I'm not an expert on free blacks in 18th-century Louisiana, but I do know that under Spanish rule, which began in the 1760s, slaves were given the right to own property under the law of "coartacion." Slaves were allowed to get a fair price for the property they sold. They could use their free time to sell produce in the markets, or hire themselves out as laborers, nurses, craftsmen or artisans. As a result, slaves under Spanish rule, could purchase their own freedom, and could petition the courts for freedom. Therefore, the if the legal status of an individual could change, then a slave could become a freeman, and could then become a slave-owner. This was common. According to an article appearing in the Encyclopedia of Louisiana, by the end of the Spanish period (1803), there were 1,490 free blacks in New Orleans alone that had purchased their own freedom. So, I don't question the statement that there were free blacks trading in the Avoyelles area in the 18th century. I don't know who wrote this, and I don't know what evidence he has, but I don't know anything to make me doubt it. What evidence do you have?