"Traveling Back in Time" (HWY 1 Central)
Written: Jul 09 '00 (Updated Aug 05 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tourists are Scarce, Attractions are Unique, the People are Friendly
Cons: None at all
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| Howard_Creech's Full Review: Louisiana |
Central Louisiana is the part of the state that is least seen by tourists, the great agricultural heartland. Cotton is still “king” here, although pecans, timber, and cattle are important products. CENLA is an area where change comes slowly, old ways are respected, the past is very much alive and involved with the present. There are economic and cultural ghosts everywhere. Highway One cuts a diagonal path directly across the CENLA country, from Alexandria to New Roads..
Alexandria is at the geographic center of the state, the crossroads where Louisiana’s diverse cultures meet and overlap. Alexandria was founded in the closing years of the 18th century by two traders from Philadelphia, who were convinced that Yankee ingenuity and thrift would lead to great riches trading with the Spanish, French, and Native American residents of the area. Alexandria was burned to the ground in 1864 by retreating Union forces after the failure of the Red River campaign in the last major Confederate victory of the Civil War.
Kent Plantation House 1796 (318) 487-5998 is Alexandria’s oldest structure and the areas premiere ante bellum home. Twelve miles south of Alexandria on U.S. Hwy 71, in Lecomte, is Lea’s Lunchroom. This little “down home” restaurant (in the same family for three generations) is known and loved statewide in Louisiana politics, having fed every Louisiana Governor (except one) since 1928. Lea’s is famous for their “home made”pies, they sell almost 70,000 every year. The folks that run Lea’s cook several entrée’s every day, based on what is in season, real “old time” southern cooking at its best. My wife loves Lea's apple pie, and my favorite (after trying every variety I could) is the Coconut Cream.
Marksville is the home to the Tunica-Biloxi tribe, their small Reservation (on land granted to them by the Spanish King) has a casino and the museum that houses the Tunica Treasure. The “wandering” Tunica are first mentioned in the 16th century, by early Spanish explorers. Their main town Quizquiz, was at the site where DeSoto crossed the Mississippi River in 1541. As European influence in the area grew, the Tunica moved further south to avoid conflict with the whites and their Native American allies.
Moving first to Yazoo, just north of present day Vicksburg, Mississippi (where they first came in contact with the French) the Tunica were forced to move again in 1699 when the Chickasaw tribe, encouraged and provisioned by the English (who were seeking to increase their influence in the Mississippi River Valley) started raiding tribes allied with the French. Moving south to the area of present day Angola Prison in Louisiana, the Tunica once again established themselves as peaceful traders and farmers. Less than fifty years later the Tunica were asked to intercede with the French on behalf of their traditional enemies, the Natchez.
The Tunica chief traveled to New Orleans to appeal for an end to the hostilities between the French and the Natchez. When he returned from New Orleans with the good news that the French would accept the surrender of the Natchez, the two tribes arranged a celebration for that very night. After many hours of dancing and feasting the Tunica went to bed, at dawn the Natchez and their Chickasaw allies fell upon the sleeping Tunica and killed hundreds of them.
The Tunica moved once again, to present day Marksville, where they joined with their Biloxi cousins to form the Tunica-Biloxi tribe. Tunica-Biloxi chief Eli Barbry and a small group of tribal leaders drove from Marksville to Washington, D. C. in 1931 to request recognition from the federal government.. When Washington finally got around to recognizing the Tunica-Bikoxi fifty years later, Chief Earl J. Barbry Jr. (Eli’s grandson) was the Tunica-Biloxi official who received the good news. Federal recognition gave the tribe the “official” status it had always lacked, and their first act was to go to court to seek the return of the Tunica Treasure.
During the 1960’s a group of Angola Prison employees had discovered the burial site used by the tribe during the years they had lived at Angola. After the massacre by the Natchez and Chickasaw, the dead had been interred with all the material possessions of the Tunica. This included not only items of Native American manufacture (pottery, weapons, baskets, and ceremonial articles), but also more than two hundreds years accumulation of trade goods from French, English, and Spanish traders. Cast iron pots, porcelain plates and tankards, firearms, glass trade beads, and many other items, had been pilfered and the graves housing them destroyed. The U.S. Supreme Court (after a legal struggle that lasted more than ten years) declared the treasure the property of the descendants. The cultural and spiritual heritage of the Tunica was returned to the tribe. The Tunica-Biloxi built a museum to house the treasure and honor the spirits of their ancestors.
Just down Highway One from Marksville is the town of Simmesport, home to ”Dan & Evelyn’s Café, which serves the best southern breakfasts, plate lunches, fried chicken, home made Onion Rings, and “French Cuisine” (Cajun/Creole dishes) in the Atchafalaya country. The café also serves “Miz Evelyn’s” world famous chicken gumbo and some of the best home made pies you’ll ever taste. The café doesn’t look like much, it is housed in a single story cinder block building behind a gas station. The food is delicious, the menu offers an incredible variety of selections, prices are inexpensive, portions are huge and the service is friendly. You can strike up a conversation with anyone in the café, employees and patrons alike, everyone is outgoing and they all love to talk. This cafe is where I first heard the story of the wandering Tunica and the "lost Tunica Treasure", the ferry to Angola is just up the Road.
Less than a mile from”Dan & Evelyn’s Café” you’ll cross the bridge over the Atchafalaya (Att-CHAF-uh-lye-yuh) River and enter Pointe Coupee Parish, which lies in the low flat alluvial plain between the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers, cottonfields stretch as far as the eye can see. When you reach Lettsworth, watch on your left for the Bayou that runs right through town on the low side of Highway One. You’ll see abandoned sharecropper cabins, egrets, herons, alligators, turtles, bald cypress, and water hyacinth. Lettsworth may provide the best opportunity in the state for natural bayou photos, since the the road runs right beside the water. I took one of my favorite rural Louisiana photos here. A faded blue pirogue (a flat bottomed Cajun bayou boat) pulled up on the far bank, right under a group of backlit bald cypresses. Lettsworth has a tiny abandoned railroad depot, and two fantastic (one built with “native” cypress) old churches. This is not a tourist trap, there are no “facilities”, these attractions are real. The ghosts of better times, when cotton really was “King”, are visible everywhere in Lettsworth.
Highway One meanders south and east through Innis and Batchelor (home to a “super” country Mardi Gras) before reaching Morganza. The beautiful church and cemetery (right on HWY One) are worth a stop. Drive south from Morganza to U.S. Hwy 190 and turn west (toward Krotz Springs) in just a few miles you’ll cross the bridge (built in 1934 by Huey “Kingfish” Long) over the Atchafalaya Swamp. This is the largest fresh water swamp in North America, it’s well worth the short detour.
Back on Highway One, New Roads is the largest town in Pointe Coupee Parish. The Mississippi River changed course at New Roads leaving behind a thirty mile oxbow lake (the False River) that is the towns claim to fame. New Roads is a pretty old town with a lovely historic district, Parlange Plantation House, a working Plantation in the same family for over two hundred years, and the Pointe Coupee Parish Museum (225) 658-7733, located just south of town in a historic (1770) house. You can take the ferry across the Mississippi to St. Francisville (see "St. Francisville, The Capital of English Louisiana") for a taste of “English” Louisiana, or continue on toward Baton Rouge.
This Concludes ”Traveling Back In Time” (HWY 1, Central). This is the second in a three part series called "LA HWY ONE" A Journey in Three Stages I would like to thank the helpful folks at the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and Judi Smith at the Pelican State Library for their enthusiastic assistance with some of the historical information about Highway One. Please Check out “Exploring Louisiana’s Enchanted Backroads” (HWY 1 North) for a review of the northern section of Highway One. “Into the Cajun Heartland” (HWY 1, South) explores Highway One on it's journey south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Howard_Creech
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Member: Howard Creech
Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 333
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About Me:
Photographer/Writer fascinated by Movies, Music, Books, American Diner Food, History, "Popular Culture", and Travel.
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