The Opelousas courier., 1894-04-07
Question of Parish Boundaries.
EDITORS COURIER.

1t is we'll known that the boundary
lines between the parishes of Rapides
AyOyelles and st. Landry are involved
in great uncertainty. Recently it has
been made necessary to ascertain and
to fix them, so that the question of the
destination of taxes may be determined
as we'll as some others which have arls'
en- in the courts affecting territorial jul.
risdiction. Mr.. Bringhurst, of the par
ish of Rapides, undertook to run out
these lines at the request of some of the
inhabitants, and did make the survey
At the time of making it, it was appar.
emily accepted by them as satisfactory
But new complications have arisen, ane
because it was not official and strictly
legal, or concurrently authorized by the
three named parishes, is not s%atisfacto-
rily determinative.
The laws relating to these lines were
as accessible to tue lawyers of Opelou,
sas as to Judge Merrick. But it may be
seen by reading the acts of 1916 and 1915
that, guided by them, it is impossible to
run the lines so as not to seriously dis
turb the Inhabitants of Chat part Of the
country. Any one acquainted with the
topography OF 1T, will see at a glance
that if the line by the act of 1916 be run
~ OOAlIACuSC aUOtC SuC uJOuJH VI III
bayou (and there are TWO debouchures)
on the bayou Crocodile, so as to include
the settlements on each side of the said
Elm bayou thence by a straight line to
the upper end of bayou Carabine rifle
bayou, "a bayou not known now to the
oldest inhabitant,) thence across the
same to the head Of H~uffpoweIs bayou
(where T. j. Heard's store now stands),
30 as to include the inhabitants on each
side of said bayou" it must necessarily
leave some inhabitants in Rapides,
whose titles are recorded in st. Landry
and not there, who have always served
as jurors and witnesses in st. Landry,
performed road duties and paid taxes
here and not there. | give the French
Of the act: "Qu'a ravenir les limites
entire le c0mte (not parish) DIES Opelou-
sas ct lie comt6 des Rapides seront com
me snit a commencer au-dessus de
rembouchure du bayou des Ormeaux
sur le bayou Crocodile, de maniere a in
clure les Establishments de chaque cote
du dit bayou des Ormeaux; de la par
1ne ligne droite jusqu'au bout du bayou
Carabine, on bayou BeWf de Ia traver-
SAINT &C bayou jusqu'a Ia Nuisance du
clure les Establishments sur les deux CO.
ties du dit bayou" The little word on
in this act is a very important one. As
a conjunction (and it is a conjunction as
therein used), it means or, either, or
else. If it be used as an adverb (Which
ls possible and preserve the sense), it
means WHITTIER, where, wherein, in
which, to what, from what, how, which
way. The proper Translation Of the
French text is in meaning, the line to
commence or begin at the upper side of
Elm bayou, at the bayou Crocodile, and
80 run as to include the settlements on
both sides of that bayou elm bayou.
Thence in a direct line to the head of
Rifle (Carabine) bayou, or bayou Beuf.
1t would seem from this that the whole
of bayou B9uf was intended to be in
Guided in the county, not the parish, of
st. Landry.
Thence, continues the act, the said
line to cross the Beuf and be extended
to the rise of the bayou Huffpower, " so
as to include the settlements on both
sides Of said bayou" What bayou ?
Bayou BHuf or bayou HuffpOwer? If
those OF the B9uf to the mouth of the
Hutfpower,. we'll and good; but if to in
clude all the settlements or the Huff
of Evergreen, in AvOyelles, for the Huff
power debouches into the bayou Rouge
at that place.
| have been perfectly familiar with
all that country for over fifty years,
notwithstanding which I never heard
OF bayou Carabine, or Rifle bayou, or
Rifle bayou.
Both acts, j. 9. of 1916 and 1918, make
mention of counties, not parishes, and
know that they were much larger
than the parishes are.
The parish of st. Landry was incor-
corporated 1905 and was thus described !:
The county of Opelousas shall COM
prehend the parish Of st. Landry, COM
monty called the parish of Opelousas.n
Now, the reader may see how indefinite
The lines were, by this description. This
act was passed April 10, 1906, or eleven
years before the act of 1916, and thirteen
1ears before the act Of 1918, mentioned
oy Judge Merrick. By that act the Ter
'itory OF Orleans, now the State of Lou
sianIa, was divided into tpetUe counties.
therefore, where the act OF 1916 de-
mes lines, they are necessarily those
marking the limits between the C0un-
ses OF O~pelousas and Rapides," and be-
them only. There was no refer
nee 70 PG1sSa hnes. lt is entitled An
act estapllsnlng the limits between the
101n.y OF Opeiousas and the County OF
tapides." II the reader is sufficiently
'urlons to know the limits of the county
It Opelousas, he will find it in an act
approved Feb. 2, 1917, and he will dis
over by reading it that misnomers re-
.eatedly occur, and that the county of
)peiOusas was very much larger than it
3 now pretended the parish of st. Lam
Try ever was.
An act was passed in 1885, authorizing
ne several parishes of the State to have
heir respective boundary lines survey