A Chilling Account of the Bellevue Tornado of 1851

 In February of 1851, a tornado decimated the east-central Bossier Parish village of Bellevue and terrified its residents and visitors. This tiny community had many visitors because Bellevue, sometimes spelled “Belle Vue,” was the seat of Bossier Parish from the parish’s beginnings in 1843 until 1888, when it moved to its present location of Benton.

This tornado and its damage was so severe that papers around the Southern U.S. reported it, by sharing a story from the “Minden Herald.” The article exclaimed that this tornado “prostrated to the ground nearly every house in the place…It twisted off trees fifteen or twenty feet from the root, and swept those tops clear away,” a scene that that those present said was, “beyond the power of language to describe. “

However, an anonymous writer did soon find words to describe their harrowing experience and inscribed them in a journal. The writer made it public in the May 1, 1858 issue of “The Bossier Times.” Fortunately, on January 17, 1895, “The Bossier Banner” reprinted this vividly detailed account under the title, “A Stray Leaf from the History of Bellevue,” giving readers a vicarious experience of living through the touchdown of a tornado.

“I have an old journal in which I have noted the events in my life, and in its connection to events in the history of others. I am poring over that old book now, while sad memories are stealing over the soul…I am reading now from the page containing the events of the 20th day of February 1851.”

“The District Court had been in session, but had adjourned the day before. A few of the convivial ones, of our own parish, and several attorneys of our neighboring towns, were detained in our now quiet village—among that few, I remember poor “Hurricane” Martin, Nat Currier [who had served as clerk and deputy clerk of various courts in Bossier and the region], Judge Peets [who also presided at Claiborne Parish] and Major Terrill. The day had been a remarkably still and warm one for February, a dull mist of rain falling perpendicularly to the earth.”

The writer is referring to the fact that Bellevue, as parish seat, was the location of Bossier’s courthouse. In the mid-nineteenth century, many lawyers, judges, and clerks would have needed to take a long, arduous trip driven by horses through essential wilderness to get to court. They typically practiced in more than one parish, and were based elsewhere, such as Shreveport or Homer, and may have needed to spend the night in Bellevue. Travelers rented rooms (and stable stalls for their horses) from residents or stayed with acquaintances.

“In the evening about 1 o’clock, Nat came into my room, took a book and reclined on a bed to read away so dull an evening, but soon fell into an uneasy sleep. In fact, it was that kind of weather that makes barometers of us all. Soon a low rumbling sound was heard, like the reverberation of distant and continued thunder. Nat awoke, in a kind of instinctive alarm. ‘That tree’s falling.’ ‘No,’ I answered ‘it is distant thunder.’ He however got up, threw a cloak on and went out in the rain, but returned in a moment, with true, wild alarm in his countenance. ‘We are going to have an awful storm, hear the trees falling.’ It was hardly spoken before in bolted Fort, Fuller and Ben, like frightened animals seeking the nearest cove[r], each expressing alarm—Then came the storm in dread earnestness.

Nat and Fuller sprang to the door which remained open, and caught the facing, and clung to it like drowning men, while their feet were lifted and their bodies fluttered out nearly horizontal with their hold. The temporary arbor at the door floated off as if on a current of water. Ben bore wildly all of his strength against one of the walls, as if to hold the house up, while Fort stood ready to leap out at the first opening that might be made by the turning house. The door and drawers of my desk and document case opened sides as impulsive things of life, and the papers took wings as birds loosened from the cage. Every window broke from its bolted fastenings, the house rocked like a skiff [small boat] on the waves, and sounded as if pelted by hail stones—while the din without was almost deafening—we could scarcely distinguish each other’s faces in the darkness of the moment…But as it came in a moment, so it was gone in a moment…”

The continuation of this story will be in the next local history column. But, spoiler alert, you don’t need to worry. Miraculously, no people or horses were injured or died in this incident, even though both had to be dug from the rubble of Bellevue.

If you have any information, stories, or photos about Bellevue, we would be happy to add copies of the material to the History Center’s research collection. Please come to the History Center to learn more about Bellevue and other ‘extinct’ Bossier communities, as well as see a new display on the deadly 1978 Bossier City tornado. The History Center is adjacent to Bossier Central Library at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 9-8, Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

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