Amite River, Livingston, East Feliciana, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge
and Ascension Parishes, Louisiana
File prepared by D.N. Pardue
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From the book entitled "The Free State - A History and Place-Names Study
of Livingston Parish" by the members of the Livingston Parish American
Revolution Bicentennial Committee in cooperation with the Livingston 
Parish Police Jury and the Louisiana American Revolution Bicentennial
Commission, 1976.  Reprinted by permission.  Dedicated to the memory of
Reuben Cooper and Raymond Riggs.

AMITE RIVER The name Amite is supposed to come from the word amitie which in French

means "friendship."  In the book by J.T.H. Claiborne, a footnote is given to a direct

quotation from a report of Iverville, dated July, 1699, in which he states: "It was on

this occasion that he gave names to the lakes and streams they still bear, Amite in

token of the friendly reception he had from the Indians; Maurepas and Pontchartrain,

after two French Ministers." (1)

     A map of Galveztown by Juan Maria Perchet dated 1796 names the lower part of the

Amite River, Rio d'Iberville. (2)

     The word Amite could also come from a French corruption of himmita, a Choctaw

adjective meaning "young."

     Amite River heads in Amite County, Mississippi and courses down through the parishes

of East Feliciana, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge, Livingston and Ascension, forming boundary

lines between the same.  Maintaining the western boundary line of Livingston Parish until

it reaches T9S-R4E, the river turns eastward to flow through T8S-R5E and T9S-R5E and finally

through T8S-R6E into Lake Maurepas.  The river is navigable for the large boats as far as

Mallets Bluff.

     In the early days the river played a vital part in the commerce and transportation in

the lower part of Livingston Parish.  Its deep waters were ideal for freight and passenger

service during the schooner and steamboat era.  The sawmills which were once located along

the banks of the river depended greatly upon the river for timber floating and shipping of

the lumber to the dealers.

     The large gravel and sand beds mean much to the livelihood of the northwestern Living-

ston Parish residents.  Such vast resources now and for many years to come will continue

to elevate the material wealth of the whole parish.

     The Indians made their abode along the river, bringing into focus their own civilization

which once existed here many years ago.  The Indian arrows made from rocks of the upper Amite

River beds have been found along the enitre Amite River farmland area.  This great supply of

rocks gave the Indians trading power with other Indian Nations.

     The Amite River and its banks is a vacation paradise for many families who have built

camps and homes for recreation and enjoyment during the entire year.

     Views of the Amite River are always very scenic whether they be of the nearby sandbars

in the bleak winter, which resemble a snow landscape, or in the spring of the year when the

purple water hyacinth are in full bloom and the feathery green foliage of the cypress trees

peeps through the gray moss curtains of the bordering swampland. -- Mrs. Lucille Cooper

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(1) J.T.H. Clairborne, Mississippi Province Territory and State, Jackson, Mississippi;
Power and Barksdale, 1808, p. 19.

(2) Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Vol. 13, 1930, p. 560.

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