Postcard From The Last American International Boundary Marker

Road-side markers for the Texas-Louisiana
boundary marker along FM-31

Just about 10 miles south of Deadwood, Texas and 6 miles from Logansport, Louisiana on Texas FM-31 is a little pull-off site with just enough room for three or four cars to park on the bare ground. Off the beaten path would be a good term for it. Actually, it's so far out in the boonies, you gotta be going there to get there. But this little nondescript spot is historically significant.

In the 1700's, French and Spanish land claims overlapped on the current Texas-Louisiana boundary. Of course they began disputing this New World boundary as each country claimed Texas. The dispute was still going on when the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. The government leaders finally agreed to a neutral area between the Arroyo Hondo and the Sabine River. In 1819, the Adams-Onis Treaty formally defined the border. Questions arose again when Texas won its independence and became a republic in 1836. Texas appointed a joint commission with the U.S. to survey and mark an official boundary from the Gulf of Mexico to the Sabine River and on to the Red River.

The survey began on May 20, 1840 and after an exact spot was determined, a 36-foot pole was placed in the middle of a large earthen mound on the Gulf of Mexico beach. Proceeding north, they placed 8-foot posts which marked the number of miles from the 32nd parallel. When they reached the parallel, they placed a granite marker on the west bank of the Sabine River and then traveled due north to the Red River. The survey was completed in late June, 1841.

A few years later, erosion caused the granite marker to fall into the river and it was lost to history. Fortunately, the surveyors had placed a second granite marker on their northward path to mark the north-south meridian. On the east face of the marker they chiseled "U.S." and on the west face "R.T." for Republic of Texas. 

That marker is what you will find if you venture to this quiet, very rural little place. So what's so remarkable about this marker? It is one of a kind - the one and only international boundary marker to be found inside the contiguous United States! Except for this one, all others have been lost to time, erosion or vandals.