THE CHOCTAW OF BAYOU LACOMB, ST. TAMMAM 



PARISH, LOUISIANA 



By David I. Bushnell, Jr. 



HABITAT 



St. Tammany parish, Louisiana, borders on the northern shore of 

 Lake Pontchartrain and is bounded on the east by the State of 

 Mississippi, from wliich it is separated by Pearl river. 



Li the southern part of the parish are many bayous that flow into 

 Lake Pontchartrain. Extensive marshes and swamps are found 

 between the bayous, in wliich flourish the magnolia, live oak, black 

 gum, cypress, and palmetto, and vast quantities of Spanish moss 

 hang from the branches of many trees. Back from the swamps and 

 bayous, on slightly higher ground, is one unbroken stretch of forests 

 of longleaf pine (pi. 1). 



Deer, otter, and mink are still to be foimd; opossums, raccoons, 

 squirrels, and rabbits are very numerous; and ducks, quail, and wild 

 turkeys are killed in large numbers. 



The climate is mild during the winter; there is but little frost, and 

 rarely a few flakes of snow fall. The summers are long and hot. As 

 a whole the section is very healthful. 



At the present time the Choctaw have two settlements witliin the 

 limits of the parish: one near Bayou Lacomb, the other at Pearl 

 River station, on the right bank of the river, about twelve miles 

 from its mouth. Only a few members, a mere remnant, of the tribe 

 now live in this region. 



HISTORY 



Unfortunately very little is known of the history of the people of 

 whom this paper treats. 



The earliest writers, as well as the oldest maps of the region, 

 designate the Acolapissa as the tribe occupying the region now 

 included within the limits of St. Tammany parish, at the time of the 

 discovery and settlement of lower Louisiana by the French. 



The Acolapissa were so closely connected with the Choctaw proper 

 that it is not possible now to distinguish between them. They spoke 



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