What's in a Name? (Castor); Bienville, Louisiana
Source: The Bienville Democrat/Ringgold Record
From Across The Tracks by Mary K. Hamner
Submitted with Permission of Mary K. Hamner,
by Lynelle Cowan Stevenson, and Martha Stevenson Owen.

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                ****What's In A Name??****

Many have conjectured as to how Castor got its name.  A common
belief is that the name is an Indian one, meaning beaver, and the
town was named after Castor Creek flowing nearby.

Recently we heard a story that added more to the existing fable, and
the teller of the tale did not say we could not repeat it.  He did
threaten mayhem if we divulged his name.

The settlement now known as Old Castor was originally home to an
early tribe of Caddo Indians.  It was a site with plenty of
wildlife, creeks for water, clay for making pottery, and the early
tribe lived happily there.  A special attraction of the site was
fields of Castor beans.

The Indian spent their day hunting in the woods, fishing in the
streams, and making many products from the annual Castor bean crop.
Theirs was a better living than some, for they enhanced their fish
and game diet with Castor bean meal for their bread.  The ground the
beans with Indian mills, and also boiled them for a tasty Castor
bean soup.  There was medicinal value in Castor bean oil, and the
Indian braves soon discovered that the beans would distill into a
brew that would liven up any pow wow.

It was a happy settlement, and one may find evidence today of the
years they spent there in discarded flint arrowheads, pottery chips,
and Castor bean mills.  They married and had children, and it was
the custom of the women to name their child after the first thing
they saw after giving birth. So it was expected that one young brave
was given the name of Castor, after his mother had given birth in
the Castor bean field.

Castor was an arrogant child, and went about lording it over his
playmates. His father brought in an animal with a broad, flat tail
from the hunt. Castor looked at the strange creature and declared,
"Castor's". The animal ran away and escaped into the nearby creek.
The young boy screamed in rage, "No! Castor's Creek!"  And so Castor
lived, claiming everything for his own, and soon it was accepted
that the Indian village was Castor's too.

Time passed.  Castor died and was buried in his village, the bean
fields were overgrown with trees, and the little tribe of Indians
migrated to happier hunting grounds.  A little community developed
where they had lived, but somehow they knew that it was still
Castor's.  When the L&A Railroad came through in the late 1800's,
the community relocated, and that's how castor got it's name.

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The Castor Centennial Committee is sponsoring a contest... the best
original story submitted as to how Castor got it's name, and will be
published in this column.

The first, and only prize, will be a free Castor Centennial
Calendar.

Mail your entries to: Castor Centennial Committee P.O. Box 397
Castor, Louisiana 71016-0397

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