Bayou Bodcau’s History

Bayou Bodcau’s History

The Times: 09 Jan 1949

Bayou Bodcau begins in Southern Arkansas and drains the district lying south of Hot Springs. It flows south into Bossier Parish’s Red Chute Bayou and Loggy Bayou, then eventually to the Red River. The area was home to the Caddo Indians who used the bayou as a water source and for transportation.

Ezekiel Calhoun Long purchased property on both sides of the bayou in 1839 to operate a ferry. Long built a cabin on the land and since there was not yet a Bossier Parish Courthouse, the Police Jury met at his home for their July 1843 meeting. Newsome Durden and his family moved to Bossier Parish from Georgia around 1851. Durden purchased the Long ferry and cabin, which eventually burned down. It was rebuilt in 1925 by Newsome’s grandson, Ben Durden, and still standing today.

Benjamin Fort wrote in an 1881 Bossier Banner column that Bayou Bodcau should be studied regarding navigation and drainage. He examined the Bayou at a dozen different points and was convinced that making the channel more navigable from Loggy Bayou to Bellevue would not cost more than five hundred dollars. Fort said that the work required was to “chop out and blow out” any cypress stumps in the channel at very low water and clear away overhanging trees. If this work were to be done annually, the channel would deepen and have a greater drainage power. Once this occurred, Fort envisioned a permanent saw mill business on the bayou.

Although an act of the legislature passed to permit navigation as far as the Arkansas line, the area above Durden’s ferry was never cleared. Other reliable means of transportation came into the picture. The Shed Road that ran from Red Chute to Bossier City, allowed for all-weather travel and put an end to muddy wagon trips. The combination of new railroads and the 1890 relocation of the Bossier Parish Courthouse from Bellevue to Benton led the Durden’s ferry to cease operation.

Record floods washed over the region in 1905, 1930, and 1933, when fifty to sixty thousand acres below the proposed dam site were covered with water. Damage in each of these floods totaled over a million dollars. Many lesser floods hit the same bottomlands, wrecking the highly cultivated and valuable lands. In May of 1944, high flood waters left levees crumpled near Buckhall, Brownlee, and the Beene plantations. A solution to these frequent floods was urgently needed.

The US Army Corps of Engineers brainstormed for a coordinated Red River Valley flood control program. Local government agencies backed these federal efforts to reduce flooding. The first step to address regional flood control was the construction of Denison or Lake Texoma Dam, next was the Wallace Lake Dam below Shreveport. The third step would be the Bodcau Dam, followed by the Texarkana Dam and Reservoir, now known as Wright Patman Lake to honor a longtime East Texas congressman.

In 1945, the Bossier Parish Levee Board and the Red River Valley Improvement Association unanimously approved the federally-financed flood control project at Bayou Bodcau. The initial project was estimated to cost nearly three million dollars. Senator John Overton and Representative Overton Brooks offered their full support for the project. The dam would regulate water, releasing it gradually into Red Chute and Loggy Bayous. During flood periods, a forty-mile-long pool would fill to protect over 72 thousand fertile acres below in the Red River bottoms. It would also help shield Barksdale Field from floodwater, as well as the highways and railroads entering Bossier Parish from the east. The ground-breaking ceremony for the dam was held on 9 April 1947 with Volney Voss Whittington, president of the Bossier Levee Board, serving as master of ceremonies. Construction began in May of 1947.

The Federal government bought out the lands for the reservoir area. Ben Durden, whose cabin was mentioned earlier, did not want to move from his five acres of land and flat out refused. Construction of the dam was already underway. The US government chose to purchase his property and gave Durden a free lease while the home was in the family. The small Durden cemetery was included in this agreement. Carrie Cunningham was the last of the Durden family to hold the property. She signed the five acres back to the government circa 1996. The Corps of Engineers renovated the building for use in environmental education, and this reuse allows the historically significant home to be accessible to the public.

The Shreveport Times featured an article in January of 1949 titled, “Big Bossier Dam Rising From Earth!!” and included photographs of the construction progress. Costs had ballooned to five million dollars, two million above the estimate. The dam did not have gates to open and close; rather, the earthen embankment had two long outlet tubes. The reinforced concrete tubes were designed to release flood water at a controlled rate. A long concrete spillway sits at the north end of the dam. Should excessive flooding occur, water could flow over the spillway to protect the top of the earth dam from erosion.

When the dam neared completion, the Corps of Engineers advertised that most land was still suitable for timber, plus some farming and grazing in the upper regions. The land could be leased for these purposes, with the former owner or tenant offered first crack at the lease. Seventy-five percent of the rent from these leases was to be returned to the state for expenditures on public schools and roads.

The US Army Corps of Engineers continues to operate the Bayou Bodcau Dam and Reservoir for flood management, environmental stewardship, and recreation. Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries leases the property for its wildlife management area. One of the largest remaining expanses of bottomland hardwoods in northwest Louisiana is found here. For birdwatchers, Bayou Bodcau is a treasure. It’s located within the nesting range of the bald eagle and you can spot them during the winter months, along with over 140 other bird species.

Visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center to learn more about the bayous and flood control projects in our parish. We are open M-Th 10-8, Fri 10-6, and Sat 10-5. Our phone number is 318-746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

Article by: Pam Carlisle

1950s Watershed Project Revives Plain Dealing

Signage for Upper West Fork Cypress Bayou watershed. Plain Dealing Library Collection: 1997.031.043.

On Jul. 25, 1888, S. J. Zeigler, founder of Plain Dealing, auctioned off the lots that now comprise the town. For decades this flourishing little town endured an average of four floods per year, costing residents and business owners an average of $41,884 in damages annually. The town suffered nearly $16,000 worth of damages to streets, bridges, and other property each year.

Damages to farmland were approximately $4,000 annually, and with the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act passed by Congress in 1954, farmers on the upper west fork of Cypress Bayou became interested in the agricultural benefits of a watershed project for Plain Dealing. After many meetings, applications and votes concerning the Upper West Fork of Cypress Bayou watershed were approved by the Soil Conservation Service of the USDA, Mar. 1958.

Demoss livery stable, during a flood in Plain Dealing, c. 1910s. (located at Palmetto Road)
Bryce Turnley Collection: 1997.062.172.

It was estimated that the project would cost $505,000, with Federal contributions of $333,800 and local costs of $172,000. Local contributions also included the land, easements, and rights of way, as well as operation and maintenance of the project after completion. The Louisiana State Department of Public Works provided engineering services and funds for construction. In 1956 the citizens of Plain Dealing unanimously approved a bond issue for $52,000 to fund the cost of paving roads to the lakes.

The project included the damming of three lakes: one for flood storage, one for a water reserve, and the third for recreational purposes. Once completed, the 5,500-acre watershed would provide flood protection, municipal water supply, as well as fish and wildlife development. The benefits of investing in this massive project also ushered in a growth spurt for Plain Dealing.

According to an article appearing in the Shreveport Times on May 4, 1969, Gene Warren quoted Mayor Leon Sanders exclaiming that the “three watershed dams helped save his town.” That since the completion of the project in 1961, the value of those dams to Plain Dealing was “close to half a million dollars,” according to Sanders. Not only did the town realize the previously mentioned benefits, but it also made the town more appealing.

Sanders told Warren “that since the structures were built, over a dozen new businesses have opened up in town,” including a new bank, a new hospital, a new clinic, a library, and a plywood mill that employed over 200 local people. A new subdivision was developed on the outskirts of town with 15 to 20 new homes. New roads were constructed and new churches formed.

While one of the three lakes were not named, because its sole purpose was to provide flood control, the other two were named Lake Dogwood and Lake Plain Dealing. Sanders stated, “The city bought 64 acres around the edges of the lakes and developed facilities for swimming, picnicking, and camping.” He also reported that “close to 3,000 people per day from all over north Louisiana have used the lakes.” Thanks to the Louisiana Wild Life and Fisheries Commission, the lakes were stocked with fish, making the lakes ideal for fishing.

With the new recreational areas to offer and with the fear of annual floods gone, Plain Dealing became revived for the first time since the 1930s. Businesses and people saw Plain Dealing as a town with potential rising, moving there to live the American dream.

To learn more about Plain Dealing, visit the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center at 2206 Beckett Street, Bossier City. Be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB.

By: Amy Robertson

Images from Our Archives

High water ahead in Plain Dealing! In this photograph from 1957, cars attempt to navigate a flooded Palmetto Street. You can see more images from this collection (1999.062) by looking through our online database.