News, Routon and Pine Grove, Grass Roots and Cockle Burrs, LaSalle Parish, La. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Submitted by: Pat Ezell From the Jena Times - Olla Tullos Signal, Jena, LA Thank You to the Times -Signal for allowing the following to be added to the Archives. Grass Roots and Cockle Burrs by Jack Willis Routon and Pine Grove Communities When settlers, on the way west, reached Manifest they had several choices as to which trail to follow to the Hemphill community which would eventually become Jena. They could travel on towards "Three Notch" at Whitehall, or they could cross Green's Creek and follow what would become the Blade Loop. There was no one trail westward across what would become La Salle Parish, but rather a network of trails. The primary trail was to become the Routon Road or the "Old Harrisonburg Road". One has to remember that at one time Harrisonburg and Natchitoches were vying for the title of oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase. Needless to say, Natchitoches won. It no longer exists today, but the W. A. Mosely home near the Pine Grove Community was of tremendous historical interests. At one time the house was a veritable museum housing such items as letters of the Breithaupts written from relatives in Milah, Germany in their native German language. There was a family Bible with dates of significant events dating back over 150 years according to Mr. Eli Plummer, revered historian. There were also some $1000 dollar bills of Confederate money and legal documents dating back to the 1830s. Pine Grove Church is one of the oldest in the two Parishes, and the original church building was built by a Mr. Lacy in the 1880s. It was a two-story structure, the upper room was a meeting place for the local farmer's grange. This building was replaced by a one-story frame affair in the 1890s. This church is still very much in evidence today. All of these Colonial Trails converge near the Hemphill, or later Jena communities. Reverend John Nolly was probably following the trail to Hemphill when he attempted to ford Hair's Creek in the dead of winter and ended up frozen to death near the west bank of the creek. The Harrisonburg Road intersected the Gelvin's Creek-Natchitoches Road in Old Jena near the old Wade homestead. It then proceeded westward towards Eden and White Sulphur Springs and on to Bayou des Post Rapides or towards Natchitoches. One local historian said of the Jena community, that there were so many roads leading in and out of Jena that one could go any where in the world from the multiple crossroads. When leaving Manifest with Westward Ho! as a destination, along the Natchitoches-Harrisonburg road, it was necessary to pass through the Green's Creek community, later known as the Routon community. According to Miss Mattie Prichard's account, the Routon community began in the 1830s and the Post Office was known as Green's Creek. The first postmaster was Moses Collins, originally from his native Scotland, who later married Betsy Stockman from Sicily Island. Mrs. Pritchard's grandmother, Mrs. Martha Collins resided on the west side of the creek. She oft remarked that the wagon road was originally a trail used by Native Americans. She was the youngest of eight children being born in 1843 and passed away in 1933. She had a brother which fought in the Civil Was, and never returned, leaving no heirs. Green's creek was named for an early settler and a smaller stream nearby was named for her great-grandfather Collins. Moses Collins was instrumental in erecting the first Oak Grove Church near where the Oak Grove Cemetery is today located. The church building also doubled as a school where classes up to the eighth grade were taught prior to the Civil War. After the Civil War, the U.S. Postal Service was changing the names of all post office name which incorporated the name of a creek, stream or bayou in their name. The citizenry met to select a new name and a visiting Baptist minister by the name of Rev. Tolly Routon said "Just name it after me!" And they did. The road took on a new name of the Natchez-Alexandria road. One could follow another trail southward to "Three Notch" and on to Alexandria. John M. Pritchard assumed the office of post master shortly after the name change, and remained in that capacity for over 30 years. West of the Routon community was founded the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church by a Reverend Blackman. It was of log construction and also utilized as a school house. The first teacher was Tom Pritchard, who also served in the Civil War. He was severely wounded and sent to a hospital in New Orleans to recover. He never got well enough to return to duty, but helped care for the sick and wounded in the hospital until the war's end. Early settlers in these communities were named Green, Pritchard, Landrum, Williams, Hunt, Jones, Pentecost, Hodges, Womack, McMillian, Dawson and Young. Later settlers names were Smith, Crews, Crooms, Strickland, Hanes, Neal, Renfrow, Ewing and Maples. This concludes the history of a portion of the network of trails which once interlaced this area. Words are inadequate to illustrate the hardships and deprivations suffered by these early, hardy pioneers and the thanks they deserve.