In 1800 Nacogdoches was a loyal Spanish town, as was shown by the part
it took in the suppression of Philip Nolan’s expedition. Nolan had been
reared by General James Wilkinson, commander of the United States forces
at Natchez, Mississippi. In furtherance of the schemes of Wilkinson and
Aaron Burr (then Vice President of the United States), Nolan invaded
Texas with a small band of adventurers, on the pretext of horse-trading.
The population of the town were largely behind Lieutenant M. Musquiz and
his Garrison, when they were ordered to pursue and arrest the little
band. Musquiz and his men were accompanied by William Barr, of the
trading firm of Barr and Davenport, who acted as interpreter between the
Spanish and Americans. Lieutenant Bernardo D’Ortolan, a Frenchman by
birth, was left in charge of the garrison here while Musquiz was on his
expedition; during this time he conveyed titles to land to such settlers
as applied for them.
Nolan was overtaken on the banks of the Blanco river, at the block house
he had built, and in the ensuing engagement he was killed and the
remainder of the expedition were captured and brought back to
Nacogdoches. They were placed in the Old Stone Fort, from whence they
were taken prisoners to Mexico; the sole survivor of the band, so far as
history records, was Peter Ellis Bean, one of the most colorful and
resourceful men Texas has seen.
Correspondence found in the possession of Nolan enabled Musquiz to
discover various ramifications of the plot of Nolan, Burr and Wilkinson
among the inhabitants in Nacogdoches. One of the local leaders was a
Spanish woman, Gertrudis Leal, and her husband, Antonio Leal, who were
tried for treason by Musquiz. The priest in charge of Mission Guadalupe,
Padre Bernadino Vallejo, was also one of the conspirators, but the robes
of St. Francis saved him from punishment for his part in the plot.
Samuel Davenport was also found to be in some manner connected with the
affair, but he was shrewd enough to escape being tried, as was also a
man by the name of Cook, who then lived at Nacogdoches.
In the beginning of the new century the purchase of Louisiana by the
United States from the French, in consequence of the Napoleonic upheaval
in Europe, brought about a great change in the political and military
affairs of Nacogdoches. There was great jealousy between the two
countries, and a territorial dispute to be settled before the old status
of somnolent peace could prevail. The Americans built Fort Jesup, west
of Red River, near Natchitoches, and in 1806, Governor Cordero, with
1500 Spanish troops, advanced to Nacogdoches to meet the American threat
across the Sabine. As a result of the negotiations of Governor Cordero
and General Wilkinson, there was formed The Neutral Ground, a strip of
territory lying between the Sabine and the Rio Hondo, over which neither
government exercised dominion, and which consequently became the
rendezvous of the lawless, until the settlement of the present boundary
between Texas and Louisiana.