Interview with Carl Braseaux

Accession No.: 
BE4-010-1

00:30 - Born in Opelousas, Attended Sunset High School (class of 1969);
01:10 - Both parents owned property around Sunset to Cankton, LA Highway 1776;
03:30 - Brasseaux says that Cajuns settled around Cankton, LA. It was "prime" land - land that was on or near waterways;
07:00 - First generation houses were 16'x20' raised on piers, near Coulée Croche area (Upper Bayou Vermilion);
08:50 - Jean Mouton developed the Lafayette area (Bayou Carencro);
10:30 - Small houses were doubled in size by the mid 1800's;
11:00 - Cotton was the main small farm crop;
11:35 - The federal government owned most of the land, so people squatted on the lands; Lands weren't put up for sale until late in the 19th century;
13:40 - The "marais," referred to the prairie that would flood during for a short time during rain storms;
16:30 - Rice boom in the Lafayette area around the time of the Civil War, property values spiked; Number of stores and merchants doubled around Vermillionville;
17:30 - Washington, LA was large exporter of cattle to New Orleans
24:20 - During Civil War, most soldiers foraged around the Lafayette area for food.
25:10 - During the war, the area continued producing sugar and cotton;
25:35 - Spring of 1863, the Union Army march through Lafayette, many cattle were killed, buildings were destroyed, homes were looted;
27:50 - Lafayette area very slow to recover after the Civil War.
29:15 - Citizens Bank in New Orleans was the only major bank in Louisiana. Plantation owners had to take out large loans;
30:15 - Mechanization really didn't come to the area until after WWII.
35:30 - Oil companies looked at Cajuns being lazy. Cajuns were content just being comfortable and living off the land
36:30 - The oil industry workers that came for out of state were mostly Protestant (Baptist)1960-1975, a century worth of growth in a decade and a half
43:00 - Cajuns couldn't compete with larger land plots (growers) and migrated to the oil patch;

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Beard, Jack
Subject: 
Cajun, Louisiana, French, Oil
Creator: 
Jack Beard
Recording date: 
Thursday, February 13, 1986
Coverage Spatial: 
Lafayette, LA
Publisher: 
Center for Louisiana Studies
Rights Usage: 
All rights reserved
Language: 
English
Meta Information
Duration: 
45:37
Cataloged Date: 
Thursday, December 8, 2022
Digitized Date: 
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Original Format: 
Cassette - 60
Digital Format: 
WAV
Bit Depth: 
24 bit
Sampling Rate: 
96 kHz
Storage Location: 
Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore - Drawer 10 Row 4