Prairie des Femmes : May 2013

Friday, May 10, 2013

Monday, May 6, 2013

Prairie des Femmes in Lore and History

Descendants of Michel CORMIER (1741-1790)

Michel, son of Pierre dit Palette Cormier and Cécile Thibodeau of Chignecto, younger brother of Joseph and first cousin of Jean-Baptiste, fils, married Anne dite Nanette, daughter of Jacques Sonnier of Petitcoudiac, sister of brother Joseph's first wife, and widow of Basile Babin, at Opelousas in c1769. Anne died in early 1773, and Michel remarried to Catherine, daughter of German Creole neighbor Johann Georg Stelly, at Opelousas in c1774. Michel remarried again--his third marriage--to Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Breaux and widow of Étienne Benoit, at Attakapas in February 1789; Madeleine was 20 years younger than Michel and was his wife for less than two years. Michel and his wives did well on the Opelousas prairies. In March 1768, he, along with brother Joseph, were among the 11 signers of a petition addressed to Spanish Governor Ulloa requesting assistance in the form of oxen and plows to help them grow wheat in the district; in April, the governor, now angry with all Acadians in the colony, rejected the petition. After the revolt against Ulloa, in which he and his Opelousas comrades probably did not participate, he signed with his mark an unconditional oath of allegiance to Spain in December 1769. In the years that followed, he became a cattleman, not a wheat farmer. In August 1771, Governor Unzaga granted him 253.04 arpents of land, to be occupied and cultivated, on Bayou Bourbeaux between present-day Leonville and Arnaudville, St. Landry Parish. His house at Prairie des Femmes on Bayou Bourbeaux, "built prior to 1773 ... on ground level with 'poteaux-en-terre, ... had bousillage walls, and a dirt floor, and a gallery or porch surrounding the house." In 1771, the year he received his land grant, Michel owned 28 head of cattle. Three years later, he owned 20 head of cattle, 6 horses and mules, and 16 pigs. In 1777, he owned 50 head of cattle, 16 horses, and 16 pigs. His fortunes increased dramatically in the 1780s. In 1788, on his vacherie at Prairie des Femmes, Michel owned a herd of 130 cattle and 15 horses. He also owned seven slaves. Meanwhile, as was his duty, he served in the Opelousas company of militia. He was a fusileer in 1776, described on the militia roll as 5 feet, 4 inches tall, an inch taller than his brother Joseph. Three years later, in their late 30s, Michel and Joseph participated with their company in Governor-General Gálvez's attack against the British at Baton Rouge. Michel died at his home at Prairie des Femmes in December 1790, without benefit of sacraments; he was only 49 years old. According to family tradition, he was buried in what became the old yellow fever cemetery at present-day Washington, St. Landry Parish.

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Articles by Floyd Knott:

In the mid-1900s, some of the favorite places to dance to Cajun music were the Silver Slipper and the Happy Landing in Pecaniere. It was there, as a youngster, that I met many people from Prairie des Femmes (femmes is French for women). Prairie des Femmes is a community between Grand Coteau, Arnaudville and Opelousas. I was always amazed at the large number of girls from the same family at the dances. One family had eight girls and only one male. Although to a smaller degree, I observed the same pattern with other families. So it was easy to make the assumption that the community was so named because females outnumbered males.

Recently I met Mrs. Marks, an elderly lady from that community. When she introduced herself as coming from Marks Bridge of the Prairie des Femmes area, my curiosity was again aroused. She joked about all the Marks, Quebedeaux, and Lagrange girls in her neighborhood when she was young. So I asked her if she knew the reason why it was so named. I was familiar with the origin of the Marks Bridge name but Prairie des Femmes was only speculation — and indeed when I posed the question she gave me a different explanation from the one I had assumed.

She told me that her grandfather had always told her that during the Civil War most battles were fought along Bayou Teche and Bayou Bourbeau and that before the battles, the menfolk would move the women and children to the safety of the prairie and that was the reason it was called Prairie des Femmes.

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Oral history is sometimes not entirely accurate. One of the many enjoyments I get from writing articles about old times is the many comments from the readers about different versions of events from the past that they have heard from there elders. Such was the case about the origin of the name Prairie Des Femmes, a community in St. Landry Parish. Apparently the version expressed earlier about the name coming as a result of the Civil War battles was not correct because additional research indicates that the name was in use as early as 1809. Father Hebert’s earliest document in which Prairie Des Femmes was mentioned was a memo written in 1809 from the cattle warden. A document, “Police des Animaux,” which authorizes the picking up of all stray cattle in the District of Grand Coteau, Prairie Des Femmes and Carencro, was signed by George King, parish judge. Prairie Des Femme was mentioned quite frequently by Father Hebert in his research from 1809 to 1830 – years before the Civil War.

David Lanclos has a different explanation:

“I have also heard a version of the story about how the place came to be called by that name. The story goes that as Indian groups traveled through their hunting grounds they often set up camps on the various prairies that bordered Bayou Teche. According to the story, Indians had set up a camp at the place we know today as Prairie Des Femmes. When they decided it was time to move on, there were several women who were too old or too sick to travel. As was often the custom of these Indians, the old women were abandoned at that place, where they were eventually discovered by early settlers who lived in the area. The place thus came to be called Prairie Des Femmes.”

Is this the true story? Who knows, but if we keep exploring it, sooner or later, a definitive version about the origin of the name Prairie Des Femmes is bound to emerge. If anyone has heard a different version, please contact me.

Read more: ZacharyToday.com - Les Vieux Temps by Floyd Knott

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Here is the earliest documentation on a map of the Prairie des Femmes that I have found on the Carte générale du Territoire d'Orléans comprenant aussi la Floride Occidentale et une portion du Territoire du Mississipi by Barthélémy Lafon.

See Prairie des Femmes in the crook of the bayous under the last S of Oppeloussas (Deail of Carte générale du Territoire d'Orléans comprenant aussi la Floride Occidentale et une portion du Territoire du Mississipi, 1806)

Carte générale du Territoire d'Orléans comprenant aussi la Floride Occidentale et une portion du Territoire du Mississipi
1806; engraving by Barthélémy Lafon;
The Historic New Orleans Collection, bequest of Richard Koch (1971.52)