Early Cattle Industry

Southwest Louisiana ran cattle before Texas did. When New Orleans faced a beef shortage in the later 1700s, Bernard Dauterive engaged Acadians to raise cattle on shares in the Attakapas district, and the vacherie, or cattle station, took root. By 1802 prairie ranches were the main beef suppliers to New Orleans, and in 1816 William Darby described an Opelousas-area planter with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 head. State brand registers record brands back to 1739, and families still pass them down.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Louisiana Oil and Gas Park — 9.3 mi
  The roadside park at Jennings where Louisiana's oil industry began in 1901, with a replica derrick, a pioneers' plaque and Gator Chateau.
• Coushatta Powwow and Koasati Heritage Day — 21 mi
  The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana's annual powwow and its free Koasati Heritage Day, held at the tribe's resort in Kinder.
• Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu — 23 mi
  A 6,000-square-foot museum of southwest Louisiana Carnival with about 275 costume mannequins and 14 animated figures, opened in April 2026.
• Imperial Calcasieu Museum — 24 mi
  Lake Charles's history museum, founded by the Junior League in 1963, with parish artifacts, Claire Chennault's uniform and the Sallier Oak.

More markers nearby

• Le Premier Puits de Pétrole — 9.3 mi
• Louisiana Strikes Oil! — 14 mi
• Great Louisiana Maneuvers' Blue Army Headquarters — 17 mi
• Kinder, Louisiana — 17 mi