The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1876-08-13
BAYOU LACOMBE, F4THER ROUQ UETTE,
THE CHOCTiTS And THE TANDALS.

Bayou Lacombe is at the same time the nam
of stream and q village in the Parish of st
Tammany. At the head of this winding anT
almost overshadowed stream were to be seen
before the war of secession had destroyed them
| some Indian lodges occupied by the sad rem
nants of the once warlike Choctaw Tribe. Their,
still linger soIue of these unsophisticated arts
| tocrats of Nature IN the above named Parish
aud in several parts of other Parishes of Louis
lana.
This Choctaw, or rather Chahta, tribo of he
Sonth has had the privilege of having been i'm
mortalised by the glowing genius of Chateau
BRAND, as that OF the Mexican of the North by
the more simple and bomerc genius of Feni-
| moro Cooper.
Fother Rouquette, or ChaLta. Ina (Choctaw-
ike). as be has boon named by the Chabtas,
although born in New Orleans, has passed the
greater part of his infancy, his childhood,
youthful days and maturer years amidst the
wild and wildly beautiful scenery of Bayou La
connie, or Buchuw wa, and in tho wigwams of
the Chahtas, to whose spiritual wants and ma
ie:ial comfort he has ninistered with untiring
zeal and hopeful prospect.
Il is there, in what he calls the " nook, /" that
he has composed most of bis poems, Les
Savaues." "Wild Flowers" "LAntoniadev
Catherine Tegahwitha" and La Thebaide en-
Amerique," besides which Published works he
has many Others, in verse and prose, awaiting
the hour when some friendly hand shall usher
them into the inhospitable world of unconge-
NAL aud uusym pathizing critics and CAREERS
Father RouQueste thus POLITICALLY describes
what he calls the nook" in the Preface TO his
"Wil6 Flowers"
l at last retired to Bayou Lscombe, nv
Fhehais, The land of my mother and nv bow
aoods land,-my shelter and my nook; fled
from the dusty and tumultuous city, there to
roan AID muse, amidst balmy shrubs aud
odoriferous plants in the lonely, evergreen
ana harmonioTs groves of aged oaks, dark
cedarS and lofty pines and there it was,
unrlnE tho lingering bonrs of twilight, while
I he mystic and melIowing hues of the sky were
blend ng into slow. coming darkness, there il
wss tnas l felt the mysterious working of |
poetical rapture, and was visited by tho mild
and swayirg Messenger. Over my head was
IragDifcently spread the blue AID starry |
canopy, the trees of the forest were motionless |
not breath whispered through the moon. |
leaves and the pensiIe moss, and ma |
ture stood absorbed in calm meditation all |
around, the "atcLfdl and restless SOD gsters, the
hidden aud melancholy Whip poor Wills were
each other, in the deep, silent, still aud awful
solitude.
And, in one OF these "Wild Flowers" re-
suming the fond subject, he thus expresses
himself in the touching earnestness of his fer.
vent love and chaste enth usiasm:
The nook Q lovely spot of land,
Where. have built my cell;
Where with my Muse, my only friend,
In peacefulness dwell
The nook verdant seat Of bliss,
My shelter from the blast;
hidst deserts, smiling O1OtS.
Where may rest at ast.
The nook o homo Of birds al fowrs
wEe Fe'H may SA ., sinS and in , BaSy sov
80 happy night and day.
The nook o sacred, deep retreat.
where crowds may ne'er intrude;
Where men with God and angels meet
In peaceful solitude;
Oparadse, whore have aowu,
Where may i've and and die alone,
ForGetful and forgot
The late Father Kane, who had boon there
lso, and had enjoyed the same wild beauty of !
his primeval forest, thus depicts what he had ]
cit while there, and what he still felt haunting
is Imagination when in the very heart of the !
istractiug city, from which he fsin would have I
ed back to the nook " of Bayou Lgcombe }
OF Chahta-ima's Muse it would hardly be Z
ossib!e TO say too much. Like a graceful {
avn, that wildly beautiful muse has fitted
hrough the solitudes in which we also passed I
be happiest year of our life, and Sigh to end I
UT days there with the yearninEest and most !
ongiDg of our earthly hopes. Chahta-ima's I
lose roamed the vast and gorgeous solitudes !
nd romantic shades of Bayou Lacombe, scat G
srinR treasures of blossom and fragrance
round her, and pointing ever heavenward in /
er modest progress. Let us describe this '
ibylline spparition. A
Yelled like vestal she half conceaIs her
'yeliness; She is gentle, humble, soft end
ode6ty, as Milton'S Lady In Komus. she I