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The Great Raft of the Red River

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Jefferson lost a lot of business during the second Great Raft removal. It's been said that if the removal hadn't occurred, Jefferson would have rivaled Dallas today.

For thousands of years, the Red River's natural flow created a backlog of fallen trees that developed into a massive "log jam" north of today's Natchitoches, Louisiana. Described as a "raft" by 19th century men, the back flow allowed Caddos and Wichitas to build an agricultural society; flora and fauna to flourish; and lakes to form around the bayous that made up this incredible and unique phenomenon.

When the United States decided to remove this hauntingly beautiful place to allow for military transports to reach Fort Towson in Indian Territory during the 1830s, EVERYTHING changed for the Red River and her environs. When a second removal used dynamite to clear the final jams, it literally created an water problem that, if not monitored at all times, would inundate southern Louisiana.

Read on about this incredible place that is now just a memory, where thousands of years were destroyed in only forty.

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