This Land—’tis Mine, ’tis Yours, ’tis Mine.
To the Stars and Stripes the Savage states, ’twas Mine.
To his God, Ayandt Daddi, in a blanketed-blue sky,
He looks and he questions, “Whither goest I?”
To his people, his eyes reflect his fears,
Caddo generosity paid, with “A Trail of Tears.”
ADDENDA
LAND GRANTS
In 1816 the United States Land Office sent representatives to Natchitoches, although previously representatives had been in Natchitoches in 1806 to register land claims within the Neutral Strip area. Proof was demanded of people settling land in the Neutral Strip, referring to either French or Spanish grants.
In 1730 Zavallez, then Governor of Los Adais, granted three square leagues of land to Manuel Sanchez on Los Pedro Creek (Bayou Pierre), the grant was listed as La Nana de Los Rio Pedro. (Note: The wife of St. Denis was a Sanchez, her mother being Maria Esperrillo Sanchez before her marriage to Don Diago Ramone). The Sanchez Grant is also referred to as Los Tres Llanos (Three Plains) was approved again in 1742 by Governor Larros in the name of Governor Winthusin. The son of Manuel Sanchez was eighty two years of age when in 1832 a clear title was issued by the United States Land Office. The Sanchez family had lived on the land 102 years before they obtained a clear title to it.