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Eugene Church · 10-30-2019, 09:13 PM

THE HISTORY OF SOUTH ISLAND

Like North Island, South Island is located in the middle of Little Lake, about 75 miles southwest of New Orleans, just a short ferry ride to Leeville, a small town on Highway 1, which is the main road northward... should you venture south and east on Highway 1, you will end up at "The End of the World" - Grand Isle... after that, there's nothing else but the Gulf of Mexico.

South Louisiana was settled by the Chitamaca Indians about 6,000 years ago... for many, many moons they lived and controlled the Atchafalaya Basin... for centuries the swamps, bayous and rivers there provided them a natural defense and protection from outside enemies... it was easy for them to defend the area... the Atchafalaya Basin also provided the Chitamacas with fish, game, deer, turkey and alligator... they also grew crops of corn, beans, squash and melons... they traveled the swamp in dugout canoes, made by carving out cypress logs... they used fish bones for arrowheads.

In the time of Columbus... for the historically-challenged, here is a little grammar school poem to help you... it helped EC in 1951... "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue"... the Chitamacas numbered about 20,000... fortunately, due to their isolation in the swamps, they did not have contact with the Europeans for about 100 years... in the 1600s the Chitamacas began to suffer from the infectious diseases they contacted from the European explorers... also by the introduction of "firewater" and alcohol to the tribal culture... by 1700 their population was down to just 4,000... a bitter war with the French 1706-1718 also took its toll as they could not deal with the far superior firepower of the French... the French forced the remaining Chitamacas to resettle much farther north along the Mississippi River... only 180 Chitamacas remained in the Atchafalaya Basin by 1784.

In the late 18th century, the British expelled most of the French-speaking Acadians from eastern Canada after defeating the French in the Seven Years' War and taking over their territories in North America, east of the Mississippi River... some Acadian refugees were resettled in South Louisiana in the Atchafalaya Basin; their descendants became known as Cajuns... they also put pressure on the Chitimacan population because they took over their land... the Cajuns and the Chitamacas intermarried.

For safety, a remnant of the Cajuns and Chitamacas moved to the isolated South Island and are still there today... they live in the small town called Chitamaca... most of the population of South Island are of Acadian descent... the Cajuns live in St. Dominic, Bayou Bleu, Delacroix, Guedon, Meraux, Labadieville, Opelousas, Bar Harbor and Claiborne... the other two towns, Mystic and Des Allemands (The Germans) were settled by the Irish and Germans.

Well, I know it's hard to believe, but the South Island towns are going to emulate the North Island towns and create a recreational baseball league based on their high school teams... who would have thunk it?

The South Island League will begin play next year in 1952... two 6-team leagues... with promotion and relegation.

Note: I am aware that Chitamacha is misspelled in my SIRL... the logo designer didn't use the second "h"... I didn't have the heart to ask him to correct it... he had already wonderfully done 9-10 of the teams.
Hopefully, the Chitamacha tribe will not be offended... should they request it, I will graciously correct it.

10-30-2019, 09:13 PM	#976
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 36,205	THE HISTORY OF SOUTH ISLAND Like North Island, South Island is located in the middle of Little Lake, about 75 miles southwest of New Orleans, just a short ferry ride to Leeville, a small town on Highway 1, which is the main road northward... should you venture south and east on Highway 1, you will end up at "The End of the World" - Grand Isle... after that, there's nothing else but the Gulf of Mexico. South Louisiana was settled by the Chitamaca Indians about 6,000 years ago... for many, many moons they lived and controlled the Atchafalaya Basin... for centuries the swamps, bayous and rivers there provided them a natural defense and protection from outside enemies... it was easy for them to defend the area... the Atchafalaya Basin also provided the Chitamacas with fish, game, deer, turkey and alligator... they also grew crops of corn, beans, squash and melons... they traveled the swamp in dugout canoes, made by carving out cypress logs... they used fish bones for arrowheads. In the time of Columbus... for the historically-challenged, here is a little grammar school poem to help you... it helped EC in 1951... "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue"... the Chitamacas numbered about 20,000... fortunately, due to their isolation in the swamps, they did not have contact with the Europeans for about 100 years... in the 1600s the Chitamacas began to suffer from the infectious diseases they contacted from the European explorers... also by the introduction of "firewater" and alcohol to the tribal culture... by 1700 their population was down to just 4,000... a bitter war with the French 1706-1718 also took its toll as they could not deal with the far superior firepower of the French... the French forced the remaining Chitamacas to resettle much farther north along the Mississippi River... only 180 Chitamacas remained in the Atchafalaya Basin by 1784. In the late 18th century, the British expelled most of the French-speaking Acadians from eastern Canada after defeating the French in the Seven Years' War and taking over their territories in North America, east of the Mississippi River... some Acadian refugees were resettled in South Louisiana in the Atchafalaya Basin; their descendants became known as Cajuns... they also put pressure on the Chitimacan population because they took over their land... the Cajuns and the Chitamacas intermarried. For safety, a remnant of the Cajuns and Chitamacas moved to the isolated South Island and are still there today... they live in the small town called Chitamaca... most of the population of South Island are of Acadian descent... the Cajuns live in St. Dominic, Bayou Bleu, Delacroix, Guedon, Meraux, Labadieville, Opelousas, Bar Harbor and Claiborne... the other two towns, Mystic and Des Allemands (The Germans) were settled by the Irish and Germans. Well, I know it's hard to believe, but the South Island towns are going to emulate the North Island towns and create a recreational baseball league based on their high school teams... who would have thunk it? The South Island League will begin play next year in 1952... two 6-team leagues... with promotion and relegation. Note: I am aware that Chitamacha is misspelled in my SIRL... the logo designer didn't use the second "h"... I didn't have the heart to ask him to correct it... he had already wonderfully done 9-10 of the teams. Hopefully, the Chitamacha tribe will not be offended... should they request it, I will graciously correct it. Last edited by Eugene Church; 11-23-2019 at 02:39 PM.