STATE OF
LOUISIANA
The
article below was written in 1885 and makes
interesting reading.
Topography:
Louisiana has an extreme length east and west of
300 miles; the greatest breadth is 240 miles;
area, 48,720 square miles or 31,180,800 acres. It
is low-lying, and much of the southern part is
only a few feet above sea level. Hills there are
none except in the northwest, where there are
some low ranges, never exceeding 200 feet in
height; and on the east bank of the Mississippi,
where the bluffs rise gradually between Baton
Rouge and Natchez to the height of 200 feet.
The
coast line extends over 1,200 miles, and is
exceedingly irregular. Few States, if any, are so
well watered, and many of the streams are
navigable. The Mississippi flows for 800 miles
through or on the borders of Louisiana, and
reaches the sea by means of numerous branches,
forming an extensive delta. The Red,
Atachafalaya, Amite, Pearl and Washita rivers are
all navigable for considerable distances. In many
cases rivers expand into large bayous or lakes.
Of these, the principal are Lakes Pontchartrain,
Borgne, Verret, Grand, Sabine, White, Black,
Bistineau, Catahoula, Maurepas and Washa.
Climate:
The mean annual temperature, at New Orleans is
68º and at Shreveport, in the northwest, 64º
Fahrenheit, and the rain fall ranges from fifty
to sixty-five inches, most of it being in spring
and summer. The summers are protracted and
occasionally very hot, and the winters are colder
than most of the Atlantic States in the same
latitude, owing to the free sweep which The
northern winds have over the State. The climate
is favorable to the growth of all agricultural
productions, but can not be considered healthy,
at least for persons who have not become
acclimated.
In
1853, 1867 and again in 1878, yellow fever
prevailed as an epidemic New Orleans and other
cities, causing great loss of life and an almost
entire suspension of business.
History:
Louisiana was first visited by La Salle in 1691,
and the first permanent settlement within the
State limits was made by the French at New
Orleans in 1718.
Four
years later the seat of the colonial government
was transferred to that city of Mobile. But prior
to this date French settlements had been made at
various points on the lower Mississippi and the
Gulf of Mexico, all of which places were then
included in the province of Louisiana.
Nominally,
at least, this was an empire in itself, for it
included all the territory west of the
Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains and north to
the British Possessions, out of which nine States
and five Territories have since been created. A
proprietary government was formed in 1717 under
the charter given to the Mississippi company and
John Law, which existed for fifteen years, during
which period fruitless attempts at settlement on
a large scale were made.
In
1762 the province was ceded to Spain; in 1800 it
was retroceded to France; and in 1803 was bought
by the United States. Shortly after the
acquisition of the Territory, the greater part of
what is now Louisiana was formed into the
Territory of Orleans, while all the unsettled and
almost unknown country north and west of it
retained the old title.
In
1811 the United Stated took possession of the
division east of the Mississippi, which had been
claimed by Spain, and, The northern section
having had its name changed to Missouri, the
Territory of Orleans was admitted into, the Union
as the State of Louisiana, April 8, 1812. In the
second war with England the new State bore
herself nobly, and the last battle of the war was
fought at New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815. The increase
in wealth and population was not checked until
1860.
The
ordinance of secession was adopted Jan. 26, 1861,
and on March 21 the constitution of the
Confederate States was ratified. The forts
commanding the city of New Orleans and the United
States arsenal at Baton Rouge had previously been
taken, possession of by State troops and large
quantities of arms and ammunition captured, and
on Jan. 31 the custom house and mint at New
Orleans were seized. In the spring Of 1862 active
offensive operations by land and sea were begun
by Federal forces.
|
