After an epidemic of yellow fever or smallpox in June 1765, a group of 37 Acadians left Fausse Pointe to settle further north. Some choose the prairie which will later take the name of Prairie Côte Gelée in its eastern part between the Tortue and Vermilion bayous south of the current town of Lafayette (see … Read more
The municipality of Loreauville in Iberia Parish was originally called “Fausse Pointe”, then “Dugasville” after the Dugas family, who opened a trading post on the site. It then became “Picouville” when a member of the Picou family donated land to build a chapel. Later, the village took the name of “Loreauville” in honour of Ozaire … Read more
Long before the arrival of the Acadians in 1765 southwestern Louisiana was inhabited by the Atákapas, indigenous people made up of six tribes. They also occupied southeast Texas. They were called by the neighbouring First Nations “The People” (of the country). Those in the east (in Louisiana) were “The Sunrise People” and those in the … Read more
St. James Parish is part of the “Acadian Coast” which is the name given by history to the stretch of the Mississippi River colonized by Acadians established in Louisiana since 1764 who became Cajuns over time. Soon after, the Acadian migrants arrived in successive waves until 1795. In front of the community of Convent which … Read more