  We show that using the process of one-axis-twist squeezing in an echo
configuration, it is possible to control the orientation of the macroscopic
magnetic moment of a large number of atoms by manipulating the quantum state of
a single atom that is physically isolated from the ensemble. With this control
technique, it is also possible to entangle an ensemble with a single atom
deterministically, which mimics the thought experiment known as the
Schr\"odinger cat. In addition, this technique would make it possible to
generate a mesoscopic Schr\"odinger cat state for a large number of atoms far
more rapidly that the conventional process for generating such a state, with an
orientation that is independent of the parity of the number of atoms. Apart
from the echo configuration, we have also investigated the behavior of
one-axis-twist squeezing for some special values of the squeezing parameter. We
find that the squeezing propagator can be expressed as the sum of n rotation
operators if the product of n and the squeezing parameter equals pi, where n is
a non-zero integer. A direct consequence of this property of one-axis-twist
squeezing is that there is a hidden order in a squeezed state generated under
this condition even if its Husimi quasi-probability distribution looks
irregular.
