Coushatta (Louisiana)

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Coushatta
The Red River at Coushatta
The Red River at Coushatta
Location in Louisiana
Coushatta (Louisiana)
Coushatta
Coushatta
Basic data
State : United States
State : Louisiana
Parish : Red River Parish
Coordinates : 32 ° 1 ′  N , 93 ° 21 ′  W Coordinates: 32 ° 1 ′  N , 93 ° 21 ′  W
Time zone : Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 )
Residents : 1,964 (as of 2010 )
Population density : 231.1 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 8.8 km 2  (about 3 mi 2 ) of
which 8.5 km 2  (about 3 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 43 m
Postal code : 71019
Area code : +1 318
FIPS : 22-18055
GNIS ID : 1629928
Website : www.coushatta.net
Mayor : Johnny Cox

Coushatta is a city and the Parish Seat of Red River Parish in the north of the US state of Louisiana . The city is on the east bank of the Red River . It is about 45 miles south of Shreveport . The population, which was 2299 according to the 2000 Census , consists of almost two thirds of African Americans . According to the 2010 census, there were only 1964 people living in the city in 2010, which equates to a population decline of almost 15%.

history

Welcome sign from Coushatta

Red River Parish and the Red River Valley were areas of civil unrest after the Civil War . White paramilitary groups were active and perpetrated violence during the Reconstruction period, especially in the 1870s. In the Parish the cotton cultivation prevailed , which was dependent on the enslaved , black workers, who had long represented the majority of the population. After the war, the white planters and farmers wanted to restore their dominance over the majority of the population. The blacks, on the other hand, wanted to determine their own lives after they had obtained their freedom and citizenship.

Founded in May 1874 by white Civil War veteran who grew White League rapidly in rural areas of Louisiana. The aim of this militia was to drive out the Republican Party and to deprive the freed slaves of their civil rights and their right to vote. The White League cracked down on Republican incumbents, some resigning their posts while others were killed. She also tried to keep black and white Republican supporters away from the polls.

In August 1874, the White League ordered six white Republican incumbents in Coushatta to leave the region. They were then murdered before they could leave the city. Among the victims were a brother and three brothers-in-law of Republican State Senator Marshall H. Twitchell . Twitchell's wife and brothers came from a family that had long lived in Red River Parish.

The White League also murdered between five and twenty black people who were witnesses. These murders came to be known as the Coushatta massacre . The massacre led to Governor William Pitt Kellogg's decision to demand more federal troops from President Ulysses S. Grant to pacify the state. Ordinary southerners wrote to the White House describing the terrible conditions and fear they lived in during those years.

Amid an increase in fraud, violence and intimidation, the Bourbon Democrats won a majority in the Louisiana Parliament in the 1876 election. They introduced new electoral regulations and a new constitution, depriving most blacks and many poor whites of the right to vote. The Democrats secured rule in Louisiana until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , which lifted voting restrictions.

geography

The city has a total area of ​​8.8 km 2 (3.4 mi 2 ), of which 0.26 km 2 (0.1 mi 2 ) is water. This corresponds to a share of 2.91%.

North of Coushatta, the Loggy Bayou Stream, whose source is Lake Bistineau , flows into the Red River .

Demographics

According to the 2000 United States Census , the city had 2,299 people in 738 households and 512 families. The population density was 265 per km 2 .

By race , 33.19% of the population were white and 65.43% were black or African American. 0.09 were Native Americans , 0.13% Asian, and 0.04% Pacific islanders. 0.39% stated another race and 0.74% two or more races . Regardless, 1.17% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 738 households, 38.5% had children under the age of 18. 34.4% of the households were occupied by married partners and in 31.8% there was a female homeowner without a husband. 30.6% were unmarried couples. There were singles living in 27.1% of all households and someone 65 years of age or older lived in 12.9% of all households. The usual household size consisted of 2.82 people, families of 3.48 people.

33.3% of the population was younger than 18, 10.6% were between 18 and 24, 22.7% were between 25 and 44, 17.8% between 45 and 64 and 15.5% of the population were 65 years old or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 women there were 78.6 men.

The median income in the city was 15,000 US dollars and 18,958 dollars for families. Men had a median income of $ 30,938 and women a median income of $ 13,833. Over 44.6% of families and 49.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 64.0% of those under the age of 18 and 19.7% of those over 65.

education

Coushatta is part of the Red River Parish School District . This includes the Red River Elementary School , Red River Junior High School, and Red River Senior High School .

The Riverdale Academy , outside Coushatta, is the only private K-12 -School in Red River Parish.

National Guard

C Troop 2 of the 108th Cavalry Squadron of the Louisiana National Guard is stationed in Coushatta . The history of the unit dates back to the Confederate Army , where it was known as "the Wildbunch". The unit was previously stationed in Iraq as A Company 1-156 Armor Battalion from 2004 to 2005, as part of the 256th Infantry Brigade. The unit was again stationed in Iraq from 2010.

Donald Gray Horton

Business owners have left the city center many times

While many stores have left downtown Coushatta, the Famous Natchitoches Louisiana Meat Pie Company stayed in Coushatta and Natchitoches . Until his death at the age of 68, the prosecutor and philanthropist Donald Gray Horton (* 1945, † 2013) owned half of the company. Horton continued to hold large stakes in Ducks Unlimited , the Coushatta Country Club , Coushatta United Methodist Church, and Riverdale Academy.

Horton went to Coushatta High School and Northwestern State University , and played American football at both . He received his legal license from Tulane University Law School . Horton was long president of the NSU Athletic Association. Horton was responsible for creating the John K. Kelly Grand Bayou Waterway in Red River Parish. He served as an advisor to the Red River Waterway Commission.

Horton was married to Patricia "Pat" Hayden and had two sons, John and Leland Horton, and three grandchildren. He is buried in Springville Cemetery.

Picture gallery

Known residents

Web links

Commons : Coushatta, Louisiana  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Louisiana 2010 census report ( Memento of the original from August 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from the United States Census Bureau , accessed July 28, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.census.gov
  2. Nicholas Lemann: Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006, ISBN 142992361X / ISBN 9781429923613 , p. 76
  3. Nicholas Lemann: Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006, ISBN 142992361X / ISBN 9781429923613 , pp. 76-77
  4. Donald Gray Horton in The Shreveport Times , 6/8. June 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013
  5. Longtime NSU booster Horton dies ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in Alexandria Daily Town Talk on June 6, 2013, Accessed on 29 July 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thetowntalk.com
  6. Profile of Bennie Logan of the Tennessee Titans , Retrieved July 29, 2013