Ancestral home of Texas Caddo Indians, this region developed a distinctive character in the 19th century. From 1806 to 1845 it lay in an area disputed by various countries and, from 1819, designated the neutral ground. The settlers were not neutral, becoming independent and resisting taxes levied by outside authorities. Founded in 1838 on Caddo Lake, Port Caddo quickly became important and gained a rowdy reputation as ship's crews, gamblers, and Indians filled its streets, while nearby towns and roads also appeared. Continued upheaval brought the assassination of the tax collector in 1840, and townsmen joined the factional Regulator-Moderator War from 1840 to 1844. When Texas proposed joining the Union in 1845, Port Caddoans strongly supported statehood as a way to end their troubles. From 1845 into the 1850s Port Caddo prospered and grew to 500 people, but it later declined as the Port of Jefferson and the county seat of Marshall drew away business. After the Civil War, the end of the great plantations, the falling water level of Caddo Lake, and the arrival of the railroad in nearby Karnack in 1900 gradually led Port Caddo to fade out of existence.