Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1853-06-11
REPORT
of the Levee Road Committee.

Jury Of the Parish u IherraIe:
At a Public Meeting of the citizens Of this Pa
IRISH. held at the Court House on the It'll day Of
MAY, 1853, to take into consideration the proprie-
tv of constructing a Leree Road from the Indian
Village to a point on Bayou Crosse Tete where
the usual overflow reaches during ordinary high
water, the undersigned were appointed a commit
tee TO present to your honorable body the enclosed
proceedings, and to make a statement OF such fact.
relative to said Road as might come within their
knowledge.
In consequence of the annual rise Of the Missis-
sippi River, the water flowing from thence through
bayou Plaquemine overiows the land opposite
Indian Village, and along the west side Of Crosse
Tete Bay, and the bayou Crosse Tete a short dis
lance above its mouth. This overflow continues
about six months in the year. The Crosse Tete
Road runs along this route, consequently for this
length of time. annually. our citizens on Crosse
Tete cannot attend the seat of Justice, except by
water and at a great expense and difficulty, to say
nothing of the Inconvenience of procuring necessa.
ry supplies, continually required for themselves
and for their plantations. -s5-.s
None can deny the vast advantages to be derived
from a road a~ffording travel the year round to this
rich and prosperous portion of our parish. It
would benefit not only the people of Crosse Tete
themselves, but add materially to he revenue and
wealth of the whole parish.
The proposed Levee Road over the submerged
district, would be necessarily extended, at least
four miles from the Indian Village. averaging two
and a half feet high, 80 feet base-aI the origina!
outlets to be opened and bridged. 1t is computed
that the amount req uired to make this work will
be ten thousand dollars.
There are many reasons why the parish should
build this road. In the opinion of the committee the
making of good roads from various points of the
p prosperous settlements Of the parish, to its seat of
Justice is a ctiet and legitimate duty Of the paro-
chial authorities. particularly when the treasury
has not the incubus of debt weighing upon it
Your committee would here remark, by way of
exhibiting the condition OF the finances OF the pa
| rish. that the following is an extract Of the official
report of the Parish Treasurer, A. Grass, on the
1lthsApril 1858:
| Balance in treasury April 1lth, 1853, S 1929 SIS
Due the Parish Of Iberville from ferries
and other sources, 6,710 II
| Total Parish assets, s0,93o G.
| OF this amount there is 9 balance due
for parish tax of 1852, S 4.74l 40
Ii vii. therefore be seen that in making the me-
cessary appropriation for the road, 1t is not neces-
sarY to lay an additional tax. The same amount
Of taxes levied last year by your honorable body
will be amply sufficient to more than detray the
necessary expenses of building this road and for
making other necessary internal improvements
throughout the parish.
The Crosse Tete people have strong and indis-
1866 --.. tl.t L~r,ftrr-@f +ts- -~-,~l
The road as it now exists was made at great eX-
pense by public subscription by the people ofGrose
Tete and Plaquemine, the parish subscribing COM
paratively a small amount; and annually have the
planters on the Bayou at great inconvenience and
expense, through the furnishing of hands, been
compelled to clear the submet ged district O: logs
and other distractions, filling up bitches, &c, after
the water had fallen, that they might be enabled
to travel the road TO attend court, &c.
The inhabitants Of Crosse Te1e pay an annual
tax Of rear foar thousand dollars. (which is a large
proportion of the taxes pald by the parish. and the
revenue paid by this section of our parish into the
parish treasury for 1882 was over $1,000, and yet
at the very season of the year when these taxes
are required to be paid the people have no road by
which they can reach the Sheriff IS Office, and il is
we'll known that the deputies Of this officer on
business connected with his Office, have landed
from the ferry boat into wafer OH the road up',
their saddle skirts. and at imminent peri. IN n.
pursuit of their duties, travelled over the waste
of water which flowed in from the bay over the
road, winning various swift and dangerous
bavous.
No man of liberal and enlightened views can
doubt that the prosperous condition of its seat
of Justice. should be a consideration Of paramount
importance to a parish. Any one, then, of your
enlightened BODY must be fully aware of the vast
importance to PIaquemine. is the present and ra-
pidly increasing trade of Crosse Tete. Ask OUT
merchants. grocers. mechanics. and they will tell
you how valuable it is now. How much increased
must il be when a good road is made, affording I'M
interrupted trave' to the people of the bayou.
There can be bnt little doubt that when the Le-
wee Road is constructed. the ferry at the Indian
Village would in a short time he the second if not
the first ferry in importance in the parish. Last
wear $500 vas paid for the Plaquemine ferry, even
for the time it was known that ferrying would be
required. We might then reasonably conclude
that the ferry at the Indian Village, which has
never paid more than 500. would be worth to the
parish at least $500. or more, after the road was
finished, and travel in that direction was u,inter-
rupted. This OF itself is no snallitem Of consid-
GRAFTON to your honorable body.
The parish of Iberviile has been reaping the be-
neht of the taxes from Crosse Tete since its ear
Hest settlement, more than thirty years. The re-
venue arising from this source has greatly contri-
buted to render Iberville one of the first parishes
of the State in point of wealth, entirely free from
debt. with nearly ten thousand dollars Of available
means at her own disposal. And yet this section
of country from whence our parish has derived
so much of its wealth, has no road to its seat of.
Justice for six months in the year, except that
which the God of nature alone has provided. The
best, it is true, but decidedly the most expensive
in trave ling. The people Of Crosse Tete have re-
~peatedly asked as a simple act ofiustice that some
thing should be given in aid of a road. They
themselves have srent thousands of dollars in
~fruitless attempts to build a good and practicable
road TO your seat of justice, expecting that the pa
IRISH would assist in the undertaking. and that by
uniting private subscription with a liberal appro-