Would the settlers of the Neutral Strip and those from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande recognize the treaty of Washington? The Gutierrez-McGee filibuster expedition had proved that these people wished a new freedom. Not that of the United States or that of Mexico. Many men had cast their eyes toward the land of Texas, there was so much of it for the taking. But the Indians were not just sitting on the sideline observing what was happening, they were pressing for their rights, too, against any and all nations. Surely they realized their prize possession was slowly slipping from them. The Indians recognized no treaty among the white men. Only the agreements with the whites which concerned their welfare were of importance to them. Many young adventurers of all nationalities and from all walks of life had come into the area and found the excitement to their liking. They would align themselves with the side which offered them the most advantageous opportunities. General Edmund P. Gaines found himself in a predicament when he received orders on Dec. 21, 1819, to establish a new command post near the border of the Sabine River. He was ordered “to establish a new post in a location that will protect our southwestern border as well as all of the inhabitants within the boundaries of the United States in your area.” In the Southwest area he had federal troops under his command; at New Orleans, 96 men under Major Many; at Baton Rouge, 212 officers and men; at Fort Claiborne, Natchitoches, 56 men under the command of Major Coombs; and, at Camp Sabine, on the Sabine River, 105 men under the command of General Wilkinson. On November 15, 1820, Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor and four Companies of the 7th United States Infantry had established Fort Selden on the south bank of Bayou Pierre on the highest hill in the area, one and one-half miles from the confluence of Bayou Pierre with Red River, six miles north of Natchitoches and three miles west of Grand Ecore. Taylor named the Fort, “Selden,” in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Selden, who fought in the American revolution and who was at that time stationed in the Arkansas Territory. From the vantage point of Fort Selden on Bayou Pierre there was a one-mile view of the channel of the bayou. There was flat-boat traffic on the bayou to the town of Bayou Pierre and on northward to the Petit Caddos in the vicinity of the present day city of Shreveport. Taylor was in position to control the water traffic on the bayou.[12] At Fort Selden Lieutenant Colonel Taylor received this message: Special Order No. 19. Headquarters West Dept., Fort Selden, Red River, March 28, 1822.