Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

This phrase may remind you of the Wizard of Oz or bring back memories of childhood games. It serves also as your invitation to Tour Natchitoches with Barbara.

The pandemic made recluses of most of us. You may be considering an outing with family or friends. What could be more fun than a "Steel Magnolias"tour in the town where it all happened and the movie was filmed.

History buff? Consider the "Downtown Natchitoches Historic Tour".

Call, Text or E-Mail Barbara today for your private, customized tours.

                 (318) 663-5469.                                             bbaileyok8@suddenlink.net

                 The French Came to Natchitoches In 1714. Now It's Your Turn

Francois Derbanne's Party Attacked by Apaches on Journey from Natchitoches to the Rio Grande

Interpreter in uniform of a French Marine at Ft. St Jean Baptiste

Posted by Doyle Bailey for Tour Natchitoches with Barbara

Francois Derbanne's journey in 1717 from Natchitoches to the Rio Grand would have made a great script for Director John Ford with Derbanne played by the "Duke", John Wayne. In his own words the intrepid explorer writes:

"On the 8th (of April, 1717) we made 8 leagues (12 miles), we crossed Red River (or Colorado)...which is very wide when it is high and the woods on both sides are willows, ash and oak...After crossing it, we were attacked by sixty Indians, all on horseback, whom the Spaniards call Apaches".

Details of the attack include:

• Derbanne's party dismounted to defend themselves
• The Apaches shot many arrows but saw that Derbanne and his companions would not run and that they would not hand over their goods
• the Apaches "decided to go steal the mules, which were following behind us and were not loaded".
• The Indians had no trouble stealing the mules for there was only one Spaniard to drive them. They carried him off with them "and vanished with the twenty-three mules".

On the 21st, Derbanne records "We crossed the Rio Grands and came to the Presidio, where there is a captain and thirty soldiers and two missions...The Rio Grande is a fine river, deep enough for a pirogue at all seasons (a fact that would have been greatly appreciated by Derbanne due to the problems of navigating the Red River when the water level was low)...it is 200 paces wide".

When you Tour Natchitoches with Barbara, she will tell you other stories about her grandfather, Francois Derbanne (nine generations removed), and should you choose, show you the historically accurate replica of the French Fort St Jean Baptiste in Natchitoches.

To contact Barbara, go {here}

THE FRENCH CAME TO NATCHITOCHES IN 1714. NOW IT'S YOUR TURN

From Natchitoches to the Rio Grande with Francois Derbanne

Posted by Doyle Bailey for Tour Natchitoches with Barbara



This is part two of three posts about a journey undertaken in November of 1716 by Francois Derbanne from Natchitoches, Louisiana to the Rio Grande.

Francois Derbanne resumes his account of this amazing journey on March 22, 1717. He writes:

"We passed that day the last Spanish mission where there are two Recollect priests. We crossed two rivers, which are fairly large but cannot carry pirogues. That day's journey we made ten leagues (fifteen miles) to the South-West...."

Derbanne further observes:

• on the 23rd they caught up with the mules, they had left two days earlier.
• he clarifies that mules do not make more than 6 or 7 leagues a day and if they do more it is only because they need water.
• the mules load is 300 livres (a French monetary unit equal to one pound of silver),

Of the mules Derbanne wrote:

"They start off at eight or nine o'clock in the morning, and they make camp at three o'clock in the afternoon. We made 9 leagues that day".

Of the following day Derbanne records the following:

• "on the 24th. we made nine leagues, we crossed the river which the Spaniards call the Trinity...very much spread our-150 paces wide...it had little water, but there are times when it is very dangerous. It floods a wide area of bottom lands, its banks are beautiful prairaies; the woods which border it are oak and walnut."On the 25th we were stopped by the rain".

The record of the journey continues from March 26th to April 2, 1717. Highlights include:

• beautiful country and very fine woods and prairies
• wild beeves (cattle) which became a food source for the party
• most days they traveled about 5 leagues

What a journey of adventure, discovery and exploration! If you have something of the adventurer and explorer in you and would like to discover historic Natchitoches, contact Barbara and she will be your tour guide and start you on your sight-seeing journey. She is a ninth generation descendant of Francois Derbanne and his spirit lives on in her.

Tour Natchitoches with Barbara specializes in:

• Tours of French Creole Plantations on the Cane River
• "Steel Magnolias" Tours of all the filming sites of the movie in Natchitoches.
• Tours of Ft. St. Jean Baptiste Derbanne left for his journey to the Rio Grande from here.
• Customized Tours to fit your schedule, interests and budget including Tours in Spanish

{click here for contact info}

THE FRENCH CAME TO NATCHITOCHES IN 1714. NOW IT'S YOUR TURN