Rapides Parish Boundary Changes; Rapides, Louisiana
Date of item: 1808-1847
Submitter: LA GenWeb Archives Project
Source: This information is taken from County-Parish Boundaries
In Louisiana , Prepared by The Historical Records Survey Division
of Professional and Service Projects, Work Projects Administration;
1939.
Date: reformatted to text file, 7 Jun 2004, Jo Branch

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Page 2  Rapides Parish Boundaries
58.  Or. Terr. A., 1808, 1st session of 2nd Legislature, Chap.
IX, p. 30.   Approved March 23, 1808.
Erecting the Catahula into a distinct Parish, . . .  That all that
part of the County of Rapides, known by the name of the Catahula
settlement, is hereby divided into a separate and distinct parish,
. . .  all that part of the said County of Rapides included within
the following bounds, to wit:  beginning at the mouth of the Bayou
Tensaw, thence up the said bayou to the Tensaw Lake, thence through
the said lake, running northwest until it strikes the River Aux Boeufs,
so as to include all that settlement known by the name of Sicily,
thence down the said River Aux Boeufs to its junction with the Ouachita
River, thence up the said Ouachita River to the Bayou Dain, a line
running from thence west until it strikes the south fork of Catahula
or Little river, thence down said river to its junction with the Oachita
and Bayou Tensaw, and place of beginning, shall be one distinct parish,
and called and known by the name of Catahula Parish.
59.  Or. Terr. A., 1809, 2nd session 2nd Legislature, Chap. XVI, p.
40.   Approved March 16, 1809.
Altering the lines separating the County of Natchitoches from the
County of Rapides.
Sec. 1 . . . . That the line dividing the County and Parish of
Natchitoches from the County and Parish of Rapides shall intersect
the Red River at the confluence of the Rigolet de Bon Dieu, and shall
run thence on the west in a direct line to the nearest corner of the
County of Opelousas, and on the east side to the nearest corner of the
County of Ouachittas, so as to include in the County and Parish of
Rapides all the settlements below the Rigolet de Bon Dieu on the
Red River.
72.  La. A., 1812, 1st session of the 1st Legislature, Chap. XII,
p. 48.   Approved September 5, 1812.
For the better defining the Limits of the County of Natchitoches
 . . . That the County of Natchitoches shall be, and is hereby bounded
as follows, viz:  On the north by the 33d degree of Latidude,  on the
south by the County of Rapides, on the east by the County of Washita,
and on the west by the River Sabine and the line running north from
the 32d degree of latitude on said River Sabine until it intersects
the northermost part of the 33d degree of latitude, and the Governor
is hereby authorized and required to commission two persons to act as 
justices of the peace in and for the settlements of Bayou Pierre.
79.  La. A., 1816, 2nd session of 2nd Legislature, p. 18.  Approved
February 29, 1816.  Establishing the limits between the County of
Oppelousas and the County of Rapides.
To commence above the mouth of the Elm Bayou on the Bayou Crocodile,
so as to include the settlements on each side of the said Elm Bayou;
thence by a straight line to the upper end of the riffle on Bayou
Boeuf; thence across the same to the head of Huffpowers Bayou, so as
to include the settlements on each side of said bayou.
120. La. A., 1840, 2nd session 14th Legislature, #72, p. 72.  Approved
March 24, 1840.
To create a new Parish to be called the Parish of Calcasieu.
Sec.1. . . . all that Territory in the Parish of St. Landry within
the following boundaries, to wit: commencing at the mouth of the
River Mermentou, thence up said River to the mouth of the Bayou Nez
pique, thence up said Bayou to the Mouth of Beaver Creek, thence due
north to the dividing lines between the Parishes of St. Landry and
Rapides, thence along said line to the Sabine River, thence down the
Sabine River to its mouth, thence along the sea Coast to the place of 
beginning, shall form and constitute a new Parish to be called the
Parish of Calcasieu.

139.  La. A., 1846, 1st session of 1st Legislature, #61, p. 42.
Approved May 12, 1846.
Changing and fixing definitely the boundary line between Natchitoches
and Rapides.
That the Boundary line between the Parishes of Natchitoches and Rapides,
on the north bank of the Red River, shall commence at the mouth of
Rigolet Bon Dieu, and pursue the present line till it strikes the Salt
Lake; thence along the eastern Bank of said lake to the mouth of Bayou
Salt; thence along said bayou to the township line, between range two
and three, North, to pursue said line to the Dudgemona; all included in
range two, to be embraced within the limits of the Parish of Rapides,
and all in range three to be in Natchitoches.
145.  La. A., 1847, 2nd session of 1st Legislature, #131, p. 96.
Approved April 15, 1847.
Explanatory of an act changing and fixing definitely the boundary
line between Natchitoches and Rapides, approved the twelfth of May,
eight hundred and forty-six.
Whereas a mistake has been made in the enrollment of an act entitled,
"An act changing and fixing definitely the boundary line between
Natchitoches and Rapides," approved the twelfth of May, eighteen hundred
and forty-six, therefore: . . . whenever the words Salt Lake and Bayou
Salt, occurs in said act, they shall be construed and intended to mean
the Jatt Lake and the Bayou Jatt, anything in the said act to the
contrary notwithstanding.