Coushatta, Louisiana

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Town of Coushatta
Town
Country	United States
State	Louisiana
Parish	Red River
Area	3.4 sq mi (8.8 km²)
- land	3.3 sq mi (8.5 km²)
- water	0.1 sq mi (0.3 km²), 2.94%
Center
- coordinates	32°01′23″N 93°20′30″W / 32.02306, -93.34167Coordinates: 32°01′23″N 93°20′30″W / 32.02306, -93.34167
- elevation	141 ft (43 m)
Population	2,999 (2000)
Density	686.5 /sq mi (265.1 /km²)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code	318
Location of Coushatta in Louisiana
Location of Louisiana in the United States
Website : http://www.coushatta.net

The town of Coushatta is the parish seat of rural Red River Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 2,299 at the 2000 census. The community is approximately 45 miles south of Shreveport on U.S. Highway 71. The population is nearly two-thirds African American, most with long family histories in the area.

James Durrwood Bogan, a Coushatta native, won the Navy Cross in World War II.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 National Guard
5 Links to state politics
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Red River Parish and the Red River valley were areas of unrest and white paramilitary activity and violence after the Civil War, and especially during the 1870s of Reconstruction. The parish had been based on cotton cultivation, dependent on the labor of enslaved African Americans who far outnumbered the whites. After the war, white planters and farmers tried to reestablish dominance over a majority of the population. With emancipation and being granted citizenship and suffrage, African Americans tried to create their own lives.

Formed in May 1874 from white militias, the White League in Louisiana was increasingly well-organized in rural areas like Red River Parish. It worked to turn out the Republican Party, as well as suppress freedmen's civil rights and voting rights. It used violence against officeholders, running some out of town and killing others, and acted near elections to suppress black and white Republican voting.^[1]

In one of the more flagrant examples of violence, in August 1874 the White League forced six Republicans out of office in Coushatta, then assassinated them before they could leave the state. Victims included the brother and three brothers-in-law of the Republican state senator from the area, Marshall H. Twitchell. His wife and her brothers were from a family with long ties in the area. The White League also killed five to twenty freedmen who had been escorting the Republicans and were witnesses to the assassinations.^[2] The events became known as the Coushatta Massacre and contributed to the Republican governor's requesting more Federal troops from President Grant to help control the state. Ordinary Southerners wrote to the White House describing the terrible conditions and fear they lived under during these years.^[3]

With increased fraud, violence and intimidation, white Democrats regained control of the state legislature in 1876 and established what amounted to one-party rule. They passed laws making elections more complicated and a new constitution with provisions that effectively disfranchised most African Americans and many poor whites. This disfranchisement persisted for decades deep into the 20th century, before civil rights legislation and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 renewed protections for citizens' suffrage.

[edit] Geography

Coushatta is located at 32°1′23″N, 93°20′30″W (32.023162, -93.341775)^[4].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.4 square miles (8.9 km²), of which, 3.3 square miles (8.7 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (2.91%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 2,299 people, 738 households, and 512 families residing in the town. The population density was 686.5 people per square mile (265.0/km²). There were 823 housing units at an average density of 245.7/sq mi (94.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 33.19% White, 65.42% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.17% of the population.

There were 738 households out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.4% were married couples living together, 31.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.6% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.48.

In the town the population was spread out with 33.3% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 78.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 73.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $15,500, and the median income for a family was $18,958. Males had a median income of $30,938 versus $13,833 for females. The per capita income for the town was $10,228. About 44.6% of families and 49.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 64.0% of those under age 18 and 19.7% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] National Guard

Coushatta is the home of C Troop 2-108th Cavalry Squadron, a unit dating back to the Confederate Army during the Civil War under the nickname "the Wildbunch". This unit was formerly known as A Company 1-156 Armor Battalion and served recently in Iraq during 2004-5 under the 256th Infantry Brigade.

[edit] Links to state politics

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The small town of Coushatta was the base of the Fowlers, a 20th-century Democratic political family who achieved considerable power in the state.

Douglas Fowler (1906-1980), Red River Parish Clerk of Court (1940-1952]) and Mayor of Coushatta (1952-1954), was appointed the third Louisiana "Custodian of Voting Machines" by Governor Earl Kemp Long. Long had stripped Secretary of State Wade O. Martin, Jr., of election duties and created the "Custodian" position directly answering to the governor to increase his control. The office was later renamed the "Commissioner" of Elections". Fowler was nominated to the post for the 1960 Democratic runoff primary. He was the runaway victor in the general election, when African Americans were still mostly disfranchised. Under the 1974 Constitution, the office was renamed "Commissioner of Elections". Fowler was elected five times statewide as head of the Elections Division.

Fowler was succeeded in the post in 1980 by his son, Jerry M. Fowler (born 1940), of nearby Natchitoches. Jerry Fowler, like his father, was also elected five times. Therefore, a member of the Fowler family controlled the Louisiana Elections Office for four decades.

In 2000, Jerry Fowler pleaded guilty to state and federal charges of malfeasance in office and conspiracy to launder kickbacks from overcharges to state voting machine vendors. He had been denied a general election ballot spot in 1999 by some 9,000 votes. After his conviction of the charges, he went to prison.

After Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell won the office of Election Commissioner, she completed a proposal recommended by many. She directed the return of election oversight to the Secretary of State, effective in 2004.

Douglas Fowler's younger brother, Hendrix Marion "Mutt" Fowler, Sr., also served as mayor of Coushatta. He then was elected Democratic representative to the state legislature from 1972-1986. He resigned his House seat to become Executive Director of the Sabine River Authority in Many. A scandal involving the circumventing state bid laws and spending limited funds on low-priority projects forced his removal from office. Mutt Fowler served 45 days in the Sabine Parish jail.