Dorcheat Bayou
Encyclopedia
Dorcheat Bayou, also known as Bayou Dorcheat, is a 115 miles (185.1 km) stream in the USA that extends from Nevada County in southwestern Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 through Columbia County
Columbia County, Arkansas
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 24,552. The county seat is Magnolia. Columbia County was formed on December 17, 1852, and was named for Christopher Columbus...

 and into Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....

 in northwestern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 before emptying into Lake Bistineau
Lake Bistineau
250px|right|thumb|Lake Bistineau south of [[Doyline, Louisiana|Doyline]], [[Louisiana]]Lake Bistineau is a long, narrow waterway of , wide and long located in Webster, Bossier, and Bienville parishes in northwestern Louisiana. The lake is fed by Dorcheat Bayou, Clark’s Bayou, and other smaller...

 east of the village of Doyline
Doyline, Louisiana
Doyline is a village in southwestern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 841 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area....

. To its south, Lake Bistineau joins Loggy Bayou
Loggy Bayou
Loggy Bayou is a stream in northwestern Louisiana which connects Lake Bistineau with the Red River. Bistineau is the reservoir of Dorcheat Bayou, which flows southward from Nevada County, Arkansas, into Webster Parish...

 to form a continuous passage of water into the Red River. Sometimes called the "heart of Webster Parish", Dorcheat is known for its "unending bounty of sights and sound" of nature.

In the 19th century, Dorcheat was navigable for three to six months per year as far as Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...

, the seat of Webster Parish. Wharves and warehouses were built along the bayou, as steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

s brought supplies to the outlying areas and then returned with mainly cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 to the large market available in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

. The land along the bayou was settled by the Caddo Indians. The names "Dorcheat" and "Bistineau" come from the Caddo and mean "people" and "big broth", respectively, the latter a reference to floating plant debris still found in the lake. In 1835, the Caddo signed a treaty with the United States government and left the Dorcheat country. A few white traders, trappers, and hunters had arrived in the area even before the Indians left. The early settlers used the Dorcheat because of log jam
Log jam
A log jam is an accumulation of Large Woody Debris that can span an entire stream or river channel.-Effects on stream/river geomorphology:...

s on the Red River, which were later eliminated by Captain Henry Miller Shreve
Henry Miller Shreve
Henry Miller Shreve was the American inventor and steamboat captain who opened the Mississippi, Ohio and Red rivers to steamboat navigation. Shreveport, Louisiana, is named in his honor....

, for whom Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 is named.

Isaac Alden, who arrived from New Orleans prior to the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, was one of the first white settlers in the Dorcheat country. A decade later, John Murrell arrived from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. Newett Drew, a native of Virginia and an ancestor of Judges Richard Maxwell Drew
Richard Maxwell Drew
Richard Maxwell Drew was an attorney and politician in Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana whose family was among the first settlers of what is now Webster Parish, established in 1871 as a breakaway from Claiborne Parish....

, Richard Cleveland Drew
Richard Cleveland Drew
Richard Cleveland Drew, Sr. , also known as R. C. Drew, was a judge of the state district and circuit courts, based in Minden in northwestern Louisiana. The Drew family was among the original 19th century settlers of the future Webster Parish, of which Minden is the parish seat...

, Harmon Caldwell Drew
Harmon Caldwell Drew
Harmon Caldwell Drew was a lawyer from Minden, Louisiana, who served prior to 1945 as the district attorney of Bossier and Webster parishes and then as a judge of both the district and the state appeal courts. His political career ended with his defeat by future Governor Robert F. Kennon...

, R. Harmon Drew, Sr.
R. Harmon Drew, Sr.
Richard Harmon Drew, Sr. was a fourth generation judge and a former Democratic state representative who was descended from pioneer families of Webster Parish in north Louisiana...

, and current Circuit Judge Harmon Drew, Jr.
Harmon Drew, Jr.
Richard Harmon Drew, Jr. , is a Louisiana judge, legal lecturer, and rhythm-and-blues musician. He is serving a second 10-year term on his state's Second Circuit Court of Appeal, based in Shreveport.-Ancestry:...

, constructed a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 and gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...

 at Dorcheat in 1821, from which appeared the settlement of the defunct Overton in south Webster Parish. The settlers were dependent on the connection with the Red River as a tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

.

Steamboats, including side-wheelers and stern-wheelers, sometimes encountered tragedies on Dorcheat Bayou. An early steamer caught fire as it returned south; a woman leaped from the vessel with a child under each arm. She but only one of the children were rescued. In 1850, the Shamrock also burned with the loss of one person. The ships carried cargo and passengers and often offered mostly musical entertainment. Among these ships were the Danube, the Jewel, and the Marie Louise, a reference to the second wife of Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

. The steamboat era on Dorcheat ended in 1892, with the enhanced access to railroads, one of which was the Sibley, Lake Bistineau, and Southern Railway. Passenger rail service along Dorcheat Bayou ended in 1969.

Overton became the seat of government of Claiborne Parish
Claiborne Parish, Louisiana
Claiborne Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Homer and as of 2000, the population is 16,851.-History:The parish is named for the first Louisiana governor, William C. C. Claiborne....

. In 1871, Webster Parish was separated from Claiborne Parish. Plagued by epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...

s, Overton was eventually abandoned. The Claiborne Parish seat of government was shifted east to Athens
Athens, Louisiana
Athens is a village in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census.The Pilgrim's Pride poultry hatchery in Athens was designated for closure early in 2009, along with other company businesses in nearby Arcadia in Bienville Parish, Choudrant in Lincoln...

, and then the current location of Homer
Homer, Louisiana
Homer is present day parish seat of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town was named after the Greek poet Homer and was laid out around the Courthouse Square in 1850 by Frank Vaughn. The present day brick courthouse, built in the Greek Revival style of architecture, is one of only...

. Meanwhile, Charles H. Veeder
Charles H. Veeder
Charles Hanson Veeder was a Schenectady, New York-born lawyer who founded the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. In the 2000 census, Minden, which is located some twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, had a population in excess of 13,000.Veeder was the son...

, a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 native, established Minden in 1836, and the new community soon outgrew Overton. Veeder established the defunct Minden Female College, considered the oldest college in Louisiana. In time, farming declined along the Dorcheat, as petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

 and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 strikes occurred in Webster Parish during the 1920s.

Historian Marietta M. LeBreton
Marietta LeBreton
Marietta Marie LeBreton was an historian of Louisiana affiliated for forty-five years with Northwestern State University in Natchitoches....

, who was affiliated with Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...

 in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...

 from 1963 until her death in 2009, describes the modern Dorcheat as a "lazy stream winding through low, hilly farmland and catering to the fishermen and sportsmen of North Louisiana." Calm-water canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....

 is another sport popular on Dorcheat.

The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....

 maintains 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) on Dorcheat Bayou donated by James W. Bransford, who will designate another 1000 acres (4 km²) in the future. The preserve is not open to the public.

The history of the Dorcheat country is revealed in certain exhibits at the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum
Dorcheat Historical Association Museum
The Dorcheat Historical Association Museum is a preservation of 19th and 20th century north Louisiana history and culture located off U.S. Highway 80 in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. Highway 80, an early road linking the American South with the Pacific Coast, was...

 at 116 Pearl Street in Minden. A correctional institute at the former Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant
Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant
The Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant is an inactive government-owned, contractor-operated facility twelve miles east of Shreveport, Louisiana that was established in 1942. The plant was active during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War...

east of Minden is named for the bayou. There is also the Dorcheat Soil Conservation District.
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