Newspapers, Tales from Catahoula Country, LaSalle Parish, La. Submitted by Jack Willis Date: 11 Oct 2004 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** TALES FROM CATAHOULA COUNTRY by: Jack M. Willis The first view of Catahoula Lake from high atop Indian Bluff in LaSalle Parish in Central Louisiana is breathtaking. This natural lake, sitting at the hub of a giant watershed near the town of Jena on the north and Alexandria on the south is the largest south of The Great Lakes. In size and beauty it is spectacular. A natural watershed is the primary supplier for the lake. The main drainage area encompasses a region of 2555 square miles, and embraces a corridor of almost 80 miles long and 35 miles wide. All or part of 14 parishes lie within its 50 mile radius. Louisiana is called the Sportsman's Paradise, and fishing and hunting on this lake is one reason why. The water level of the lake is a guessing game. It varies from zero (0), mean sea level, to thirty (30) mean sea level in a year's time, except in flood. The actual size of the lake ranges from 5,000 to 40,000 acres, changing with the "down" or summer season, and a season on "inundated" or wet season. In recent years, the opening of a manmade dam, the Diversion Canal spillway, allows the water to exit through an 18 mile overland channel. Little River, formed by the merger of Bayous Dugdemona and Castor, is the main inflow. Old River and French Fork are the two main outflows. These two rivers come together to form Little River. Little River then joins with Ouachita and Tensas Rivers at Jonesville, Louisiana to make up Black River. This is one of only two locations in the world where four rivers meet. These flow into the Red River, then on into the mighty Mississippi. Catahoula Lake had an important role in the lives of Indian tribes that lived in this area. Waterfowl, fish, deer, squirrels and other wildlife were abundant, thus feeding the tribes was easy. Arrowheads, bones, shards of pottery and tools from the archaeological digs around the area attest to an active community. Members of the Choctaw still live in this area. One of the interpretations of Catahoula Lake's name is "sacred waters." The "shaman" or medicine man offered prayers and sacrifices for the tribe during the spring and fall soltices at Indian Bluff overlooking the lake. The early settlers around 1790 recognized and acknowledged the value of the lake. During the "wet" season, boatmen with high platforms mounted on wide, flat-bottomed boats would pole among the cypress trees, pulling down the lush Spanish moss hanging from their branches. The moss was dried in the sun, compressed into bales, loaded on steamboats, then shipped to factories to become stuffing for bedding and other furniture. Moss was a good natural resource for a cash crop to support the settlers' need for commercial goods. Cows also liked the green moss enough to rear up on hind legs to feed on low-hanging branches. Another source of income was the logging of virgin pine and cypress timber. One business venture was headed by two local entrepreneurs who had contracted to furnish timber for lumber producers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. The loggers, nicknamed "flatheads," were commissioned to cut the trees, "skid" them to landings at the mouths of creeks or bayous that flowed into Little River or the lake. Here the steamboats would either load them or push the rafts of logs to a sawmill. These pine and cypress trees were almost solid heart with only two inches of outer bark. Cutting these wooden giants with a heavy, double-bit axe was a demanding task. Later, when the cross-cut saw was introduced to the south, logging production increased. The logs were made up into "cribs" of 12 to 18 logs each. These cribs were made into rafts, sometimes as much as a mile long. They were floated down the river to Baton Rouge or New Orleans during the high water level. A crew would be hired to ride and steer the raft to its destination. This required navigational skill along with at least 20 gallons of whiskey for the 10 man crew. A quantity of top soil would also be placed on the raft, and a garden started, so the men could grow vegetables on their trip south. Not only were logging and moss gathering a livelihood, so was waterfowl hunting. Men hunted to provide for the welfare of the family. They killed ducks by the wagonloads, both to eat and sell. The waterfowl were carried home and the entire family would get involved in plucking the feathers, which were later used for pillows and mattresses. The carcasses were hung in an airtight smoke house to drain, then packed into salt, loaded on steamboats and shipped off to "fancy" restaurants in New Orleans. Commercial fishing, was another form of making money in the community. Some fisherman caught as many as 1500 pounds of fish a day with one set of hoop nets. Fish such as German carp, buffalo, catfish and alligator gar are plentiful. The eggs of the spoonbill catfish were used for fine caviar, but this practice is now illegal. Although droughts, pothole drainage, industrial expansion, encroachment on hatch areas, and illegal hunting have caused waterfowl populations to dwindle, duck hunting is still a popular sport on the lake. Those still found in the largest numbers are the pintails, mallards, teal, gadwall and baldpate. The lesser groups consist of ringnecks, scaup, shoveler, canvasback and wood ducks. These beautiful birds congregate to feed on the chuffa tubers growing in the lake. The concentration of the waterfowl on the rice and bean fields and the lake numbers from 150,000 to 450,000 annually in the winter Catahoula Lake has world-wide fame and popularity amount the sporting public. An estimated seven thousand hunters utilize the lake each year, hunting from concealed permanent duck blinds, floating blinds, or some hiding in the brushy edges of the lake. The decoys around the blinds are unique. Some are made of milk jugs and bleach bottles, painted to resemble different ducks. Some hunters use as many as 600 decoy. After the end of waterfowling season, the floating blinds are stored, waiting to be "brushed" with green pine tops again next season. The lake's natural splendor and waterfowl concentrations have been a natural attraction and food source for everyone from the early Native Americans to the Anglo-Saxon, French, Spanish Scots-Irish immigrants down to today's modern, superbly equipped hunters and fishermen. Catahoula Lake is one of the finest bodies of water on the North American Continent and has been the lifeblood for people for untold centuries. It was understandable why the Choctaw Indians named this creation OKA-HULLO, "a place of great value." This miniature inland sea has been compared to the immenseness of the Grand Canyon and is, in its own way, just as awe-inspiring and life-giving.