Red River route

[JohnG0609]

Need some help from the pros in the Trans-Mississippi forum.

Obviously there existed a connection to the Red River from Minden. But I know Minden is 30 miles due east of Shreveport. Hoping someone can help me nail down a route from Shreveport to Minden to mouth of Red River and on to Mississippi.

Thanks in advance!

 

[delta rifles]

Shot in the dark, but Loggy Bayou connects the Red River to Lake Bistineau which is connected to Crane Lake which is connected to Bayou Dorcheat. I am uncertain if things have changed between the Civil War and now, but that may be a good start.

I have Samuel Lockett's geographic survery of Louisiana written in 1869, but I need to find it. I will look for it and post a map of the area if there is one.

 

[JohnG0609]

Shot in the dark, but Loggy Bayou connects the Red River to Lake Bistineau which is connected to Crane Lake which is connected to Bayou Dorcheat. I am uncertain if things have changed between the Civil War and now, but that may be a good start.

I have Samuel Lockett's geographic survery of Louisiana written in 1869, but I need to find it. I will look for it and post a map of the area if there is one.

My brain thanks you for saving its cells. The ones I would have killed trying to map that route out. Looking forward to seeing the map!

 

[delta rifles]

From Louisiana Lockett, Samuel.As It Is: A Geographical and Topographical Description of the State. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1969. (Re-printing of his 1869 study).

"Cypress Bayou flows into the lake from the west after running eighteen miles parallel to Red River. Flowing into Lake Bistineau farther north are name, flows southward twenty miles and becomes united through numerous lakes and bayous with Lake Bistineau and Red River. Flowing into Lake Bistineau farther north are Clark's and Foxskin bayous." p. 60

"Webster. This is one of the newly formed parished created by legislative enactment in 1871 out of portions of bossier, Claiborne, and Bienville. It is bounded on the west, east, and south by these parishes, respectively; Columbia County, Arkansas, bounds it on the north; Bayou Bodcau forms part of the western boundary line; and Black Lake Bayou, part of the eastern. Bayou Dorcheat flows through the middle of the parish from north to south, emptying into the head of Lake Bistineau.
Between Bodcau Bayou and Bayou Dorcheat, a long, level country extends from the northen boundary of the parish to Lake Bistineau....The Dorcheat is navigable to the bridge across it near Minden on the road to Belleview. There are but few streams flowing into this bayou from the level country to the west of it, but its eastern tributaries are numerous and of considerable size.....Miden is its courthouse town..It does a good deal of business with North Louisiana and is the "seaport" town for several parishes during high water." p. 61

 

[JohnG0609]

From Louisiana Lockett, Samuel.As It Is: A Geographical and Topographical Description of the State. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1969. (Re-printing of his 1869 study).

"Cypress Bayou flows into the lake from the west after running eighteen miles parellel to Red River. Flowing into Lake Bistineau farther north are name, flows southward twenty miles and becomes united through numerous lakes and bayoues with Lake Bistineau and Red River. Flowing into Lake Bistineau farther north are Clark's and Foxskin bayous." p. 60

"Webster. This is one of the newly formed parished created by legislative enactment in 1871 out of portions of bossier, Claiborne, and Bienville. It is bounded on the west, east, and south by these parishes, respectively; Columbia County, Arkansas, bounds it on the north; Bayou Bodcau forms part of the western boundary line; and Black Lake Bayou, part of the eastern. Bayou Dorcheat flows through the middle of the parish from north to south, emptying into the head of Lake Bistineau.
Between Bodcau Bayou and Bayou Dorcheat, a long, level country extends from the northen boundary of the parish to Lake Bistineau....The Dorcheat is navigable to the bridge across it near Minden on the road to Belleview. There are but few streams flowing into this bayou from the level country to the west of it, but its eastern tributaries are numerous and of considerable size.....Miden is its courthouse town..It does a good deal of business with North Louisiana and is the "seaport" town for several parishes during high water." p. 61

Awesome. Thanks. I didn't want to presume any route today would have been one in 1863. Thanks for the quick response!

 

[delta rifles]

Awesome. Thanks. I didn't want to presume any route today would have been one in 1863. Thanks for the quick response!

My geographical knowledge of that area is scant at best being that I am from the southern portion of the state.

This seems like the logical route, but I am not aware of every connection between the Red and Lake Bistineau.
I hope someone with some more knowledge can point us in the right direction in that regard.

I have attached a link to an 1865 map of the Red River. Hope this helps.

Valley of the Red River, La. from Mississippi River to Shreveport

Map of the Red River Campaign during the Civil War, lasting from March to May 1864. The map shows locations of battle sites between Union and Confederate soldiers, including the Battle of Mansfield and the Battle of Pleasant Hill; the approximate date and/or time of battles; and routes traveled...

texashistory.unt.edu

 

[JohnG0609]

My geographical knowledge of that area is scant at best being that I am from the southern portion of the state.

This seems like the logical route, but I am not aware of every connection between the Red and Lake Bistineau.
I hope someone with some more knowledge can point us in the right direction in that regard.

I have attached a link to an 1865 map of the Red River. Hope this helps.
https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth493443/m1/1/

Thanks brother. The link is broken on my end

 

[delta rifles]

Valley of the Red River, La. from Mississippi River to Shreveport

Map of the Red River Campaign during the Civil War, lasting from March to May 1864. The map shows locations of battle sites between Union and Confederate soldiers, including the Battle of Mansfield and the Battle of Pleasant Hill; the approximate date and/or time of battles; and routes traveled...

texashistory.unt.edu