The roots of horse and cattle traditionS go back to the settling of southwest Louisiana in 1765, with the Dauterive Compact, signed by eight men, four of whom were Broussards, and all of whom were exiled French-Canadians. These men purchased a large herd of cattle from Comanche Indians and established the cattle industry in the future United States.
Les Vacheurs, The Cattle Ranchers of the Marsh is the subject of a talk by historian Dr. Ray Brassieur at Vermilionville on Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 6:30 p.m. Joining him are Charles Broussard, a tenth-generation rancher who managed the Flying J Ranch in Vermilion Parish, Samuel Duplantis, another family rancher from Vermilion Parish and Glenda Schoeffler, who will share the cattle brands and other artistic renderings her father recreated, including those brands made for Free People of Color. The program is part of the series In Your Own Backyard, produced by the University of Louisiana Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism. For more information call 482-1320 or go to the CCET website.
Get ready for this talk by listening to Horse Play, a radio documentary by filmaker and folklorist Conni Castille. The show, which explores Cajun and Creole horse culture — trail rides, bush track racing, Mardi Gras courirs — that sprang from ranching on the prairies west of the Atchafalaya Basin, was originally broadcast on KRVS on Oct. 5, and is now available as a download on KRVS’ website.
So quit horsing around, saddle up and move em’ out.
David Calhoun and Elizabeth “EB” Brooks are the first two employees of Lafayette Central Park Inc., the nonprofit charged with turning Lafayette Consolidated Government’s 100-acre Johnston Street Horse Farm property into a passive public park. Calhoun was named executive director, and Brooks is director of planning and design.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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