| 8,000 BC |
San Patrice Native American Culture. | ||||
| 1690 |
Henri de Tonti mentions the Natchitoches Indians in his travels. | ||||
| 1699 |
Natchitoches Indians mentioned by Delisle who travels with Bienville and Iberville. | ||||
| 1711 January 17 |
Father Hidalgo in Texas writes three letters to governor
Antoine
de la Mothe Cadillac of the Louisiana colony in Mobile. Only one letter
arrives. It says that the Spansh government would not support his mission
and invited the French to trade there. In response Louis Juchereau de St. Denis later leads a party of two dozen Frenchmen and as many Indians to establish an outpost. A ship's carpenter, Andre Penicaut, kept a journal of the trip. The Frenchmen gave the natives hatchets which were used to cut down trees to build two buildings for the Europeans: a storehouse for merchants and a larger shelter for the pioneers. |
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| 1712-15 |
Louis Juchereau de St. Denis travels to Presidio del Norte (and Mexico City). | ||||
| 1718 |
Lt. Blondel, who will die in command, takes over as Commandant at Natchitoches from Mr. du Tisnet. | ||||
| 1719 June |
An order arrives to Commandant Philippe Blondel at Natchitoches to attack the Spanish post at Los Adaes. His seven men found the forces at Los Adaes easy: an aging soldier, a lay priest and a flock of seven Spanish chickens. | ||||
| 1720-22 March 20 |
Renault d'Hauterive becomes commandant at Natchitoches as Louis Juchereau de St. Denis receives appointment as commandant sur le Haute de la Riviere aux Cannes (of the upper Cane river) from the directors of the India Company of the Indies, confirmed by Bienville as commandant of the Upper Cane River the next year. L. Reclos Lt. at Natchitoches; Maillard 2nd Lt; Martez Dupuy, Ensign. | ||||
| 1722 June |
Map of the Natchitoches area by J. F Broutin shows the log jam near Bayou Amulet. Original at Cammie Henry Research Center. Census of May 1722 includes Louis Juchereau de St. Denis; Redot, Lt; Dupuy, ensign; Claussen, Lt; German servant; Derbanne, storekeeper; Jallot; Pierre Cotolleau; Pierre Fausse; Ives Leon; Fracois Berry; Francois Lemoine; EstienneLe Roy; Pierre Dubois; Marianne Benoist, soldiers wife; Louis Francoise Gillot,same; Jeanne Longueville,same; Pierre Dupuy, called Goupillon; Jeanne Grenot, soldiers wife; Marie Catherin de Poutre,same;Martine Bonnet,same; Antoinette Audebrande,same; Pierre Marionneau; wdow of late Pierrier, Sr. de Champignole, sergeant. |
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| 1723 October |
First recorded baptism in Natchitoches. | ||||
| 1732 October |
Duplessis mentioned as storekeeper and notary at Natchitoches. | ||||
| 1733 |
Athanase De Mezieres arrives in Louisiana, but his arrival at Natchitoches is not recorded. | ||||
| 1734 October |
Yantsen, Bouquet, de la Chaise, delegate of government; Robert; Dauphine, Mrs. St. Agnes; the drummer; Father Vitrt; Chagneau; Montreuil; Cusson; Dupin; Nantait; Clerk of Court; Jolybois; Mrs Rondain; Sr. Bacquee; Jacques de Bois, blacksmith at Natchitoches. | ||||
| 1735 |
First church built in Natchitoches. | ||||
| 1742 |
Marie Therese Coincoin is born a slave of Louis Juchereau de St. Denis. She later marries Thomas Pierre Metoyer who sets Marie and her childern free and gives them land that becomes Melrose Plantation. | ||||
| 1744 |
Louis Juchereau de St. Denis dies. | ||||
| 1746 April 18 |
De Mezieres marries Marie Petronille Feliciane Juchereau de St. Denis, daughter of the post's founder. From 1746 to 1763 Cesar de Blanc is commandant at Natchitoches. |
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| 1758 |
Madame St. Denis dies. Coincoin now belongs to daughter Marie St. Denis de Soto. | ||||
| 1763 September 15 |
De Mezieres is discharged from the French Army. At this time he is lieutenant-commander of the post. | ||||
| 1767 |
The Commandant of Natchitoches is Coulon de Villiers. | ||||
| 1768 |
Twins are born to Marie Thereze Coincoin and Frenchman Claude Thomas Piere Metoyer who leased Coincoin from Madame Desoto. A priest, father Quintanilla forces Coincoin and Metoyer to separate, but Metoyer eventually purchases the slave and some of her children, of which they had ten. Later Metoyer married another Creole, after setting Coincoin free and giving her land. | ||||
| 1769 |
During the Spanish period a Frenchman, Athanase de Mezieres, was made the commandant at the Spanish garrison because the native Indians did not trust or want to trade with the Spanish. As commandant of Natchitoches he becomes a skilled diplomat with the Indians and the outpost prospered. |
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| 1771 |
Second church built in Natchitoches. | ||||
| 1775 |
A census in 1775 counts 113 homes with 105 heads of family, 86 women, 100 young girls and 84 batchelors, 1,258 head of horses, 1842 head of cattle, over 300 sheep and goats and 782 hogs. | ||||
| 1779 |
From 1779 to 1781 Don Esteban de Vaugine is Commandant at Natchitoches. | ||||
| 1780s |
More recently the Caddo Nation or Confederacy was a group of tribes centered around a capital village near preasent day Texarkana, Texas. The Louisiana Caddo speaking tribes were the Adaes, Doustioni, Natchitoches, Ouachita and Yatasi. These groups were concentrated around Natchitoches, Mansfield, Monroe and Robeline. Their aborignal territory stretched from the Ouachita River west to the Sabine River and South to the mouth of the Cane River. A village of the Natchitoches Tribe once stretched from the present location of the National Fish Hatchery down the river to Beau Fort Plantation, a fever epidemic in the mid-1780s virtually elimnated the Natchitoches tribe. Nacogdoches (a near-by city in Texas) means atop of or above. Natchitoches means place of the paw-paw or paw-paw eater. |
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| 1786 February |
Don Pedro Rougeau (Rousseau) becomes commandant at Natchitoches. | ||||
| 1786 |
At this time Coincoin begins to cultivate tobacco on her land. She prospers, buys all of her children out of slavery and purchases more land. This land south of Natchitoches known as Isle Brevelle becomes the plantation of free people of color. | ||||
| 1792 November |
Don Luis Carlos de Blanc son of Cesar de Blanc will be Commandant until March 1795. | ||||
| 1796 |
Yucca House is built at Melrose Plantation. |
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| 1800 |
The African House is built at Melrose Plantation. |
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| 1804 April 10 |
The stars and stripes flies over Ft. St. Jean Baptiste for the first time. |
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| 1805 April 10 |
The Territory of Orleans is divided into 12 counties. | ||||
| 1805 | Around 1805 Dr. John Sibley is appointed an Indian agent in northwest Orleans Territory. He kept meticulous records of trade with native cultures but the Natchitoches are not mentioned. | ||||
| 1806 February |
On the brink of war over the western border of Louisiana
leaders of local army units commanded by General James
Wilkinson iron out a compromise creating the Neutral Ground between
the Rio Hondo and the Sabine River. This "Free State of Sabine" becomes
a haven for murderous bandits such as John Murrel. The upper Red River is explored by Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis. |
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| 1809 May |
Indian trader Anthony Glass relates a story to Dr. John Sibley about a large mass of metal. Two groups rushed to the huge shiney rock near Denison Texas and returned it with much effort to Natchitoches. | ||||
| 1810 June 4 |
The huge, shiney rock is shipped to New York and deemed nothing more than iron. Today the meteorite is housed in the Peabody Museum at Yale University. | ||||
| 1816 |
Coincoin dies but her children own nearly 12,000 acres of land, as well as almost one hundred slaves and were known as local aristrocrats whose slave origins had been forgotten. . | ||||
| 1822 |
A fire starting in the church in Natchitoches burns down 65 other buildings. | ||||
| 1828 |
The state legislature creates Claiborne Parish from part of Natchitoches County. The first parish seat is the home of John Murrell, but is soon moved to the site of Russellville, near present-day Athens until 1836. | ||||
| 1830s |
Captain Henry Miller Shreve, having cleared a log jam on the Ohio River was contracted to use his snag-boats to clear the Red River Progress was slow until dynamite was introduced to the project. | ||||
| 1833 |
The Big House is built at Melrose Plantation. |
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| 1835 |
The Caddo Indians agree to sell the U. S. Government around 1 million acres for $80,000 adding to the area of Natchitoches County. The tribe is relocated with the Choctaw in Texas. In 1859 the Caddo flee hostility in Texas and settle in Oklahoma. Some Caddo leave the area during the civil War. In 1901 the U S. Government dissolves the reservation. In 1963 more than 60,000 acres of land were restored to the private ownership of the Caddo. In 1991 there were about 900 tribal members on or near the reservation. |
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| 1838 January |
Caddo
Parish is created from Natchitoches County by an act of the state legislature.
It is named after the Caddo Indians who had established themselves in the
Red River Valley long before Europeans explored the region. The house of
Thomas Wallace located on the south shore of Wallace Lake, is designated
the first seat of justice or courthouse.. |
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| 1838 March 17 |
Another fire burns down the new church and many other buildings in Natchitoches. |
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| 1840 |
The course of the Red River changes after Shreve frees the river. Natchitoches becomes landlocked.. |
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| 1843 April 1 |
Desoto
Parish is created by the legislature from land that is first part of
Natchitoches County, then Natchitoches Parish. In June the first police jury meets at Screamerville, settled by English speaking settlers and located about two miles west of present-day Grand Cane. the French settlers who had been in the area much longer wanted the parish seat in Old Augusta, a steamboat landing on Bayou Pierre. In August a courthouse of log construction is built halfway between the two communities. At this site Company K of the Louisiana Infantry was organized and sent off to the Mexican War. |
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| 1843 |
Bossier
Parish is created by an act of the state legislature from Natchitoches
County. The parish seat is in Fredonia, but before the end of the year the
town's name is changed to Society Hill, then to Bellevue. The parish is named after Pierre Evariste Bossier, a member of Congress who is a descendant of an early settler of Natchitoches. |
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| 1848 March 14 |
Bienville Parish is created by an act of the state legislature which divides Claiborne Parish. It is named in honor of Jean Baptiste LeMoyne, Sieur de Bienville, founder of New Orleans and the first French Governor of Louisiana. | ||||
| 1851 |
Winn
Parish is officially created by the state legislature in 1851 from lands
originally belonging to the bordering parishes of Rapides,
Natchitoches and Catahoula.
Official organization was completed in 1852. |
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| 1861 |
For a few weeks debate filled Louisiana whether to join the new confederacy or align a new nation with France. | ||||
| 1864 |
The Red River Campaign brings the Civil War to the area. The union forces are lead by General Nathaniel Banks, a politically appointed officer of dubious credentials. During the Civil War Coincoin's children were blocked from serving the Confederacy, so they formed militia groups that protected the area from renegade soldiers. Union troops could not believe that black people owned the magnificent plantations so they destroyed several. The years of reconstruction actually ruined the others. Source: Mills, The Forgotten People. |
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| 1864 March 31 |
Federal troops enter Natchitoches where they seize the newspaper. The Legend of the Nankeen shirt tells of a confederate trick to tell confederate General Richard Taylor which route the Union would take to Shreveport. A young man was sent on an errand to Sabine Parish if the shirt he wore had a braid on the front the Union forces would travel the east bank of the Red River, if the shirt was plain they would march through Mansfield on the West bank. The boy never knew the important role he played in the campaign. The Union was pushed back after battles at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. General Banks and his father-in-law were said to have benefited from cotton confiscated at the plantations along the route. |
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| 1869 |
In 1869 Winn Parish
gives up part of its original area for the formation of a new southern neighbor,
Grant Parish. Winnfield, the parish seat since its organization is located
in the geographical center of the parish. Part of Grant Parish which is formed this year was in Natchitoches County. 1871 |
March 2 Red
River ParishRed River Parish
is created by the legislature from other parishes in the area. The parish
seat is at Coushatta Chute on the east bank of the river. Most of the town's
citizens had moved the year before from Springville, on higher ground last
year. Like other parishes created during the Reconstruction era Red River
was created to give more offices, and power, to the carpetbag rulers. |
1871 |
Webster
Parish is created by an act of the Louisiana state legislature from
parts of Bossier,
Claiborne
and Bienville
parishes. Like most parishes created during the Reconstruction era, Webster
Parish was designed to create more offices for the carpetbagger government. |
|
| 1892 |
St. Mary's Academy chartered . |
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| 1915 October 28 |
The Natchitoches Police Jury passes a bond issue to build two bridges" (dikes) over the Cane River. this was opposed by land owners in the area. |
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| 1916 April |
The new Cane River Lake is threatened but a vote to cut the dams fails. Natchitoches Chamber of Commerce founded. |
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| 1920s |
A scandal develops involving the sheriff's department and the legendary treasure of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a group of Democrats, both north and south who raided factories and ships in the north and stashed the booty in the area of Natchitoches. Some small caches have been found which leads the sheriff to use prisoners to dig for the hidden treasure on private lands. |
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| 1930 |
Clementine Hunter begins painting at Melrose Plantation. |
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| 1950s |
Celebraties with camps on Black Lake included Johnny Cash and Johnny Horton and Frankie Laine whose camp was featured on the fishing show the Gadabout Gaddis Show. |
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| 1958 |
The cast of The Horse Soldiers including John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers use Oaklawn Plantation as a location. In the true story Col. Benjamin Grierson and his troops left Tennessee and cross confederate Mississippi to sabotage a railroad depot that supplied the besieged town of Vicksburg. Butterfly McQueen also stars. |
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| 1988 |
Cast of Steel Magnolias (Shirley McLaine, Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Darrell Hannah, Julia Roberts, Olympia Dukacas and Tom Skerrit use several locations in Natchitoches to make the film. 1990s The Man in the Moon written by local Jenny Wingfield, starring Sam Waterston, Tess Harper, Reese Witherspoon and Emily Warfield, Jason London. |
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