Fort Polk and Vernon Parish, 1800-1940
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University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Faculty Publications Anthropology, Department of 1999 A Good Home for a Poor Man: Fort Polk and Vernon Parish, 1800-1940 Steven D. Smith University of South Carolina - Columbia, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/anth_facpub Part of the Anthropology Commons Publication Info Published in 1999. This project was funded by the Department of Defense’s Legacy Resource Management Program and administered by the Southeast Archaeological Center of the National Park Service under a cooperative agreement between the National Park Service and the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina. This Book is brought to you by the Anthropology, Department of at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Good Home for a Poor Man Fort Polk and Vernon Parish 1800 – 1940 Steven D. Smith A Good Home for a Poor Man Fort Polk and Vernon Parish 1800–1940 Steven D. Smith 1999 Dedicated to Andrew Jackson “Jack” Hadnot, John Cupit, Erbon Wise, John D. O’Halloran, Don Marler, Mary Cleveland, Ruth and John Guy, Martha Palmer, and others who have wrest from obscurity the history of Vernon Parish. This project was funded by the Department of Defense’s Legacy Resource Management Program and administered by the Southeast Archeological Center of the National Park Service under Cooperative Agreement CA-5000-3-9010, Subagreement CA-5000-4-9020/3, between the National Park Service and the South Carolina Institute of Archaeol- ogy and Anthropology, University of South Carolina. CONTENTS FIGURES......................................................................................................................................................6 TABLES .......................................................................................................................................................8 PREFACE .....................................................................................................................................................9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..........................................................................................................................10 CHAPTER 1 — BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 11 The Purpose of This Book .........................................................................................11 A Landscape Approach to Vernon Parish History .....................................................12 Scale and Documentation ..........................................................................................13 CHAPTER 2 — EXPLORATION AND INITIAL SETTLEMENT TO 1821 ...........................................17 The Primeval Landscape............................................................................................18 The Native Americans ...............................................................................................24 Exploration, Trade and Initial Occupation to 1806 ...................................................26 Early Exploration ................................................................................................26 Settlers and Traders, 1717–1800 ........................................................................28 The Neutral Ground ...................................................................................................33 Boundary Dispute................................................................................................34 No Man’s Land ....................................................................................................36 Summary ....................................................................................................................42 CHAPTER 3 — ANTEBELLUM PERIOD, WAR, AND RECOVERY, 1821–1871 ...............................44 The Antebellum Landscape .......................................................................................44 Population and Settlement ..................................................................................44 Agriculture and Industry .....................................................................................49 Early Roads and Trails........................................................................................53 Hamlets................................................................................................................65 Social and Political Centers ...............................................................................71 River Life along the Sabine .................................................................................74 Frontier Violence and Outlaws ...........................................................................76 The Civil War.............................................................................................................76 Reconstruction to 1871 ..............................................................................................81 Summary ....................................................................................................................82 3 A Good Home for a Poor Man: Fort Polk and Vernon Parish, 1800–1940 CHAPTER 4 — POSTBELLUM VERNON PARISH, 1871–1897 ..........................................................83 The Late Nineteenth-Century Landscape ..................................................................83 The Formation of Vernon Parish................................................................................84 Population and Settlement ..................................................................................86 Agriculture ..........................................................................................................91 Lumbering ...........................................................................................................95 The Transportation Landscape ...........................................................................96 Villages, Hamlets, and Post Stops .....................................................................101 Social-Cultural Development ..................................................................................107 Religious and Social Organizations ..................................................................107 Politics and Conflicts ........................................................................................110 Summary .................................................................................................................. 112 CHAPTER 5 — TIMBER, TRAINS, AND A LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMED, 1898–1940 ...............113 A Landscape Transformed .......................................................................................113 Buying Up the Land........................................................................................... 114 The Lumber Industry in Vernon Parish.................................................................... 116 The Mills............................................................................................................ 116 Harvesting the Trees..........................................................................................123 Processing the Lumber ......................................................................................126 Naval Stores.......................................................................................................127 Replanting the Forest ...............................................................................................133 Civilian Conservation Corps.............................................................................135 Forest Fires .......................................................................................................136 Summary ..................................................................................................................138 CHAPTER 6 — A COMMUNITY TRANSFORMED, 1898–1940 ........................................................139 Population and Settlement .......................................................................................139 Population and Settlement in Fort Polk ............................................................142 Twentieth-Century Agriculture ................................................................................146 Twentieth-Century Transportation ...........................................................................150 Railroads ...........................................................................................................163 Lumber Towns, Villages, Post Stops .......................................................................167 Twentieth-Century Society and Politics ..................................................................191 Churches ............................................................................................................191 Schools ..............................................................................................................192 Social Activities .................................................................................................194 Politics and Social Change ...............................................................................195 The Great Depression and the Army .......................................................................198