New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-09-12
COushattas

C0ushattas
Tho tragic incidents which have lately
been connected with the town of Coushatta.
in the parish of Red River, Louisiana. will
make briet notice of that new settlement
interesting. Before the war Coushatta had
one log house and store. Like great
.nany other towns throughout Louisiana
and the cotton States, its name was the
biggest thing about it. 1t had not single
roint of attraction or interest. A few bolts
of cheap prints and cloths. few Yankee
notions, in the shape of baskets, buckets and
broOms, sack Of coffee, barrel of indiffer-
ent salt, a cask of molasses, and a barrel OF
cheap whisky for the slaves and poor whites
constituted the stock in trade Of Coushat-
ta's solitary store. On Saturday after
Soons negroes and ''crackers" would resort
there in considerable numbers to trade
saccoon SKINS alligator hides, eggs, butter,
feathers, sarsaparilla and snake root. and
other articles Of country produce familiar to
the backwoOds merchant for whisky. to.
bacco and other necessaries OF Louisiana life.
Some of The customers walked for miles TO
.heir trading place. The negroes, who were
better provided for, came in ricketty
wagons, drawn by skeleton teams, while
she proud "cracker" aired his hickory shirt
and butternut breeches on the back OF
o consumptive, burr-tailed pony. hardly
tall enough to keep his dangling legs
from dragging along the ground. The
scene around the store was lively one,
tor beside the gossip Of the older people
about plantation life and the last drove
of slaves brought from the upper coun-
try by some enterprising negro trader,
there was quot pitching and other games
were shufaed by excited players, and little
bundles of coon skins and sacks of feathers,
which it took weeks to collect, were lost
and won as rapidly as thousands of dollars
then changed hands in the gambling houses
of New Orleans. If to this sketch be
added games Of poker and old sledge, on
which money was staked, and which were
Sunday following, highly seasoned with
oaths and whisky, and ending in a bowel.
knife and pistol affray, the picture of Cou-
shatta before the war will be tolerably &C.
curate.
The war came and passed BY. Some IN.
telligent and enterp1ising mechanics and
trading men, who had been in the army,
thought that Coushatta offered good lOca-
tion for town OF considerable Importance
and traffic. 1t was in rich country, on an
important river. They naturally reasoned
that capital, industry and enterprise would
make the settlement a prosperous one.
They set to work and built saw mills, grist
mills, u machine shop and cotton gin. The
town was in q short time chosen as the
capital Of the new parish of Red River. A
courthouse and schoOlhOuse were built, the
levees were Put in good repair, and every
thing shows signs Of thrift and energy.
The new citizens were working men Who
attended to their own business and increas-
ed the value Of the country around them.
1t was just such q settlement as Louisiana
stood in need of, and the bondholders of
that State as matter Of business, should
have heartily encouraged the new settlers,
who were doing for them what the hardy
and industrious emigrants of the West have
done for Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota; for
Cincinnati, for Chicago and st. Paul. A
State without population is o mere desert.
1t ia industrious citizens who make State
all that it is worth, both morally and COM
mercially.
Incredible as it appears, Coushatta. from
the beginning of its new departure, has
been q target for the persecution of ma
jOrity of the landholders and Crackers of
the surrounding country. Those enlighten.
ed individuals swOre in their. cups that the |
despicable interlOping American citizens |
should be wiped out for preeuming to set |
foot on the sacred soil of LOuisiaca. Amid |
the fiuttering of cards they paused while |
to lay their hands upon their bowie knives, |
and sware that the soil Of Louisiana should |
be held for the exclusive use of her illus |
trious pelicans, and the VOW was solemnized |
by oaths which made the festO0ns of Span |
ish moss tremble like aspen leaves in the |
depth of the alligator. swamps. Hardly q
person was found among the older resi- |
dents to express the least sympathy or
kindly feeling for the new settlers. They |
were met on all sides by an exhibition Of |
nate, malice and envy. which might have I
oeen looked for in Feejee cannibal, but |
not In an American citizen.
1t is net too much to say that if the South. |
ern States were to pay handsome bonus
iOr tne lOcauon OF settlement like that OF l
Coushatts in every county, it would be the |
most profitable investment that thew have |
ever made The whole problem in a nutshell
is this: Should white laborine popuIation
be encouraged to settle in the Southl An |
the brawling demagogues in the State of |
Louisiana can not make one whit more or
lees of the point in controversy than fhis
Sound political economy, based upon exne.
rience and common sense, Gays that the idle
lands of Louisiana should be cultivated
And it is obvious that an additional popula.
ton ia needed to cultivate them. Yet be.
cause colony of thrifty American citizens
have attempted to carry ont these principles
at Coushatta several of their number have
been murdered in cruel and treacherous
manner. Let the country fully understand
this matter. Let it be probed to the very |
bottom. Let it be seen whether set Of
danneraxlOeg ehall make a desert of tho fer