History of Lake Charles, Louisiana

rdf:langString History of Lake Charles, Louisiana

rdf:langString While several American Indian tribes are known to have lived in the area occupied by present-day Lake Charles, the first European colonizers arrived in the 1760s. In 1781 Martin LeBleu and his wife, Dela Marion, of Bordeaux, France were the first recorded Europeans to colonize the area now known as the LeBleu Settlement. Charles Sallier, one of the first colonizers, married LeBleu's daughter, Catherine LeBleu; the Salliers built their home on the beach in what is current-day Lake Charles. The area on the east side of the Calcasieu River was defined as the southern part of the "Neutral Ground" until ratification of the Adams-Onís Treaty that was ratified in 1821. The infamous pirate, Jean Lafitte, once delivered stolen slaves and contraband to James Bowie and other enslavers in the area. By 1860 the area become known as Charles Town in Sallier's honor. The Rio Hondo, which flowed through Lake Charles, was later called Quelqueshue, a Native American term meaning "Crying Eagle". Transliterated through French, this became the name of Calcasieu Parish. On March 7, 1861, Lake Charles was officially incorporated as the town of Charleston, Louisiana.