The Opelousas courier., 1886-10-09
from the Shenandoah, Iowa, Post.
OPELousAs, La, Dec. Is, 1885

From the Shenandoah, Iowa, Post.
O~PELousAs, La, Dec. Is, 1885.
EDITOR Posi-: = i have now visited a con-
siderable portion of south western Louisiana,
much Of it by buggy, and have carefully
studied the people. their characters, DISPOSE
lions, and institutions, as well as the soil, eli.
mate, products, and transportation facilities OF
the country. |
For a varying distance west of the Missis-
sippi river, the country is
wArERED BIZ NUMEROUS STREAMS
aud bayous, navigabie and interconnecting
and which, where leveed to protect from the
overflow of high waters, make unsurpassed
sugar aud rice plantations. But i'll this region
| there is a good deal of malaria and l would
advise no northern man TO settle there. This
region is bounded on the west by Bayou
Teche, a sluggish stream whose general course
is north and south, connected on the north
with the Atchafalaya river, and emptying into
Berwick's Bay, through which access is given
to ocean steamers to the Gulf of Mexico. 1t
was along this bayou that those Acadian peas
ants, who in 1855 were expatriated by the
English, settled, and a beautiful description is
given of it by Longfellow in his Evangeline.
Down this bayou and its connecting water
ways, the produce Of that region can be car
ried either into the Mississippi or the Gulf OF
Mexico, and thence to the markets Of the
world, the inhabitants being favored at all
seasons of the year with choice OF transporta-
ton between water and rail.
Here, bordering this beautiful stream. are
plantations of unsurpassed fertility, upon
which can be grown almost every agricultural
product of Iowa, besides the staples of that
country, sugar. cotton, tobacco and rice to-
gether with a great variety of fruits At this
season of the year, the orchards are yellow
with oranges.
Lands here range in price from BIO 90 to
$4,000 per acre. Intrinsically they are
WORTH TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS
per acre, and in the hands of Northern people
would command that figure. For go miles
the railroad closely follows the Teche, but at
Lafayette, formerly Vermillionville, forks, one
branch running north through Opelousas and
Washington, est Landry parish), to connect
with the Texas Pacific r.. R OF Cheneyville,
on the Red river-the other running west to
Houston, Texas. The Teche waters nearly
the whole Of the eastern part of st. Landry
parish, and is navigable that distance.
Washington, in the northeastern part OF st.
Landry parish, is a town of 1900 people.
Near it, and running south and west to the
Gulf. and bordering the Teche lands on the
west, is a very gently
UNDULAA1Nd FAhA1kE nv
some 25 or 80 miles in width, called the Cote
Gelee, the soil of which is bluff Deposit
identical with that of the counties bordering
the Missouri river in Iowa. This region, ex-
tending through the parishes Tor c~ounties), of
st. Landry, Lafayette, Iberia and Vermilion,
is scarcely. if at all, less fertile than the lands
Immediately bordering the Teche. This soil is
deep, and very easily worked. The surface is
sufficiently undulating to secure good drain
age, but there are no hills, consequently no
wash of soil. Generally the p~rairies are not
more than seven to ten miles in width between
the creeks that water and drain them. Those
} streams are heavily wooded with live oak,
white oak and other varieties of that species,
with ash, hickory, walnut, pecan, and, where
wet, with cypress. These
lei OF NOBLE sTATURE
are draped with Spanish moss, and a more
. beautiful and picturesque scene than these
~prairies present as you ride through them,
cannot be conceived. Every product Of the
J Teche region is raised here equally well and
!, with less labor, as the soil is more friable
This region I deem the most attractive to the
western farmer, resembling very closely the
most favored p~rairies of Illinois and Iowa, and
, probably being more healthful than the land
! further east. Farming here can be carried on
as in Iowa. Going west from this Cote Gelee
. country, the soil changes in appearance slight
!. ", assuming a grayish cast. The country re
: mains beautiful as before, and the grass equal
| ly luxuriant, the native grass predicting three
! tons Of excellent hay per acre; fruit and othel
: trees doing equally well when planted, though
: : some elements of plant food seem to be want
! ing and to secure good crops of potatoes. corn
!, cotton or sugar, it is necessary TO tertillze tt
some extent, but it is admitted by all tina
j the
LAND RESPONDS READILY
/, to fertilizers, retains them with tenacity ant
!, improves greatly under cultivation. Thos
8 best acquainted with it believe that thorough
cultivation, even without fertilizing, will max,
. this section as fertile, or nearly SO, as that o
; the bluff deposit" This region of which
? now speak, embraces the western part of 81
! Landry, and, of Vermilion, and the southern
half OF Calcasieu. In the northwestern par
9 of st. Landry and the western and northern
Q parts of Calcasleu begin those extensive, long
: ieaved pine forests that extend far northward
: afording most
EXCELLENT I'M CHEAP LUMBER
8 for the development of the country, and shield
ing it efeectually from those 'snortherst ths
!. occasionally sweep over the most favored poi
i tons of Texas, and this forest protection in
. sures southwestern Louisiana as a reliable fru
: country. Like the Cote Gelee country, thi
il well watered, though in Calcasieu the prairi
Q is wider and wood is not so convenient to som
portions Of it. Along the Teche there is n
government land, and there is little, if any. i
e the bluff deposit district, but in the prairi
d west, there is still considerable The Stat
lands were acquired by Louisiana under th
! swamp land grant, and most of them hav
: been taken up by spectators. Throughor
Z southwestern Louisiana long-leayed, hard-pin
Q . lumber is very cheap, probably averaging 81
d to $14 per / 200. Cypress, which is nearl
If indestrnctible and is very highly priced, is
{. couple Of dollars higher. Oak fencing pos
+. can be had for 2 or 8 cents apiece; cypres
n ~posts-they win last for so years-for 5 (
6 cts.
THE WATER Is GOOD
and is obtained in abundance at q depth
from Is to 25 feet, though most of the native
:: use cistern water, the cisterns being hug
y cypress tanks and above ground, and most O
q ceilent such water is. About all of the mort
"a ern men I saw had wells During the month
10 OF December and January there is a rain
season, generally, of about six weeks dur
ton, and d storm sometimes lasts three or fol
4 days. Through the remainder of the sease
the rainfall is sufficient for the crops, Whit
seldom are short if planted early. IL is clair
p ed that a failure OF crops has never bee