400 or more on a credit card you will receive an original pelican painting by local lake charles artist eddie moorman this is an 8x10 it's really really terrific for twelve hundred dollars on a special credit card offer the first the first caller of twelve hundred dollars or more on a credit card you're going to receive a two-night stay including a complimentary guided fishing trip for two along with a round of golf green fees and card included sign me up for this oh i can't do it uh sorry it's open to you not me and so in addition to these wonderful gifts you're gonna receive visions lpb's monthly program guide louisiana life magazine and our popular member benefit lpb passport you can't miss out on that and seated right next to me is a man i'm glad louisiana has not missed out on this is mr bill rodman bill is the guy who did the show that we're watching along with his wife got to give her credit to but you know bill um he really has cut his teeth in tv going back to television news rooms in wyoming and louisiana back in the 1990s here in louisiana he won a couple of suncoast emmy awards he was a reporter of the year with associated press and a finalist in the large market napte iris award that's pretty impressive that's showcasing the best locally produced programs in the english speaking world well i don't know for the english-speaking world because we got some french accents and you got some cane river folks with some accents but anyway this is mr bill rodman bill is the fella who did the documentary we're watching fantastic pleasure to be here chuck oh i can't tell you how glad i am you did this because i have so many friends when i i'm a history buff when i tell them we used to have a town in louisiana was the capital of texas they say you know a lot but you're wrong on this one you're proving me right you know this story is so interesting on so many levels chuck and to think that um this was a dispute that arose from the louisiana purchase that is not the usual narrative that we that we hear about the louisiana purchase and just on so many levels that less left the earliest settlers there governmentless there was no law and order in terms of international identity they had none beyond that that opened the door to outlaws and pirates and um this is a story nobody really knows nobody knows about this and i talk with a lot of people about it since we've been producing it and while we're working on it and people say you know that ought to be part of louisiana history curriculum absolutely and um so just it's just been an honor to absolute honor to be able to play a part in telling this story well it takes a bill rodman and a flo rodman and it takes lpb which is why it's so important for you to be a contributing member we make supporting public television easy for you sustaining membership is an easy convenient and affordable way to support the programs you love sustaining members make an ongoing monthly contribution from either their credit card or checking account just choose the monthly amount you'd like to get then call or go online and we'll set it up for you your donation will happen automatically each month so your support will always be current if you need to stop or want to change the amount of your sustaining membership just contact us monthly contributions begin as low as five dollars per month call or go online to start your sustaining membership right now ah bill plus in addition to that we have a special offer that matches your gift tell us about it the nakadish area chamber area convention and visitors bureau excuse me is proud to support the programming on lpb and is challenging all viewers to donate tonight and they will match dollar for dollar the first fifteen hundred dollars called in during this program only in effect this will make your donation worth twice as much to lpb that's that's awesome uh together we can keep lpb strong in louisiana oh that is fantastic and you know the people who make all this possible are the people who are watching this program by calling in 888 769-5000 or going online to become a supporting member it takes money to do these things it takes money to run the tv station and that's why we have to come and do this for you periodically but it gives us the opportunity to have great things like bill's documentaries and i believe you know the gould family arlene gould she is with the natchez area convention and visitors bureau she has a word for us greetings from natchez louisiana where we're celebrating the 95th natchez christmas we are also proud to be here tonight to support the no man's land documentary where we're a partner in no man's land uh the corporate challenge tonight knackles convention and visitors bureau is proud to support the programming on lbb and we're challenging viewers to donate tonight we will match dollar for dollar the first fifteen hundred dollars called in during this break only this will make your donation worth twice as much to lpb together we can keep lpb strong in louisiana thank you oh thank you arlene and we're here with with bill rodman the man behind no man's land bill what surprised you the most when you were researching this project well chuck you know it's interesting we mentioned a little bit uh previously about how it's fascinating how few people have heard of this story of louisiana as no man's land and i guess one of the most eye-opening facts that that we stumble upon is that the folks over there in no man's land the western part of the state we're talking about towns like logan's ports wally de ritter um they're not learning anything from this from this documentary these are the folks that count their descendants as being from no man's land it is an everyday part of their life it's in their dna this pride the resilience that their ancestors had so so many years ago is very much alive today over there and that's fascinating and the fact is they're louisianians in louisiana and not texas that's all gets settled out i think we have more about that uh coming up and you know lpb is really known for its fantastic raffles we've got periodically new ones and we have a new one for you here the future of driving is here lbb's win the wheels raffle accelerates into the 21st century with a tesla model 3. hi my name's seth irby and i'm a proud board member for the friends of lpb join me in supporting lpb and enter the raffle today for your chance to win a tesla model 3. enter for your chance to win this hot next generation electric car every dollar raised goes to support public broadcasting and provide educational resources in your local community purchase a ticket for fifty dollars buy two and you'll get the third ticket free you'll also receive lpb's most popular benefit lpb passport giving you unlimited access to the best of pbs and lpb on demand go online to lpb.org raffle or call 888-769-5000 you are helping sustain lpb for the future which makes you a winner and possibly the owner of a brand new tesla the raffles the thank you gifts the the special offers that we have all to help you support louisiana public louisiana public broadcasting lpb you do it by going to your phone [phone] bill we have some special special offers this program some very nice ones here is a 400 dollar special credit card offer for a pledge of 400 or more on a credit card you will receive an original pelican painting by local lake charles artist eddie mormon it's a ten by eight size painting at 1200 there's a twelve hundred dollar special credit card offer as well for the first caller of twelve hundred dollars or more on a credit card you will receive a two-night stay including a complimentary guided fishing trip for two along with a round of golf green fees and cart included in addition to these wonderful gifts you'll receive you'll receive visions lpb's monthly god program god louisiana life magazine and our popular member benefit lpb passport oh yeah love the passport and there you saw it visions magazine it's a treasure trove of what's coming up when you look through here and you see all the musical programs that are on lpb we have more music on here than i think they have on mtv they used to have music but not anymore and of course louisiana life also comes with this and this is a fantastic magazine you ought to write for louisiana life or have you um you're right up there alley if you like louisiana life you're gonna love bill rodman stuff and and vice versa uh let me talk to you about some of the gifts that we have uh for a pledge of 240. that's 20 a month you're going to receive the no man's land combo which includes the marshes to mansions hardcover cookbook and a pair of lpb gumbo mugs you get the nakatish and louisiana's timeless cane river hardcover book by philip gould and the program dvd all that for just twenty dollars a month as a sustaining member or if you pledge 120 dollars you'll receive the knack edition louisiana's timeless cane river hardcover book by phillip gold or for just six dollars a month you can afford that come on you'll receive the program dvd of no man's land and send it in maybe we get bill to autograph that for you make it a a real treasure but you know the real treasure is louisiana public broadcasting and what it enables artists like bill to accomplish to bring to you stories you probably never heard about unless you're in no man's land you didn't know there was a no man's land or that we had the capital of texas in louisiana fascinating stuff let's get back to the program bill don't give it away no man's land keep watching [Music] [Music] and in that space all kinds of things took place because you have no form of official law or anyone that is answered to and so what happens then over time is that this becomes a place where you know the worst of the worst come one of the most popular outlaw legends is the story of john mural the reverend devil the reason why they called him the reverend devil was because his father was a preacher and he learned the bible early on the legend is that he could quote all 10 of the commandments while he was breaking them [Music] rumors abound of outlaws who buried their ill-gotten gains in the casacci forest close to the caves they hid out in strategically located near the el camino real the el camino real has long been known as a smuggling route between the french and the spanish dating back to almost its very beginnings some legends talk about spain transporting silver along that highway or bandits would sort of populate those roads because it's where the money was there was lots of movement through no man's land of pioneers making their way west along the el camino real what really was driving the sort of westward expansion of the americas this idea that there were silver mines in this region in new spain that promised great wealth these settlers became easy prey for outlaws who would rob them and simply vanish into the densely forested surroundings attesting to the fact the damn neutral strip is cursed of the devil fairy crossings were another favorite for thieves who would lie and wait there are many stories about cattle thieves and rustlers and smugglers crossing the river in one direction stealing cattle or our goods and then crossing again to escape [Music] this was the time that lawlessness you could say either lawlessness occurred or there was no lawlessness at all a time that drew pirates like the infamous jean lafitte who was able to operate right out in the open nobody was going to come here after because they weren't going to set any militia they were not going to set any tax with so john lafitte literally when he came to southwest louisiana he was not a pirate he was not a privateer he was essentially a an early 19th century version of amazon he was actually bringing in goods and supplies visit by jean lafitte was viewed as a great boon because finally we can get gunpowder we can get crockery we can get textiles we can get pots and pans we can get guns we can get this that and the other except people would have been one of the commodities pirates would traffic the neutral strip in in terms of african americans would have been our african descended people would have been a place you went through not that you stayed because what happened is if you let's say you were a free black person traveling through the neutral strip and for whatever reason nobody knew you or you didn't have the right papers or whatever then someone would catch you take you to kentucky or georgia or somewhere else and re-enslave you so that was not somewhere you wanted to be when jonathan was here he was legal because there was no law because this was no man's land which makes it really unusual in terms of of telling history but there it is that's the history in southwest louisiana [Music] that's why the outlaw is so important to the neutral strip right because it's more about how people of the neutral strip survived and made a life in a region that was known as a tough place and drew the attention of outlaws before no man's land became known for its lawlessness there were generations of settlers who had no qualms about fending for themselves you had to skin your own skunks and and whatever you had to be independent you had to be self-sufficient and many of those pioneers just wanted to be left alone to make a living these were not plantation peoples these were not slave owning peoples just small scale farmers working 15 20 acres that could be farmed by the family and that became the predominant economy throughout what's going to become no man's land to the south raising cattle was becoming a burgeoning industry and because of that that sort of cowboy culture that you ordinarily associate with the american west of the of the 1870s is actually practiced in louisiana 70 80 years before the texas trail drives we have the trail drives here in louisiana very very very early on everything here was about survival the contraband trade began at a necessity due to the far eastern position of lhasa dias it was hundreds of miles away from san antonio the spanish soldiers would trade things that they had gathered from throughout texas they also traded native americans that they had enslaved samuel did leon he was a french soldier at fort st jean baptiste and he bought a la pen apache indian woman named juana maria and he had three children with her and i descend from one of those three children the people may have been poor in terms of their material culture but they lived a subsistence pretty happy way of life far away from any kind of central control or any kind of central command this lack of government drew the native american kushata to no man's land a people who were looking for a place that offered peace but most importantly independence from outsider interference it also drew the attention of a variety of other people who were looking for opportunity and a way of life joseph willis is an important figure in the neutral strip some people say he was the first baptist preacher west of the mississippi river willis was a freed man the son of an englishman and a cherokee slave he first appears as a protestant minister in louisiana in 1798 he was a huge figure in bringing religion to no man's land part of what settled that region were these early churches they were the key factors of making a place stable right and and they're basically indicative of how people settled you you form a church and you gather together and you worship but you rely on each other for support [Music] we consider let the church is our hispanic culture [Music] everything uh revolving around the catholic church is saint joseph's senior and saint catherine's you know that is all part of our culture [Music] i'm a member of the choctaw apache tribe of ebar and our tribe is made up of predominantly choctaw and apache native americans that were in this area for many hundreds of years before the first anglo-american settlers came in and over time all the cultures that had settled here the spanish french the freedmen anglo-americans and native american tribes all blended together to create a new culture unique to southwestern louisiana one that had as much to do with their spirit as it did their ethnicity the family connections are incredibly strong you survived you've got to continuously protect yourself against the elements against people that's a hallmark of the neutral strip no man's land that is one of the things that is the most persistent aspect of the neutral strip mentality like what neutral strip residents understand about themselves that in order to survive in this place especially early on it took a pretty tough character my dad oh it was a total fight with him he was notorious for his fighting in zwali all him and his cousins but it wasn't that they were fighting against the system they were just fighting to let people know that they couldn't be pushed over i think if you live in a place that had attracted not only outlaws for a time but also people who were trying to live independently or to live outside of the watchful eyes of a certain group you had to develop the ability to take care of yourself you don't know these outside people so you don't really want to let them in and that's the way they were and in 1821 the adam's o'neis treaty was ratified and spain abandoned any claim to territory east of the sabine river the western boundary of the new state of louisiana was set at the sabine river i don't think wilkinson or anybody at the time believed that the neutral strip would last that long no man's land would last that long no man's landers were now americans you just didn't have a line or a fence or a road or anything you could step over and say okay i'm in i'm in no man's land it was sort of fluid very fluid but a treaty could not stop what was already in place welcome back i'm chuck perdin a longtime supporter of lpp you're watching the lpb broadcast premiere of no man's land we know you love learning about history just like i do and that's why you're watching lpb right now and that's why it's all the more important for us to hear from you when you make a pledge of support to lpp during this program well you are casting your vote and telling us that you want to see more quality programs such as this programs that you're not going to see anywhere else you know we reintroduce you to filmmaker bill rodman we're going to do that in just a minute but right now we invite you to call or text give g-i-v-e to 888-769-5000 you can go online at lpb.org or you can simply scan that funny looking qr code that's on your screen do that with your smartphone and that way you can become a member and renew your membership or make an additional gift of support or give the gift of membership to a family member member or to a friend let me tell you again about the thank you gifts that are available during this program and they're really really pretty cool for a pledge of 240 that's just 20 a month as a sustaining member you're going to receive the no man land no man's land combo which includes the marshes to mansions hardcover book and a pair of lpb gumbo mugs you get the knack edition louisiana's timeless cane river hardcover book by philip gould and you get this program's dvd for 120 or a pledge of 10 a month you'll receive the knack edition louisiana's timeless cane river hand hardcover book by philip gould or for just six dollars a month how about uh you know 72 dollars if you want to do it all at once you're going to receive the program dvd and there are some special credit card offers these are really great for a pledge of 400 or more on a credit card you will receive an original pelican painting by local artist eddie mormon an original pelican painting size 10 by eight or if you want to go twelve hundred dollars and you're the first caller with a pledge of twelve hundred dollars or more on a credit card you will receive a two-night stay including a complimentary guided fishing trip for two along with a round of golf green fees and cart included and i've stayed at cypress bend it's well well worth it folks and in addition to these wonderful gifts you'll receive visions lpb monthly pass program guide you're going to get louisiana life magazine and our popular member benefit lpb passport but mostly what you get is great programming stuff that you're not going to find anywhere else who else but lpb and bill rodman would have done no man's land and taught us this little-known part of louisiana history much less american history louisianans don't know much about this but you're learning it here on lpb bill you know this is really really terrific i'm a big history buff so i'm very pleased that you did this but you've also done some other things up in the cane river area what attracted you to that area you're not from louisiana originally are you well chuck no i'm not i i grew up in the midwest and um i moved to baton rouge uh over 30 years ago and um but i came here working in the news business storytelling as we both have quite a bit of experience doing now but um i was always a fan of charles corral yes and charles carl said that the problem that he saw one of the problems with america was it was getting homogenized meaning there wasn't a whole lot of difference between various parts of the country well the first time i rolled into baton rouge and started experiencing louisiana this is the least homogenized place in the country and that of course is a compliment and as and as a storyteller um i rolled into this dream scenario and these stories that we can tell and that as you you as viewers can enjoy and on a weeknight evening at home on your television are stories that are just not found in other parts of the country we are lucky this is special and that's why lpb is special and it's so special and so important for you to contribute become a sustaining member 888-769-5000 we you know we don't get this programming paid for all these great uh other great ones like ken burns his documentaries we have to pay for that programming and the money for that kind of programming comes from you so we sure need your support and when you've pledged during a history program like this you're telling us you want more of that and that is absolutely terrific and we make supporting public television easy for you sustaining membership is an easy convenient and affordable way to support the programs you love sustaining members make an ongoing monthly contribution from either their credit card or checking account just choose the monthly amount you'd like to give then call or go online and we'll set it up for you your donation will happen automatically each month so your support will always be current if you need to stop or want to change the amount of your sustaining membership just contact us monthly contributions begin as low as five dollars per month call or go online to start your sustaining membership right now ah thank you so much we want you to be a sustaining member because it makes all the difference in the world and especially during this break during this program we have a special challenge um this challenge from the nakadish area convention and visitors bureau they're proud to support the programming on lpb and they are challenging uh all viewers to donate tonight and they will match dollar for dollar the first fifteen hundred dollars called in during this program only um in effect this will make your donation worth twice as much to lpb that is awesome together we can keep lpb strong in louisiana absolutely and of course you know you're a regular viewer you know about the special thank you gifts we have we have some that are specific to this program if you call in and make a pledge of 240 that's just 20 a month 20 a month is a sustaining member come on you can do that you're going to get all of this the no man land combo which includes the marshes the mansion's hardcover book and a pair of lpb gumbo mugs the nakadish and louisiana's timeless cane river hardcover book by philip gould and the program dvd for ten dollars a month as a sustaining member or a one-time pledge of 120 you're going to receive the knack edition louisiana's timeless cane river hardcover book by philip gould or for six dollars a month you can receive the program dvd but use your credit card folks because we've got some special credit card offers here for a pledge of 400 or more on a credit card you're going to receive an original 8 by 10 pelican painting by local lake charles artist eddie moorman yes it's an original so i don't know maybe someday you can come on antiques roadshow and get even more for it for twelve hundred dollars a special credit card offer the first caller on a credit card pledging twelve hundred dollars or more you will receive at cyprus uh cypress bend resort a two-night stay including a complimentary guided fishing trip 4-2 along with a round of golf and it's a nice golf course they got a green fees card everything's included into that and in addition to these wonderful gifts you'll receive visions lpb's monthly program guide louisiana life magazine and our popular member benefit lpb passport there is just so many many reasons to contribute to lpb and i'll tell you what bill's got a good friend friend of lpb this is ms gold she has a message for us greetings from natchez louisiana where we're celebrating the 95th natchez christmas we are also proud to be here tonight to support the no man's land documentary where we're a partner in no man's land the corporate challenge tonight annapolis convention and visitors bureau is proud to support the programming on lbb and we're challenging viewers to donate tonight we will match dollar for dollar the first fifteen hundred dollars called in during this break only this will make your donation worth twice as much to lpb together we can keep lpb strong in louisiana thank you thank you arlene arlene gould with the naco dish convention and visitors bureau bill i know that to do the kinds of programs that you do are so special you need the support of lpb but you also need the support of the local people in the area and i bet they were great too you you can tell they like you they certainly certainly were and are chuck for sure so what do you uh you think you could do this without or what did they bring local knowledge that you didn't get from your research books um well one of the interesting aspects of the snowman's land story is that you can talk to every historian in the world but the fact that this story that this identity is still alive in those communities those western louisiana communities is just absolutely amazing no man's landers are alive and well in the western part of the state that resilience that independence and it's really neat to really get the breadth of the the history um of this story and to realize the effect that it still has on these people's everyday lives and what i like so much about a program like the kinds of programs that you do is that this isn't just something academic out of a book you personalize it with these people they make the difference and you know that's that's storytelling people you know people want to meet people viewers want to meet people and and have a sense of of of meeting these folks and and that's that's to me is the key of a special story are they giving you the key to no man's land yet because i think you deserve it we deserve you deserve lpb uh it's so important to the culture of louisiana and everything uh that is important in our lives with things that you don't get anywhere else like programs like this and we have many ways of saying thank you we've told you about the thank you gifts but we also have started doing these wonderful raffles uh fantastic raffles and there's always a new one the future of driving is here albabee's win the wheels raffle accelerates into the 21st century with a tesla model 3. hi i'm tricia johnson and i'm the winner of the 2021 win the wheels raffle enter for your chance to win this hot next generation electric car every dollar raised goes to support public broadcasting and provide educational resources in your local community purchase a ticket for fifty dollars buy two and you'll get the third ticket free you'll also receive lpb's most popular benefit lpb passport giving you unlimited access to the best of pbs and lpv on demand go online to lpb.org raffle or call 888-769-5000 can't win if you don't enter i love my new tesla thank you friends of lpb you are helping sustain lpb for the future which makes you a winner and possibly the owner of a brand new tesla ah tesla that'd be nice that would be nice bill it's nice to have you here it's nice to see the kinds of work that you've been doing thank you so much for this fantastic documentary and uh for the the cane river things that you've done uh and your wife flo let's not forget flo she's an important part of this too but uh are we going to be seeing more from bill rodman in the future uh oh definitely definitely chuck um one of my dreams is to uh kind of hit the road if you will and and you want to be your own charles carroll well you know for louise i don't want to make it my own but yeah in a way you know he had a good gig but i just love love hitting the small towns and telling the small small town stories well thank you for doing what you do and keep doing it and we'll keep doing it right here in lpb thank you [Music] with the border question settled between spain and louisiana the anarchy prevalent throughout no man's land had to end and in 1822 fort jessup was established situated on the el camino real 15 miles from nakadish in a day's march from the sabine it functioned as the central stronghold of the new frontier restoring law and order to the region then in 1830 a contingent of fort jessup soldiers was hurriedly dispatched to lake charles it was decided by the u.s government that they need to plant the flag somewhere in south louisiana as quickly as possible the pirating that had flourished along the winding kalkashu river during no man's land persisted cantonment atkinson was erected the illicit activities were contained and the company returned to its home base the troops at fort jessup valiantly fulfilled their mission serving until the threat at the border no longer existed with the annexation of texas in 1846 with the signing of the adams onice treaty no man's land now becomes part of louisiana and the land is turned over to the united states and what begins is a process of recognizing that people were there and that people had some semblance of a claim to the land the rio hondo land claims commission of 1824 sets up a four-tier system to determine ownership the first and second tier claims were well-established land holdings that were awarded ownership the fourth class claims were thrown out held to be groundless then there's a large third tier these were people eking out a living in the woods of the kosachi hills on the floodplain of the kalkashu or the sabine rivers down towards the south these were people who were living very hard lives this is how you get your first real sense of who was there in our journey for federal recognition i served as the tribal genealogist for the choctaw apache tribe of ebar one remarkable fact about the tribe is that all of its members can trace at least one ancestor if not more than one to the original land grant [Music] you're dealing with a lot of people that their ancestors have been there now going on 200 and actually going on close to 250 years francisco carmona was a native american who was born at los angeles served the spanish crown as a soldier at the alamo for his military service to the spanish crown he was given a land grant and his land was located in sabine parish and then became a no-man lander and then eventually became an american before his death and so it was through the rio hondo land claims the first legal no man's landers were officially recognized despite the well-established borders of today there's still a unique political economic and cultural interconnectedness that exists in no man's land the sturdy and diverse settlers who weathered both prosperity and haplessness with equal grace are still here they live on in the faces the families and the myths and legends of today this inherited strength independence and resilience is a proud no man's land legacy though their ancestors faced thieves and bandits as well as the complete lack of government and sovereignty they strive to have that communal power and that's how they did it not with a gun not with a knife they educated their children to the point to where they could have positions to help them strive to get what they wanted is it any wonder no man's landers still look to themselves and each other in times of difficulty and disaster because they can't count on government coming in and bailing them out this is part of what makes no man's land still live they were resilient enough to survive to do all this and they're still doing it [Music] [Music] no man's land was brought to you by america's byways gateways to adventure where no two experiences are the same the national scenic byways program invites you to come closer to america's heart by the louisiana office of tourism louisiana feed your soul and by louisiana's myths and legends byway

Channel: Louisiana Public Broadcasting

Views: 24,155

Keywords:

Id: CMnf6_iAUJg

Length: 51min 39sec (3099 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 07 2021