Early Winn Parish, LA.; Winn, Louisiana Contributed by Greggory E. Davies 120 Ted Price Lane Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** This was originally published in Legacies & Legends" Vol 1, # 1 April 1997. Legacies & Legends is the quarterly publication of the Winn Parish Genealogical & Historical Association, Winnfield, LA. This was placed here with their knowledge and consent. In The Beginning............. Winn Parish was actually conceived prior to 1852 when surveyor Dennis Mackie convinced different groups of people in the outlying areas of Natchitoches, Catahoula, and Rapides Parishes that they lived too far f rom their respective courthouses and it would be beneficial to them to form their own parish. At that time, Natchitoches Parish stretched as far east as the Dugdemona River where it met Catahoula Parish on the east side of the river. The southern tip of what would become Winn Parish was northern Rapides Parish. The original proposed name for the new parish was, in fact, Dugdemona Parish, but Mackie and others saw fit to honor the man who pushed the legislation for the new parish, and the new parish was named in favor of Rapides legislator Walter Winn. Mackie, a successful civil engineer, gained from Winn's creation in that he was hired to survey the new parish. Much of his payment, if not all, was in the form of land. If anyone should be referred to as the "Father of Winn Parish", Dennis Mackie would be the man. Originally, a debate raged over the location of the seat of justice, or parish seat. It was argued that the more populated area of Montgomery should be the location of the courthouse, but others about the parish argued that the seat of justice should be located in their respective areas. Finally, a compromise was reached and the seat of justice was located near the geographic center, and the area was named Winnfield, probably by Mackie, who also surveyed the parish seat. Many have argued the seat of justice was named for General Winfield Scott, but there is no proof that can be found to substantiate this, and besides, "Winnfield" is not "Winfield". The first census of Winn Parish was taken in 1860. The census districts were Pine Ridge (essentially the northwest corner of the parish), St. Maurice (the southwest section along Red River), Montgomery (the south central area along Red River), Wheeling (the upper south-central and southeastern area), Winnfield (the central area), Kyiche (pronounced ki-eese, the area east and north of Winnfield near what is present day Gaars' Mill and New Hope) and Goodwater (essentially the northeast corner of the parish). Much should be considered when viewing any census, especially the first census of a newly created parish. First of all, the census-taker was a political appointee, not necessarily the most qualified. I believe that Mr. Wall, Winn's first census-taker, and Tax Assessor, was fairly competent, but no doubt he missed some folks and he had some problems with spelling, but don't we all. Secondly, boundaries and land lines were not well defined, which certainly led to some omissions. Thirdly, some folks might not have wanted to appear on a census, due to past legal problems. Further, blacks were included on the 1860 census, but it was on a special schedule which did not name them. Blacks were named on the 1870 Winn census, but due to the creation of Grant Parish, carved from Winn around 1868, many whites and blacks were omitted because of unclear boundary lines. "Gray" areas along the new Winn -Grant line were not properly canvassed, leaving many, many people off the census. The 1870 Winn Parish Census, and Grant Parish census for that matter, are prime examples of bad censuses. The main trading centers in infant Winn Parish were Montgomery and St. Maurice, both on Red River, and Louisville or Lewisville, now Gansville, on the Monroe-Natchitoches Military Road. This "highway" crossed northern Winn Parish, met and joined the Sparta Road, and eventually led to the Salt Works on Saline Bayou and on to St. Maurice. Winnfield, the parish seat of justice, was probably the smallest of the established villages in early Winn Parish. The population of Winnfield was barely over 100 in 1900. Descriptions of the parish seat found in the diary of a passing Confederate soldier stated that Winnfield was an ugly town with only about five ugly buildings. The soldier even described the parish jail as being ugly, and he offered his sympathies to the poor soul who had broken any law that would cause him to have to stay in such a lockup. A later description by a government surveyor in the late 1800s gives a similar description. Sadly, Winn Parish was poor from birth. Why else would Natchitoches, Catahoula, or Rapides Parishes be willing to sacrifice thousands of acres of land? In 1852, timber was not considered an asset. For the most part, the soil in Winn was considered poor, rock-scrabbled, red clay, with only the delta region along Red River holding what could be considered rich soil, and the carpetbaggers saw fit to take that part of the parish from us during the period they called "reconstruction", and, to top that, named it for their hero, U. S. Grant. The Salt Works, on Saline Bayou, just across from present day Goldonna in Natchitoches Parish, played an important role in early Winn Parish, as it had a hundred years or so prior when it was part of Natchitoches Parish. Natchitoches, proper, has long claimed to be the first permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase, or west of the Mississippi. Without going too far out on a limb, I agree with the late, great Winn historian Harley B. Bozeman, and longtime Montgomery Mayor Loyd Harrison, that the Salt Works, and Montgomery, earlier known as Buffalo Crossing, or Creola, both have legitimate claims as being older permanent settlements than Natchitoches. It is apparent that accounts of the Spanish explorer, Cabeza de Vaca, being at Louisville (or Lewisville, now Gansville) and the Salt Works around 1528, and those of Luis Moscoso, right hand man for Hernando DeSoto, being there around 1542, both trading with a settlement of Indians, have been discounted. Further, De Tonti, or "Old Iron Claw", was at the same place in 1690, trading with the Indians who apparently had a huge village and traded with hundreds of folks coming to the area. Maybe the fact that Indians occupied this permanent settlement in what is now Winn Parish does not qualify. And the fact that Bienville came to this area now known as Gansville, and founded a permanent settlement, must not qualify, either. It appears that we have failed, or our ancestors failed before us, to beat others to the draw in declaring the earliest permanent settlement west of the Mississippi. The discovery of timber's worth just after the turn of the century caused a major shift in Winn's population. The railroads came into the parish and around 1910, Winnfield was the booming metropolis of the parish. Hotels, rooming houses, and businesses shot up in the business district and folks began moving to Winnfield. River traffic slowed, and Montgomery, St. Maurice, and finally the other once larger towns in Winn began to shrink in population. Dodson, formerly known as Reeks Deadening, was much bigger than Winnfield in the early 1900s until the two major sawmills pulled up stakes and left. At one point in time, there was such a heated debate over moving Winn's courthouse to Dodson that the editors of the Winnfield and Dodson newspapers challenged each other to a duel, armed themselves, and met at the Dugdemona River to uphold their honor. Cooler heads intervened and prevented a killing. It appears we have had many controversies related to politics in our 145 year history. No doubt there will be more. by Greggory E. Davies 1997