CAMERON PARISH by John Berton Gremillion

The chenier country of Southwest Louisiana is a land unique, often lovely, and little known to the world at large. Even in Louisiana itself, few people knew of the existence of this unusual section of their state prior to the advent of Hurricane Audrey on June 27, 1957. Then, the entire nation was aware of the awesome destruction of that catastrophe and the names of the affected communities - Cameron, Grand Chenier, Front Ridge, Little Chenier, Muriere, and Chenier Perdue - were household words throughout the land. Still, no real knowledge of the country and its tough and tenacious citizenry was transmitted; the passage of time, and the occurrence of other events have called for the attention of the nation, and the cheniers have slipped quietly out of the public interest.

That hurricane left its scare upon the surface of the land as well as upon the memories of the inhabitants, but both land and people have known hurricanes before, and fundamentally things remain as they were. Time has largely healed the wounds of that destructive day, and the cheniers are again the pleasant, mysterious land which has always captured the affections of those who tarried long enough to be impressed with its beauty and its mystery.

Here vast sea marshes stretch away to the limits of sight, and sluggish rivers wind their way to the Gulf of Mexico through terrain that slopes so gently that only the precision instrument of the surveyor can determine any change in elevation. To the eye of the observer - even the careful and trained observer - the surface, from horizon to horizon, is as flat as an inland lake of the stillest day of the year - with one exception - and that exception is of extreme significance. Rising abruptly from the marshes, long parallel ridges of upland stand boldly forth as the most dominant features of the landscape. These are the cheniers, the ancient and stranded sea-beaches that furnish the stable foundation for the building of homes and farms.

As the reader will encounter the word chenier from time to time, it may be well for him to get acquainted with it at the start, for unless he is familiar with South Louisiana, it is probably not in his vocabulary. The word derives from the French chene, meaning oak, and in that language chenier is literally “oak grove.” It is applied loosely to any grove of trees, predominantly oak in character. By the same construction cypriere is a grove of cypress trees, and pecaniers is a grove of pecan trees. Scientifically, the word chenier is applied to certain land formations, whose origin and character are quite distinctive, and unlike most land formations in general. They begin at the Sabine River and may be found as far East as Lafourche parish in Louisiana, although they are at their best in the area lying between Sabine Lake and Vermilion Bay. Grand Chenier, and Pecan Island in Vermilion, are classic examples. In brief, it may be said, as indicated above, that they are former beaches that through the activities of natural forces have become isolated from the sea by a broad expanse of marsh.

What is now Cameron Parish has been at various times in past ages the bed of the Gulf of Mexico; at other times the coast line was much farther south than it is today, and the area we are speaking of was far inland. The sea has advanced and retreated many times in this region. During the periods when great glaciers covered the polar parts of the world the sea level dropped hundreds of feet, exposing large areas of land. With the melting of the glaciers the sea level rose again, once more submerging the land. When a period of glaciation drew to its close, the melting of the ice sent great quantities of water rushing down the rivers. The force of this water cut away soil and rock, and the rivers brought down immense quantities of solid materials, depositing them on the ocean floor and gradually raising it. However, if the weight of this material became too great, the bed of the sea sank, since the crust of the earth was no longer able to support it. A sinking of the crust in one part is followed by an uplift in an adjacent part. Thus, through long ages the land rose again, until what we call Louisiana arose from the sea and assumed its present form.

It is not the purpose of this work to trace in detail all the changes that have occurred here throughout geologic history; our ends will be served by considering only the forces that have gone into the building of this country as we know it today. Let us go back some twenty or thirty thousand years perhaps, to a time when the Gulf of Mexico flowed over all the land that is today the southern part of Louisiana. The melting of the last great glacier, releasing the immense quantities of water stored up as ice, set powerful forces in motion. The rivers ran full and fiercely, and were filled with silt which they dumped at their mouths. This spread along the coast, growing thicker and thicker year by year, and slowly rising to the surface, until in time some uplift in the earth’s crust thrust the new land above the waves. In this manner the prairie terraces of southwest Louisiana were formed, each terrace representing a distinct interglacial period. The latest of these terraces forms the northern portion of Cameron Parish.

The formation of the marshes was quite similar to the formation of the prairies. Indeed, one might say that a prairie is only a marsh grown older. Rivers brought down their silt, and floods, winds, and tides carried it westward, depositing it along the coast. Erosion carried some of it away, but the amount of available marsh-building material was so great that the marsh steadily grew and advanced seaward. Yet, the growth of the marsh was in two dimensions only; the rise in height has been so slight that the marshes are often submerged, and so close to sea level do they lie that drainage is extremely slow. Another glacial period, or another uplift in the earth’s crust, could well see these marshes transformed into prairie land in turn. However, the trend at present is just the opposite. The tremendous weight of the Mississippi Delta is pushing so hard upon the earth’s crust that all the land along the coast is slowly sinking, and the marshes appear doomed.

It is not possible at the present time to produce positive evidence to account for every detail relative to the origin of the cheniers - more study along that line is needed - but a reasonable theory can be advanced to explain their formation. Perhaps this can be best understood by considering the present beach line. Here, the action of the waves and currents tends to build up a sand and shell beach at the water’s edge. This beach is composed mostly of fine sand, but a considerable proportion is made of the cast-off shells of marine creatures that have been washed ashore. Organic matter enters into it to some extent also; pumice stones are abundant; a soft gray rock with a soapy feeling is found frequently; lumps of clay are also present; there is a varied assortment of other materials thrown up by the waves. All go to make up the beach. The sand predominates however, and as all the components are loose and lack cohesion, the beach is at the mercy of the waves which year by year roll it farther back up the slope. It is estimated that the shore line is retreating at the rate of six feet a year in normal times; twenty-four hours of a full-grown gulf hurricane can increase this retreat as much as several hundred feet. As the beach moves northward, it gradually increases in size due to the quantities of material thrown upon it by the waves. It may reach a height of twelve or fourteen feet in the course of a few centuries or even decades.

We have spoken of the formation of the present beach and its slow movement northward. Let us consider, in connection with this, the action of the Mississippi River. At present, it discharges into the Gulf of Mexico some two hundred miles to the east. Through some shift in the surface of the earth, the flow could be directed to the west again, as in past ages. Indeed, at this very time, one of the greatest problems facing Louisiana is that of keeping the Mississippi from changing its channel, and flowing down the bed of the Atchafalaya. Army engineers in charge of river and flood control are building huge construction works at the junction of the two rivers to prevent just such a shift. Undisturbed by man, Nature would probably have already effected this change, and the materials brought down by the river would have been discharged much nearer to the coast of the chenier country, to be caught up by the prevailing westward-setting current and carried to those shores. Doubtless, the amount of this discharge would have been great enough to counter-balance the erosion of the waves, a marsh would already have begun to form between the beach and the sea, and a new chenier would have been born, which in time would have acquired all the characteristics which we associate with those already existing. That this has happened many times is attested by the fact that the cheniers lie in parallel ridges, each separated from the others by a strip of marsh of varying width.

An excellent example of the manor which a marsh is built up by sediment may be observed at Mulberry in Vermilion Parish. Here, we can actually see a marsh being created at the present time, and a former beach rapidly retreating to become a chenier. Since the opening of the Wax Lake Outlet from the Atchafalaya River into Atchafalaya Bay, that river now discharges its burden of silt farther west then formerly. In addition to the nearness of this discharge, the recent diversion of a much greater flow of Mississippi River water into the Atchafalaya has increased enormously the amount of sediment which the latter stream is carrying. Thus the westward current of the Gulf is able to bring much more material to the nearby beaches of Vermilion Parish, thereby creating a new marsh and a new chenier.

The older cheniers are those that lie to the northward, inland from the Gulf. They are the smallest, and the materials composing them show much greater age than those lying to the south. The beach sands lie on the marsh superficially; at Grand Chenier the bottom level of the sand is about two feet beneath the level of the marsh. As we move northward we find that the bottom levels of the cheniers have sunk deeper and deeper beneath marsh level; we know that the entire surface of the land is slowly sinking. And has been since the first cheniers appeared. Marsh accumulations have been steadily encroaching upon the ridges, and have in many cases buried the lower parts completely. In fact, some of the older cheniers have disappeared entirely, and their presence can now be determined only by digging through the overlying layer of marsh soils. A canal cut across the marsh from north to south illustrates this clearly, when the dipper of the drag-line brings up the shell of the lost cheniers.

While the above explanation will account for the formation of the cheniers, one peculiar feature remains to be explained. This is the tendency of the ridges to branch off from each other somewhat like the fingers of the human hand. We see examples of this throughout the entire region of the cheniers. The junction of Grand Chenier with Cow Island, and farther east with Tiger Island - the branching of Coon and Smith ridges on Johnson’s Bayou, the numerous points of Front Ridge where it meets the Calcasieu River, and the many little ridges that branch off from North Island and Little Pecan are excellent examples.

Perhaps the clearest illustration of this branching is to be found at the eastern end of Grand Chenier where Cow Island, Tiger Island, and Lataignier, all branch off from the main ridge of Grand Chenier. At one time, several thousand years ago, there were three district ridges, roughly parallel, and separated from each other by marsh; another marsh, of unknown width, lay between Cow Island and the Gulf, and Grand Chenier ridge did not exist at all. The Mississippi must have been discharging nearby, and the front marsh gradually growing wider. Then came the inevitable shift, and the river found a new channel to the Gulf, far east of the old one. Deprived of the marsh-building material of the river, the marsh, attacked by the Gulf, began to recede, and a new beach began to form and move

northward. Closer and closer it came, building ever higher and wider. This new beach was Grand Chenier ridge in the making. Through some slight tilt in the earth’s surface, the new coast line and its consequent beach did not parallel the older cheniers but lay at a slight angle to them. In due course of time the new beach reached the eastern ends of the existing cheniers and formed a connecting link or bridge between them.

Rather accurate dates have been established for the relative ages of the cheniers. It is thought that the following dates are correct within a range of 25 years or so either way. The ancient beach line of which Little Chenier and Little Pecan are remnants was laid down 2,500 years ago. Grand Chenier, Oak Grove, Front Ridge, and its westward extensions are 1,200 years old. The Southern most line of cheniers, represented by Peveto Beach, Holly Beach and Hackberry Beach, are probably several hundred years younger. Thus we can see, that geologically speaking, the cheniers were built as of yesterday in comparison with the remainder of the state.

According to reliable estimates, the cheniers comprise only three percent of the total area of the region, the remainder being given over to the extensive sea marshes. It is to be expected that any scope of territory, a hundred miles in length and twenty to thirty miles in width, will show considerable variation in its make-up from place to place. Indeed, about the only uniformity to be found in the marshes is their almost unvarying flatness, and here the differences in elevation need to be expressed in inches and fractions of an inch. The character of the marsh will vary from formations that are solid enough, even when inundated, to bear easily the weight of a horse and rider, to those areas where even a light man afoot will experience considerable difficulty in traveling without breaking through the surface and sinking into two or three feet. An extensive variety of vegetation flourishes everywhere - except for actual lakes and watercourses, the entire surface is normally clothed in green during the long growing season.

Probably the outstanding feature of the marsh is its wetness. Even during the rare periods of extended drought, when the surface attains a hardness comparable to that of ordinary land elsewhere, the water table lies only a scant foot or two below, and the teeming animal life of the region is able to obtain fresh water by the simple process of burrowing down to it. The entire marsh is subject to inundation from heavy local rains, from unusual precipitation along the upper reaches of its rivers which causes those streams to overflow their banks on their journey across the marshes, and from the high tides raised by strong southerly winds on the coast. The water at one time may be perfectly fresh, again it may be so salty that it is indistinguishable from the waters of the Gulf itself, or it may attain any stage between the two. Predominantly, however, it is mostly fresh, for any period of extended and extreme salinity would destroy almost all the vegetable and animal life normally found there.

It is difficult to overestimate the part which the marsh has played in the lives and the economy of its inhabitants. It has been a source of wealth to trapper, hunter, and cattleman. Further, it has furnished an abundant source of food in the nature of seafood and wild fowl. Many a man has lived a long and useful life here, depending upon the marsh to furnish ninety percent of all the things he required.

We will probably never know just who was the first white man to enter the region now known as Cameron Parish. For that matter we have little specific knowledge of the Indian tribes who lived here before the white man came. It would appear that the chenier country was the home of a large and thriving Indian population at one time; numerous shell mounds erected by them testify to this fact. Comparatively large concentrations of Indians were found around the shores of Grand Lake, and particularly on Little Pecan, if we may judge by the burial mounds and refuse heaps that they left. Burial mounds are also found on Little Chenier, and arrowheads are found on all the cheniers, indicating that the Indian population must have been widespread.

It has been established that these Indians were of the Attakapas tribe, and that name derives from an Indian word meaning man-eaters. It is an unsettled question whether the Indians of the cheniers regarded strangers and enemies with culinary interests, for the evidence concerning the Attakapas elsewhere is inconclusive.

The first white settlers must have met only remnants of these tribes, since no accounts of Indian wars and raids have come down to us. Perhaps intertribal warfare or epidemic diseases may have almost exterminated them shortly before the advent of the white man. A tradition, which cannot now be authenticated, explains the disappearance of the Indians on Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish in a manner that may have been typical of the entire chenier country. According to the story which has been handed down from generation to generation, one of Jean Lafitte’s vessels captured a smallpox infected ship in the Gulf of Mexico. The pirates then ascended Rollover Bayou and made their way to Pecan Island. Shortly thereafter the epidemic broke out, and both pirates and Indians succumbed to the disease, which proved fatal to all but two - one native and one white man. They attempted to cross the marshes to the white settlements farther north, but the pirate died on the way. The Indian managed to reach the French however, but he was unable to communicate his story until he had learned enough of the French language to enable him to relate the pitiful tale.

It is possible that the Spanish under Cabeza de Vaca touched at points along the Cameron coast and Desoto’s survivors almost certainly landed on its shores on their voyage from the mouth of the Mississippi to the Spanish colonies in Mexico. Doubtless the Lafittes were on the rivers and bayous and may have gone inland and built temporary camps on the wooded cheniers. A large brick vault uncovered at Grand Chenier in 1930 may have been a cache for his loot; a huge oak once stood - and may yet be standing - on Mortis Island with a square hole cut through its trunk, that may have served as a guide in the location of buried treasure. (This chenier derived its name from the mortis, or hole, mentioned above.) It is thought that one of Lafitte's vessels sank in the mouth of a small bayou running into the Gulf of Mexico just west of Pecan Island, thereby stopping the flow of the water and allowing a thick turf to form on its surface. Today, this turf is strong enough to support automobiles in seasons of protracted drought. On another small, uninhabited island, pieces of broken chinaware were found. One legend has it that Lafitte there held captive a young woman of the royal house of Spain. Still another small island bears the name of Money Island, and although money-hunters have honey-combed the ridge with their diggings, no trace of treasure has ever been found.

A grim and heart-rending tale of the early days is that concerning a shipload of colonists from France bound for New Orleans. A storm of great violence drove their ship far from its course, and blew it entirely out of the Gulf and across the marshes to the higher land about Lake Misere. A company of several score men, women, and children, managed to maintain a precarious existence on the shores of this small lake for several years, most of them finally succumbing to the ravages of malaria, insects, and starvation. It is from this alleged occurrence that the lake derives its name.

The first white settlers - not explorers or travelers, but people who seriously intended to build homes and farms and permanent residences - came into the chenier country during the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and within a generation practically all of the available farming land was under fence and broken to the plow. It is generally believed that one of the first white families in the area was that of a man named Phillips who built a home near the western end of Grand Chenier. A severe hurricane - the date is given as 1824 - drove the waters of the Gulf across the Marshes, and washed his frail dwelling into the Mermentau where all members of the family were drowned. It seems that a homeless Indian had attached himself to Phillips and when the hurricane came this weather-wise individual, after giving due warning of the impending disaster, climbed into the branches of a dead live oak and lashed himself to the limbs. The white man evidently considered his Indian friend an overly pessimistic and unreliable weather prophet, and trusting to his own judgment, was drowned. The Indian survived to relate the incident to the next white man who came his way.

Contrary to its accustomed policy of making its lands available to individual citizens, either by purchase or by homestead, the Federal Government of the United States early set aside the live oak covered chenier of Southwest Louisiana as a navel reserve. In the days of wooden ships it was necessary to have an ample supple of suitable timber available for the building of naval vessels, and the superb oaks of this region were ideal for the purpose. Later, this policy was rescinded, no doubt because timber of equal quality was to be found much nearer the existing shipyards on the eastern coast.

The nation has always been generous toward the soldiers who fought in its wars, and had sought to recompense them in various ways. Today, both federal and state bonuses are handed out; a century ago it was thought expedient to reward the veteran with a tract of virgin land, suitable for the establishment of a farm and a home. Consequently, the no longer needed lands in the naval reserve were awarded to the men who fought in the War of 1812, and the Indian encounters that followed. These men accepted their grants of course, but evidently they were not too enthusiastic about living on them; it would appear that not one of them came to Louisiana, but instead sold their prospective farms to some speculator or land agent for cash, and directed their attentions elsewhere. These agents in turn, sold the land to men who were looking for new opportunities, and were willing to come into Louisiana and establish their homes on the cheniers.

These first settlers were mostly men from the older eastern states, and by their names they were largely of Scotch-Irish decent. Due to limited space it is not possible to go into detail concerning these first settlers, nor the localities where they made their homes. Early records bear such names as McCall, Armstrong, Smith, Lindstrom, Harrison, Carter, Wetherill, Root, Hall, Sweeney, Bonsall, Tanner, Graves, Broussard, Miller, Durr, Doxey, Stafford, MacDonald, Rutherford, Wakefield, Donahoe, Erbelding, Eagleson, Nunez, Welch, Griffith, Henry, Gordon, Stewart, Calhoun, and others, names by and large of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon origin. Later arrivals came mostly from the French of Louisiana, and they were the LaBauves, Baudoins, Dupres, Vincents, Dysons, Swires, Richards, Mhires, Landrys, Trahans, Billeauds, Boudreaux, LeBeoufs, Monties - only a few can be mentioned here.

Once cleared of timber and brush, the land generously repaid the farmer, and enormous yields were secured. Little was planted at first except for home use. Corn, pumpkins, potatoes, and vegetable gardens were most important. Sugar cane was grown to furnish syrup and unrefined sugar, and fruit trees were cultivated. It was, in a manner of speaking, a subsistence economy, and each family expected to produce on its farm practically all of the commodities that the household required.

Life in those early days was simple; as such simplicity is understood by a more effete and sophisticated generation. However, they do not make it clear how simplicity is to be achieved by clearing land, fighting mosquitoes, battling diseases without medical assistance of any sort, withstanding hurricanes, floods, droughts, and similar assorted experiences.

Prior to the latter decades of the nineteenth century it must be admitted that life on the cheniers was hard and primitive. These are attributes of the frontier, and nothing else was expected. There were no roads, and little need for them. Before the Civil War, slides drawn by oxen were the principal means of transportation. Wagons were almost nonexistent, a two-wheeled cart was a novelty, and only the more fortunate owned them. Practically all of the luxuries, and many of the things that are now considered necessities were lacking. Money was seldom seen, and most of the trade was on a barter basis. Wheat bread was seldom available and refined sugar was reserved for the sick, or for special occasions. Even rice was rare, and not to be cooked except when company came visiting. If one used tobacco - and nearly all of them did, women as well as men - the supply must be grown at home. There was an abundance of fruit in season, as well as a wide variety of food, so that no one need go hungry. If the life he lived was rugged, so was the pioneer. Besides, most of them were accustomed to hard times, and thought little of it. Conditions in their former homes had been difficult also - they would hardly have left them otherwise - and it was the general and accepted opinion that life on the cheniers for them was better than life almost anywhere else in the nation.

A progressive and forward-looking people, interested alike in religion and education, they had hardly built their own homes when they turned their attention to schools and churches. Usually, one building would serve both purposes. There is positive evidence that organized schools existed as early as 1838, and education has been a dominant feature ever since. The schools of that day were typical pioneer schools, good or bad, depending largely upon the teacher. One of these, familiarly known as “Grandpa Wetherill,” a man of brilliant mind backed up by a sound college education, seems to have done some exceptional work. Families living in what are now Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis Parishes were in the habit of sending their children to him, since at that time those parishes had no schools of their own.

One outstanding example is the late Judge Edmond Miller, who secured his education in a manner reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln. It is said that as a boy, plowing a yoke of oxen in his father’s field, he would place his grammar on the turn row. As he came to the end of the row and swung his team about, he would pause long enough to read a sentence from the book, then drive on, studying the sentence as he went, parsing it, and applying the rules of grammar that he had so laboriously learned. It is gratifying to note that such perseverance and ambition were liberally rewarded, and that the uncouth country boy rose to high position, affluence, and loving esteem, and was known simply and affectionately as “Uncle Edmond” to hundred of his relatives and friends.

For long the Civil War bulked large in the minds and the thoughts of the people. Many of the men who marched in the cause of the Confederacy never returned; others came back with tales of battle and hardship which they never tired of recounting, and the older they grew, the more wonderful the stories they related until in time a considerable body of Civil War tradition developed. There were minor battles fought at Leesburg and at Sabine Pass. Federal gunboats patrolled the Sabine, the Calcasieu, and the Mermentau. During the troubled and unsettled days that followed, the Jayhawkers appeared and more men died.

With the passing of the Reconstruction Period came happier times and considerable advancement, both culturally and materially. Cotton came into prominence, there was a ready market in Galveston and New Orleans for syrup and oranges, and the schooners were busy. Cattle buyers appeared, and large herds were driven out each spring to start the long trek to northern markets.

With increased prosperity new homes were built, and a style of domestic architecture evolved, eminently suited to the needs of the land and the climate. It consisted in the main of a four-roomed house, usually with a central hallway, and one or more wide porches. Nearly all houses were built to face the south to take advantage of the cooling gulf breezes which blow inland during the hot summer months. Also, homes are usually built to face the road and on most of the cheniers the roads were laid out along the south side of the ridge; this side is always the highest and best drained, and the soil is almost pure shell in it natural state, A wing, containing kitchen and dining room, with perhaps a pantry and back porch also, was connected to the main building by a covered porch or breezeway - called an entry in those days; it was usually located to the side of the house, although occasionally it was built at the rear. Thus the rooms most used, living room, bed room, kitchen and dining room, were on the windward side of the house in summer and the lee side in winter. In those days bathrooms were not considered at all, and screening wire was an unheard of article. Huge draperies of cheese cloth, commonly called mosquito bars, enclosed the beds, excluding both mosquitoes and air. In the earliest homes a mud chimney served for both heating and cooking. This soon gave way to brick which in turn was supplanted by the cast iron stove. Wood for fuel was still plentiful in most localities. In the Creole area however, the original scanty supply of timber was soon exhausted; a suitable substitute was found though in cotton seed, which could not even be sold in those days. It proved an almost ideal fuel - it was light, clean, easily procurable and burned with a steady even fire.

Cameron did not become a separate political unit until 1870. Prior to that date the region within the present boundaries of Cameron had been under the control of varied political divisions. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the territory lying between the Sabine and the Calcasieu - called by the Spaniards the Rio Hondo - was known as the Neutral Strip. Spain claimed west to the Calcasieu, while France insisted upon the Sabine as the boundary line. This minor dispute amounted to little - it was an empty and then practically useless stretch of land anyway, and when the Spanish acquired Louisiana in 1763 the matter seemed settled. However, when the United States bought Louisiana in 1803 the question again arose with Mexico and the United States in the role of the original disputants. A final settlement place the boundary at the Sabine, and it has remained there to this day. It is interesting to think that had the Mexicans won their point, half of Cameron today might be a part of the state of Texas.

For purposes of political administration Louisiana was early divided into parishes - vague, ill-defined chunks of territory. Two of these, the Opelousas district and the Attakapas district, included land that is now present-day Cameron; the territory west of the Mermentau belonged to Opelousas and that to the east was a part of the Attakapas region. The Attakapas district soon became St. Martin Parish. In 1828 the southern portion of St. Martian was organized as Lafayette Parish. Sixteen years later, in 1844, Vermilion Parish was created form the southern portion of Lafayette Parish, and in 1870 the southwestern corner of Vermilion became a part of the new parish of Cameron.

That portion of Cameron west of the Mermentau went through a similar process of change. The Opelousas district became St. Landry Parish. The southwestern section of St. Landry was later organized as Calcasieu Parish, and when Cameron was created the extreme southern part of Calcasieu was included in the new parish. Legislative Act 102 of 1870, which created Cameron, reads:

“La. A., 1870, 3^rd session of 1^st Legislature, #102, p. 168. Approved March 15, 1870.

Sec. 1. That a new parish in the State of Louisiana be, and the same is hereby created out of the southern portion of the Parish of Calcasieu and the southwestern portion of the Parish of Vermilion, to be called and known by the name of the Parish of Cameron.

Sec. 2. That the following shall be the boundaries of the Parish of Cameron, viz: Commencing at a point on the Sabine River, on the township line dividing townships eleven and twelve (11 and 12) south, thence east on said township line to the range line between ranges number two and three (2 and 3) west, thence south on the said range line to the Gulf of Mexico, thence along the coast to the mouth of the Sabine River, thence up the Sabine River to the point of starting.”

Section 4 of the Constitution of 1921 places Cameron in the Fourteenth Senatorial District, along with Calcasieu, Allen, Jefferson Davis, and Beauregard Parishes. This district is allowed two senators in the State Legislature. The parish has also been placed in the Seventh Congressional District.

It was inevitable that with increasing population a new parish would be created to meet the needs of people in this part of the state. All real estate transactions, mortgages, deeds, even marriage licenses, had to be obtained at either Lake Charles or Abbeville, and the great distances, lack of roads, and primitive means of transportation worked rather unnecessary hardships. However, the story behind the organization of the parish reflects the spirit of the times. Henry Clay Warmoth, the carpetbag governor of Louisiana, created the parish as a favor to a political friend who wanted to get into the Louisiana Legislature, and who couldn’t get himself elected in his home parish. Governor Warmoth’s memoirs read in part:

I signed the bill creating the Parish of Cameron on March 16, 1870, and sent Colonel Carter down there as a Parish Judge with a salary of $2,000.00 per annum. I gave him blank commissions for the Sheriff, Justices of the Peace, Police Jurors, Registers of Voters, Constables, etc., with instructions to fill all the offices with the best people he could find in the Parish.

The reader will not be surprised that with all this power Colonel Carter was able to fulfill his ambition and my wishes by being elected a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Cameron Parish. He was unanimously elected, and when he returned to the city boasted that 'he had been elected to the Legislature as a Republican on his Confederate record.'

The new Legislature met in January, 1871. Mortimer Carr, a former Speaker, was elected Speaker of the House, Colonel Carter supporting him. But it was not long before Carter and Speaker Carr fell out about something, and the disagreement culminated in the resignation of Carr as Speaker, through a combination of Republicans and Democrats, and the election of Colonel Carter in his place.”

A remarkable fact was that Carter, who represented Cameron Parish, was never in that Parish sixty days. The fact was that I signed the Bill creating the Parish of Cameron and sent Carter down there to organize it and to get himself returned to the House.

A few years later another Cameron representative, Judge S. P. Henry, was also elected Speaker of the House, and played a prominent part in Louisiana affairs for many years.

Cameron was named in honor of Robert Alexander Cameron, a soldier of the Confederate Army who took part in Bank’s Red River campaign. He was prominent in Louisiana politics during the immediate postwar period. The name Cameron itself is of Scottish origin, and in the old Gaelic tongue it meant “Crook Nose.” It is derived from the words Kam, meaning crooked or bent, and ieron, meaning nose.

When the parish was organized in 1870 an already existing building was purchased for use as a court house. This building burned in 1874; tradition has it that this was a clear case of arson, having for its purpose the destruction of certain land records. Other neighboring parishes suffered the same experience about that time. A new building was immediately erected, which served until 1937, when the present court house, a handsome and commodious steel and concrete structure was built to house adequately the rapidly expanding business of parish government.

Continuing development and expanding industries have brought changes and progress to Cameron. An energetic group of civic leaders has outlined and prosecuted successfully a program of development and improvement, aimed at eliminating or controlling objectionable and undesirable features, and securing and establishing those things which make for a better and fuller life. Cameron has always been a good place in which to live; the outlook for the future is bright.

Let us take a closer look at the residents of Cameron Parish. In 1950 the total population of the parish was 6,244. In 1960 total population figures for the parish were 6,909.

In addition, Cameron Parish is a rural area with 100 percent of the population classified as rural farm and non-farm. Of this figure, 90.4 were classified as rural non-farm and 9.6 percent rural farm.

Furthermore, Cameron Parish is, population wise, comparatively young. The average age per person in 1960 was 25.6 years as compared with the state average of 25.3 years. There were approximately 963 children under 5 years of age in Cameron Parish in 1960 and 2,772 of the total population of 6,909 were under 18 years of age.

Cameron Parish has a background which is predominantly agricultural. Diversified farming has met with increasing popularity; and today, corn, rice, sweet potatoes and other crops as well as livestock, contribute to the agricultural income.

According to latest census figures, there are approximately 479 farms in Cameron Parish. The average size of these farms is approximately 452 acres as compared with 391 acres in 1954. The approximate land area of the parish is 924,160 acres of which 212,557 acres or 23 percent are in farms. Most recent figures available indicate that 9,659 acres were planted in rice with a production of 149,362 barrels, 487 acres were planted in corn with a yield of 11,739 bushels and 7 acres of sweet potatoes with a yield of 244 bushels. In addition, sale of dairy products proved to be a source of income for many Cameron Parish farmers. Farm income derived from dairy products amounted to $700. Too, poultry and poultry products sold increased to $88,504 in 1959. For example, 198,045 dozens of eggs, 7,732 chickens were sold in 1959. The value of sales of livestock and livestock products has increased from $491,291 in 1954 to $1,447,453 in 1959.

Tree fruits, nuts and grapes are found in a limited and abundant scale in Cameron Parish. For example, peaches, pears, plums, figs, and pecans are harvested throughout the area.

The total value of all farm products sold in 1959 by farmers in Cameron Parish amounted to $2,559,392, or an average of $5,009 per farm. This average was considerably higher than the parish average of $3,815 in 1954 and lower than the state average of $4,503 in 1959.

In the decade 1952-62, the school age population in Cameron Parish has risen from 1,694 to 1,838. This represents an increase of 9 percent. The state average for the same period was up to 36 percent. Meanwhile, the number of high school graduates increased approximately 70 percent having risen from 33 to 56 in the same period.

The enrollment of more children in school plus the enrichment of the instructional program in various subject matter areas have necessitated the addition of numerous public school teachers. In 1952, a total of 71 teachers were employed. Today the number is 88. Ten years ago only 66 percent of the teaching staff had earned four or more years of college as compared with 91 percent of the staff with four or more years of college preparation at the present time.

An excellent measure of the importance of education and the support provided the program is the amount of money expended for the education of each public school child. In 1952, Cameron Parish was spending about $336. Today the amount is $654. The increase of 95 percent exceeds the state average. In addition, the bonded debt per school age child has risen from $128 in 1952 to $505 in 1962 - up 295 percent. Investments in school facilities - that is buildings, sites, and equipment have increased 253 percent since 1952. Today, investments in facilities exceed $3,147,786 as compared with $891,262 in 1952. The people of Cameron Parish are to be commended for their outstanding support and interest in the public school program.

Louisiana has a ten-year tax exemption law for the benefit of industrial expansion. An important index of the extent of industrialization which has occurred in a parish is best exemplified by the approved values of manufacturing plants under active ten-year contracts as of December 31, 1961. As of this date, the approved values in Cameron Parish amounted to $9,866,709. Since 1959 total tax exemptions have amounted to $4,491,323, and a total of 51 new and permanent jobs have been created. These investments represent a significant contribution in the economy of the area, and continued growth and expansion will add considerably to the future of Cameron Parish.

In 1956, a total of 1,303 residents in Cameron Parish were employed. Of this total, 55.5 percent were engaged in mining, 11.7 percent were employed in transportation, communication, and utilities and 12.4 percent were in trades. Service occupations accounted for 7.8 percent of the work force in the parish.

In 1961, mining was the leading occupation of 41.4 percent of the working force. Trade and transportation were also very active and leading occupations of Cameron Parish.

Average weekly earnings increased from $90.36 in 1956 to $100.61 in 1961. This increase represented a rise of 11.3 percent. The rate for the state for the same period was 19.5 percent.

Retail sales in Cameron Parish decreased 21.1 percent from 1956 to 1961. In comparison the state average for the same period increased 12.8 percent.

Assessments in Cameron Parish have increased from approximately $11, 234,000 to about $22,820,000 or up 103.1 percent. These data reflect the growth and progress made in Cameron Parish.

In 1962, the leading minerals and produce severed from the soil in Cameron Parish were petroleum and natural gas. Other minor products were natural gas liquids and salt. As a result of these minerals, the value of minerals produced increased from $23,422,038 to $112,919,684 in the period 1952-1961.