Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, January 27, 1998

Early history: 'All are happy at little expense'

First major settlement here began with Acadians' arrival

by Jim Bradshaw

"The shepherds and planters of Opelousas and Attakapas are nearly all of French origin. They are in general without much instruction, and still speak the French of the time of the bucaniers (sic); but the rudeness of their language does not extend to their deportment; they are of mild manners; hospitality is no where exercised with more cordiality, and the rusticity which is blended with it proves its sincerity still more fully. Here the luxury of the city has entirely disappeared, and the cloth-loom is oftentimes the only ornament of the drawing room.

"Those who are acquainted with Europe, and the numberless enjoyments which it offers to all ages and ranks, know also with how much wretchedness this luxury is accompanied. At Attakapas, there is no magnificence, and no poverty. All are happy at little expense, and on the same conditions. The dwellings in this settlement are very much scattered, churches are rare, and the number of priests is very small. It is, however, observed that the people are extremely religious. The head of the family is its spiritual pastor, and the divine morality of the gospel is transmitted to the future generation by the discourse and example of men who, for the most part, cannot read."

Lafayette Parish, indeed most of south-central Louisiana, was made a part of the Attakapas District when Europeans first began naming places.

According to Harry Lewis Griffin, one of the first to record the parish history, "It is not known definitely who were the first white settlers in and near Lafayette. Before the Spanish occupancy in 1763 there were scattered over the Attakapas region a few trappers, traders and ranchmen. In 1769, the total population of the entire district was only 409, according to a census taken by Gov. O'Reilly. These probably consisted of French Canadians, English traders from the Carolinas, and trappers from the settlements around New Orleans.

"The first considerable influx of population began soon after 1760," Griffin continues. "From 1760 to 1770, the government made numerous grants of land in the Attakapas District to the exiled Acadians, who brought their families here and founded homes."

According to William Henry Perrin's 1891 history of the parish, "The first settlers in what is now Lafayette Parish were Acadians, and came with the first influx of these people from Nova Scotia to Louisiana. ... With the ancient Acadians were mingled a few immigrants direct from France. The first white settlers here located in the Carencro district and in the Cóte Gelee Hills, along the Vermilion River."