The Chronicles Of Grant County:
Louisiana Street
October 15, 2019
Louisiana Street is one of the roadways in Silver City named after an American state or commonwealth. This street is located near the campus of Western New Mexico University. Part of New Mexico was initially part of the Louisiana Purchase.
“Louisiana” was named after the King of France, King Louis XIV; he was also known by other names, including the “Sun King”. Three Frenchmen are credited in various reports with being among the first Europeans to explore what became known as “Louisiana”: Louis Jolliet, Jacques Marquette, and René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.
According to a news article in The Windsor Star on April 30, 1999, “René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle…[erected] a cross and…[proclaimed] the Mississippi delta the property of Louis XIV” on April 9, 1682. A news article dated September 23, 1983, in The Weekly News of Marksville, Louisiana, stated that it was La Salle who gave the name “La Louisiane” to the territories that included all of the Mississippi River watershed. La Louisiane stretched from a portion of what is today Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains to Appalachia.
This map shows the initial extent of the Louisiana Purchase within the borders of today’s contiguous United States. Part of northeastern New Mexico was included in the initial boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase. A small portion of the initial borders for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 included a section of today’s Canada. The official boundaries between the United States and Canada in that section of the border were settled by a treaty in 1818. The official boundaries between the United States and Spain (later Mexico) were settled by a treaty in 1819. (The map, produced in 1903, was provided courtesy of the National Archives.)
The negotiated price for the lands of Louisiana was $15 million. With the purchase, the United States doubled in size. According to the National Archives, bonds were issued to pay for Louisiana: “By 1823, when the last bonds issued in Great Britain and the Netherlands for financing the purchase were paid off with interest by the United States Treasury, the total spent for Louisiana amounted to $23,313,567.73.”
According to the Library of Congress, the lands of the Louisiana Purchase were divided by the United States Congress into two separate administrative divisions on March 26, 1804: the Territory of Orleans for the lands south of the 33rd Parallel and the District of Louisiana for the lands north of that parallel. On March 3, 1805, the United States Congress renamed the northern section as the “Territory of Louisiana”. Names changed again in 1812. In that year, Orleans Territory became the State of Louisiana, and the Louisiana Territory was re-named as the “Missouri Territory”.
Celebrations are part of life in Louisiana. Parades are held throughout New Orleans from January leading up to Mardi Gras – “Fat Tuesday”. Mardi Gras is the last day of fun and games before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a 40-day time period between Ash Wednesday and Easter; not all days between the two holidays are included in the 40 days of Lent. Many Christian faiths ask their congregants to sacrifice during Lent in recognition of the 40 days Jesus Christ spent in the desert. (This image from Mardi Gras in New Orleans on February 21, 2012, was provided by beebutter through Pixabay.)
Louisiana is known for many natural features, including the Mississippi River Delta as well as bayous throughout the state. This image shows a bayou in Louisiana in 2012. Note the egret standing along the edge of the waterline in the center of the photograph. (This image was provided by Ms. Gretta Blankenship through Pixabay.)
Do you have questions about communities in Grant County?
A street name? A building?
Your questions may be used in a future news column.
Contact Richard McDonough at chroniclesofgrantcounty@gmail.com.
© 2019 Richard McDonough