St. Mary Parish was included in the colonial region identified as the Attakapas. The Attakapas were Native Americans who
once lived in the region and known for being fierce warriors who cannibalized their enemies. Other Native American tribes
told the French stories of the 'man-eaters', the Choctaw word for which is "Attakapas."

The western parts of Louisiana during the colonial period were divided between the Opelousas Post and the Attakapas Post,
the Attakapas Post being the region closer to the Gulf Coast. When the Spanish took over Louisiana from France, their
primary interest in the colony (aside from control of the Mississippi River) was its use as a buffer zone between the
British North American colonies and the jewel in the Spanish crown: Mexico. One way of fortifying the buffer zone - perhaps
the simplest way - was through population. The Spanish actively encouraged colonization of the Louisiana frontier and
provided incentive to settlers willing to do so.

The region remained thinly populated until the mid-1760s, when the British expelled the Acadians en masse. The first
Acadians numbered about twenty, but sent word out encouraging others to come to Louisiana, where the Spanish were offering
land grants and supplies for settlement not to mention Spain was Catholic. The region continued to grow around the town of
St. Martinville, considered the region center during that time.

The United States purchase of Louisiana from France in 1803 included Attakapas as a "county" when the area was surveyed in
1805. Attakapas County included all or part of what are now St. Martin, St. Mary, Iberia, Lafayette, Vermilion, St. Landry
and Cameron parishes. Six years later, a territorial act divided Attakapas into two separate parishes: the northern part
became St. Martin and the southern part, St. Mary.

Founded in 1808 as "Carlin's Settlement" and renamed in honor of Benjamin Franklin, the town of Franklin became the parish
seat in 1811 and continues as such today. The town of less than 10,000 celebrated its bicentennial this year. (to be
continued...)