Red River Parish Memoir; Red River Parish, La.
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"Biographical And Historical Memoirs of Louisiana", Vol. II
The Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1892

Red River parish was named in 1871, when the boundaries of this modern
parish were established. Of its 386 square miles, 165 are Red river bottom
lands and 221 oak uplands. The uplands form the divide between the Grand 
bayou of Block lake and Red river. There the river flows through a narrow 
channel cut through solid blue or red clays to a depth of forty feet. The 
parish is rich in valuable timber, and its soil, both alluvial and upland, 
is unsurpassed for fertility.

The population is 11,318. In May, 1871, the first police jury organized, 
with M.H. Twitchell as president. The first session of the district court
was held at Coushatta, September 4, 1871, Judge L.B. Watkins presiding. The
parish court was opened May 29, 1871, by A.O.P. Pickens; its last record was
closed March 31, 1880, by Judge A. Ben Broughton. The court of appeals for 
the first circuit was opened here in May, 1880, by Judges Moncure and George.

Coushatta, the seat of justice, was incorporated in 1872, and has a population 
of nearly 600.

The location was formerly known as Coushatta Chute. Coushatta Points, near by,
was the site of Jones' store and warehouse, destroyed in April, 1864, by
Banks' raiders. The Coushatta Male and Female academy was chartered in
September, 1880.

There are about thirty business houses in the town. The oil mill of the
Armisteads, on the opposite bank of the Red river, gives promise of becoming 
a leading manufacturing industry of the parish. Springville once flourished 
and was an academy site. Lac Dismure is an old settlement. Throughout the 
parish are saline and fresh water springs. Game is found quite plentifully.

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Copyright. All rights reserved.
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This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by
Sherry Sanford - SSanf51819@aol.com - Sep, 1998
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