From Richard Nance Hixon’s thesis, The Antebellum History of Richland Parish. Northeast Louisiana University, 1990 – Richland Parish (La.) – 384 pages

Preceding the time that Louisiana joined the United States, the following map shows an early look at land holdings, boundary names, etc. Included here is the Bayou Bartholomew, the infamous Baron de Bastrop Land Grant, Prarie Mer Rouge, an area listed as “Choctaw Hunting Camp, two Koroa Indian Villages (ca 1600’s), Fort Miro, the early hunting camp of Baptiste Fafar, and Indian Burial ground near the site of present day Gold Mine, the Juan Mansol Land Grant, Poverty Point Indian Site (ca 1000 B.C.), Prarie de Bois, Prarie des Canots, Boeuf Prarie, and the approximate trade route of Marquis. Big Creek, as its known today, was first called the “Bayou des Courrois.”

At the mouth of the Boeuf, a concession was granted to a certain Marquis de Mezieres et Desmarches. This settlement in the Boeuf River basin came to a sudden halt, however, when in November, 1729, the Natchez and other tribes rose up against the French and attacked an area shown below, known as Fort Rosalie. The revolt resulted in the massacre of some two hundred white settlers. The Koroa Indians, in conjunction with the Natchez, made raids inland on the west side of the Mississippi, including the de Mezieres residence. A closer look at the map can be seen by click on the image below.