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Site of First Acadian Settlers in Louisiana
Hwy 18, St. James,
LA,
USA
Latitude & Longitude:
30° 0' 55.9008",
-90° 50' 29.2164"
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Louisiana State
Historical Marker |
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Refugees came overland 1756-57. In vicinity was 1762 grant to Jacques Cantrelle, Sr. of France after whom Church and Parish were named. Section once included in Les Oumas, Eveche of Quebéc.
Last updated: 7/27/2009 15:10:00
| StoppingPoints.com Editorial on Site of First Acadian Settlers in Louisiana: | The Acadians (French: Acadiens) are the descendants of the seventeenth-century French colonists who settled in Acadia (located in the Canadian Maritime provinces - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, and in the US state of Maine). Although today most of the Acadians and Qu‚b‚cois are francophone Canadians, Acadia was founded in a region geographically separate from Quebec (Canada at this time), which led to their developing two distinct cultures. The settlers whose descendants became Acadians did not all come from the same region in France. Acadian family names have come from many areas in France, from the Maillets of Paris to the Leblancs of Normandy. As additional examples, the popular Acadian surname 'Melanson' had its roots in Brittany, and those with the surname 'Bastarache', 'Basque', had their origin in the Basque Country.
In the Great Expulsion (often referred to as The Great Upheaval) of 1755-1763, mostly during the Seven Years' War, British colonial officers and New England legislators and militia deported more than 14,000 Acadians from the maritime region. Many later settled in Louisiana, where they became known as Cajuns. Others were transported to France. Later on many Acadians returned to the Maritime provinces of Canada, most specifically New Brunswick. During the British conquest of New France, they renamed the French colony of Acadia as Nova Scotia (meaning New Scotland).
In 1847, American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published Evangeline, an epic poem loosely based on the events surrounding the 1755 deportation. The poem became an American classic, and contributed to a rebirth of Acadian identity in both Maritime Canada and in Louisiana.
(See also the Evangeline Oak historical marker in St. Martin Parish.) |
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Site of First Acadian Settlers Historical Marker Location Map, St. James, Louisiana
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