Grand Ecore is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Natchitoches Parish Natchitoches Parish ( or ) is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 37,515. The parish seat and most populous municipality is Nat ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States. It is located on LA-6, north of the city of Natchitoches on the

Red River of the South The Red River is a major river in the Southern United States. It was named for its reddish water color from passing through red-bed country in its watershed. It also is known as the Red River of the South to distinguish it from the Red River ...

. The community is part of the Natchitoches Micropolitan Statistical Area. The US Army Corps of Engineers operates a visitor center at Grand Ecore with panamoramic views from the bluff 80 feet above the Red River. The location was site of a Civil War site. The area is known for its colonial history, civil war sites, hiking and fishing tournaments.

History

Since time immemorial, the

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

Indians settled the lands around Grand Ecore. In 1718, the Brossart brothers brought out a colony from Lyons, France to settle the area. The first to receive land grants and to settle among the Natchitoches Indians (a Caddoan tribe) were Louis Latham, who settled near Las Tres Llonas, and Pierre and Julian Beson who settled at Grand Ecore. Over the next 70 years, the French then the Spanish colonial governments issued land grants to Bossier, Grappe, Prudehomme, Brevelle, and Metoyer. These families operated vast plantations along the Red River and Cane River. By the turn of the century, Dr. Sibley bought Grand Ecore and 500 acres on the opposing bank of the Red River.

Fort Selden Fort Selden was a United States Army post, occupying the area in what is now Radium Springs, New Mexico. The site was long a campground along the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. It was the site of a Confederate Army camp in 1861. The U.S. ...

on Bayou Pierre, above Grand Ecore, was established in 1820 by companies of the 7th Infantry from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. They were Arkansas troops, commanded by Lieut. Colonel

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

. The 7th Infantry was withdrawn in 1822 from that position to a new site, subsequently known as Fort Jesup.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana Unincorporated communities in Louisiana Populated places in Ark-La-Tex