Historic Places: Carter's Crossing, Winn Parish, LA Submitted by Peggy Chandler Beaubouef, 2656 Hwy 1232, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** SOURCE: "the sassafras", Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 1979, published by the Calvin Folklore Society. (Permission to use granted submitter by Linda Dupree, sponsor.) [NOTE: The Calvin Folklore Society was a student organization of Calvin High School dedicated to the preservation of oral traditions -- the local folklore of the area. Articles in "the sassafras" were written by the students after research and interviews with older citizens of the area. Faculty sponsors were Linda Dupree and Steve Bartlett.] CARTER'S CROSSING [no author given] Much of the folklore that we collect is pleasant, nostalgic, and easy to preserve; but, sometimes the folklore is not very pleasant and, to say the least, hard to preserve in its truthful sense due to the nature of the lore and the passage of time. As we interview various people about an item of folklore, we receive varying bits of information. Our task of assimilating the bits and pieces becomes very laborious, time consuming, and sometimes discouraging because of insufficient information to complete a story. Additionally, the passage of time always seems to change an individual's attitude about events in history, thus much of the folklore we record is the account of the aged and sometimes biased memory of an informant. Nevertheless, we are compelled to continue to search and find those informants who possess precious memories of the traditions that have carved the history of our area from the immense timbers of time. One item of folklore of which we have recorded varying accounts is the history of a stretch on Dugdemona Creek about four miles northwest of Calvin that is called Carter's Crossing. Several times we have asked, "How did Carter's Crossing get its name?" We have received answers like, "Well, I'll tell ya, it's a bad story and let's let by-gones be by-gones"; "listen, that story involves too many kinfolks around here, just better not discuss it"; and, "I just don't know if I will be able to get the story right, I'd rather not tell ya; go ask _______ ." As we listened to the local people decline to tell us how Carter's Crossing got its name, we became more and more interested. So we asked more and more people, and finally from a few elderly people in the community we received enough information to compile the following story. We believe that this story is the most accurate and complete account ever recorded of how a natural cypress-laden stretch on Dugdemona Creek came to be called Carter's Crossing. About a century ago, there was a ruthless clan of outlaws well known to probably every person in Central Louisiana. This clan was none other than the West-Kimbrell Clan, sometimes called the "Nightriders", whose leaders were John West and Laws Kimbrell, residents of the Atlanta area. The clan's headquarters was just off the Natchez Trace or Harrisonburg Road, as some people call it, south of Wheeling, Louisiana. This group of outlaws consisted of many members; yet, almost all the outlaw deeds were done under the cover of darkness and never was a witness allowed to live to tell of the clan's deeds. The clan persuaded various people of the area to join in its evil doings and once a person was asked to join the clan, he either joined or was murdered to prevent exposing the groups of outlaws. Many travelers on the old Harrisonburg Road were robbed and killed. Therefore, much fear was generated in the minds of travelers, but the travelers were not the only ones frightened - all citizens of Central Louisiana feared for their lives when the "nightriders" were mentioned. Around the year 1870, a member of the clan whose name has faded into the dark corridors of forgotten history rode up to Jim Carter's house which was located in what is now Ward 4 about a mile or so north of Dugdemona Creek. Jim Carter was a hard-working farmer whose brother, Calvin Carter, has the honor of having the town of Calvin named after him. The young man who rode up to Jim Carter's house was not only a clan member, but was a cousin of Carter. Carter probably didn't know his cousin was a member of the "nightriders" group, and trusting his cousin, Jim Carter responded to his request to go to Cedar Bluff and play his fiddle or guitar for a dance. It was late in the afternoon when Carter and his cousin arrived at a large double pen house on Cedar Bluff. They tied their horses to a picket fence that encircled the house. Carter thought it strange that no noise was coming from the dance. Nevertheless, he entered a large room in the house, and three stern, rough-looking men shut the door behind him. Carter knew that he had been tricked or at least been mislead in being brought to the house. It wasn't long before he was told by the men that they were clansmen and he would be required to join the West-Kimbrell Clan because his services were needed. They informed Carter that his job would be to kill the babies and kids of the travelers and then dispose of the bodies. Carter knew of the clan's policies to murder those who refused to join; therefore, he acted like he was happy to be invited to join the group. While Jim Carter listened to the instructions being given to him by the leader, he planned a way of escape. Under the cover of darkness, Jim Carter made his escape from the house on Cedar Bluff, knowing that he would be chased and have to fight for his life because he had refused to involve himself with the notorious West-Kimbrell Clan. He rode his horse hard from Cedar Bluff fearing for his life every mile of the way home. The moon was bright as Carter rode the trail weaving off the trail every few miles to mislead the clan that he knew was following him. When Carter got to the ford on Dugdemona Creek near his home, his hot and tired horse wanted to drink the clear, swift-running water, but Jim Carter pushed his horse on across the creek to his home. Upon arriving at his home, Carter got his gun (probably an old cap and ball pistol) and started back toward his pursuers. When he got to the ford on the creek, Carter heard a horse coming at a gallop disturbing the quietness of the night. The light from a brightly shining moon revealed a rider - it was his cousin who had tricked him into going to Cedar Bluff earlier that evening. Jim Carter knew the nature of his cousin's mission - to kill him and prevent the possible exposure of the clan. When the cousin got to the creek, his horse looked white due to sweat and lather from the hard journey. The horse resisted its rider's urging by stopping to drink. As the horse drank with the cousin still in the saddle, Jim Carter squeezed the trigger of his gun and the bullet found its mark. His cousin fell from the horse. Three large cypress trees were drenched with the water splashed on them by the falling clan member. The clear, moving Dugdemona water carried away the blood of a clansman and once again silence at the Crossing prevailed. No one really knows for sure what happened to Jim Carter after the killing. Some say he went straight to the sheriff and told him of his encounters with the clan; as a result the clan was partially destroyed. Others say that Him Carter left the area for fear of his life. Some say he joined the U.S. Army, and there are those who believe he went to New Orleans. Probably no one will ever know the exact truth about Jim Carter; but one thing is for sure, there is a ford on Dugdemona Creek that will forever be a reminder to the people of our that Jim Carter, the West-Kimbrell Clan, a cousin, and a killing brought into being a name for this stretch on Dugdemona and forever it will be called Carter's Crossing. The Calvin Folklore Society would like to express appreciation to the following people who have made the preservation effort possible. Without their memories and their willingness to share, the account of Carter's Crossing would have become permanent in the forgotten pages of our area's history. Our informants were Mr. Odie Griffin, the grandson of Jim Carter who remembers being told the story by his grandpa; Mrs. Candis Lambright, elderly resident of the community who heard the story from the son of Jim Carter's sister; Mr. Eddie Howard, 86 year old resident of Winnfield who heard the story when he was a boy; Mr. Ellis Griffin, grandson of Jim Carter; Mr. C.S. Blake; Mr. Hubbard Garrett; Mr. Douglas Garrett; and many other people who gave supporting information.