Escaped! Freedom Seekers in 1863

Arnold, Anderson and Alfred left together in 1863. Arnold was held at Magnolia by Ambroise LeComte; Anderson and Alfred were held on neighboring plantations by LeComte's sons-in-law, Mathieu and Henry Hertzog. Marriage had tied three enslaving households into one family, and the three men crossed those property lines to run as one party. Their fates are not recorded. A year later, during the Red River Campaign, 36 enslaved men, women and children left Oakland, the park's other plantation, with the U.S. soldiers passing through.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• St. Augustine Church, Isle Brevelle — 3.6 mi
  The parish church at the heart of the Cane River Creoles of color, begun by Augustin Metoyer on his family's land and still holding Mass for the community that grew from Marie Thérèse Coincoin's children.
• Melrose Plantation — 3.8 mi
  The Cane River estate built on land granted to Louis Metoyer, son of Marie Thérèse Coincoin, with the Yucca House and African House, later an artists' retreat; guided tours Thursday to Sunday.
• Kisatchie National Forest: Longleaf Vista — 6.1 mi
  A free ridge-top overlook and 1.5-mile loop above the 8,700-acre Kisatchie Hills Wilderness on the Longleaf Trail Scenic Byway, in the forest Caroline Dormon helped win in 1930.
• Cane River Creole National Historical Park — 8.8 mi
  Oakland and Magnolia, two Cane River cotton plantations kept as they stood, told through the enslaved families who worked them, the 1864 and 1804 freedom seekers and the tenant farmers who stayed into the 1960s.

More markers nearby

• Escaped! Freedom Seekers in 1804 — steps away
• Unearthing The Past — steps away
• The Tornado — steps away
• The Quarters Community — steps away