It’s back to school time, so here’s your history pop quiz. For whom was the parish of Bossier named? General Pierre Evariste Bossier, of Natchitoches. Perhaps that question is easy or boring, but here is a tale of tracking down our parish’s namesake that puts to rest the idea that history is boring or irrelevant. Pierre Bossier lived 200 years ago, pre-photography, when the parishes of northwest Louisiana were considered “the frontier parishes,” and even Louisiana was not considered part of the “Old South” but of the “West” or Southwest. Even Washington DC, where Pierre Bossier served in the 28th Congress, was largely still, in the literal sense, swampland.
A remarkable story appeared 69 years ago on August 25, 1955, in the Bossier Banner Progress: “Audubon is Responsible for Likeness of Gen. Bossier in Historical Mural.” This mural, which had a story of its own in this local history column (September 28, 2022), was painted that year by Andrés Sánchez Flores, an internationally-known mural artist and assistant/protégé to the renowned Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Following his move from Mexico to the Shreveport-Bossier area, he got a chance to share his artistic talents in Louisiana when he was commissioned to paint a 35-foot-long, 10-foot-high mural of 400 years of Bossier Parish history in the lobby of the National Bank of Bossier.
The artist, a prodigious researcher, wanted to make every effort to ensure the mural was historically correct. This impetus led to the discovery that no one could find an image of the parish’s namesake General Bossier of Natchitoches, after whom the parish is named, in order to accurately include him in the mural. According to the Bossier Banner Progress article, the long search for an image of General Bossier at first looked hopeless, since Bossier died in 1844 when photography was not widespread, and getting a portrait was a luxury. Sanchez Flores had a secret weapon though – librarians.
Miss Elizabeth Williams, parish librarian, made a search and appealed to the Louisiana State Library in Baton Rouge. Surprisingly, they came up with a book, sent to Ms. Williams, called “Audubon” by Stanley C. Arthur of New Orleans. The famous naturalist and painter who was renowned for his paintings of birds and his compilation of them in his book, “Birds of America” was not well-known for portraits. But he relied on doing them in his pre-fame days to earn some cash to support his young family. General Bossier reportedly paid him 25 dollars in 1921 in New Orleans to paint his portrait.
Once the article detailed the saga of finding the picture, it then explained how Bossier Parish became named for General Bossier when it was carved out of Claiborne Parish in 1843. Bossier was given the honor because in 1842, General Pierre Evariste Bossier of Natchitoches became the first legislator elected to represent Louisiana’s brand-new Fourth Congressional District, which is now represented by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
The article next jumped to Bossier’s death. He died during the congressional session on April 24, 1844, and the article claimed it to be suicide committed in his Washington DC office. The article then provided a backstory that “in 1842 [Gen. Bossier] fought a duel near Natchitoches with another man and killed him.” It then mentioned that Bossier owned a planation near Natchitoches and was known as “General” by serving as an officer of the state militia which was a predecessor of the Louisianan National guard.
Unbelievable in today’s time, it is true that he fought to the death of his opponent, François Gaiennie, in a duel. Duels here could still be fought over a woman's hand or to defend one’s honor, or could also be fought to settle political differences. In the young United States, freedom of speech and political beliefs was sacred, so to slander a man for them was considered an iniquity. As was the case for Bossier and Gaiennie, rifles were often used and strict rules of engagement were followed for dueling. An apology to the initiator of the duel for the named grievance could end the duel, even once it started, to avert loss of life.
The duel between General Gaiennie, who, like Bossier had been an officer in the state militia, was likely both for defending “honor” by proving he would not tolerate an insult, allegedly heard at a gathering with both men and women present, against the backdrop of political tensions. U.S. political discourse of the late 1820’s - 1850’s was extremely strident. It was in fact when the two-party system as we know it was forming. The parties at the time, Andrew Jackson’s Democrats and Henry Clay’s Whigs, had begun the practice of sitting separated by an aisle in Congress. In the south, Democrats were gaining on the Whigs, who were fighting back. Gaiennie was the head of the Whig party in Louisiana, and Bossier was a Democratic state senator elected in a surprising Democratic windfall for the Louisiana legislature, where he served from 1833-1843.
A reminiscence in The People's Vindicator, a Natchitoches newspaper, on May 4, 1878, about the Bossier-Gaiennie duel, was of the opinion that Gaiennie had essentially goaded Bossier into the duel and that Bossier’s temperament was too tender and sensitive to live with the fact that he’d killed this well-respected man. The article shared, therefore, that Bossier’s death at age 47 was “hastened” by the shock of the killing, which, according to The Office of the Historian of the House of Representatives, set off a chain reaction of honor killings that left eleven additional men dead.
Other reports of Bossier’s death state that it was illness, likely tuberculosis, that killed him while serving in the 28th Congress. This is a plausible argument, given the time, pre-modern medicine, and place, the hot, moist environment of early Washington DC. According to the Washington Congressional Cemetery, General Pierre Evariste Bossier was the 10th congressman serving in the 28th Congress to die since its session began four months prior in December,1843! Regardless of what killed General Bossier, in the years following the Civil War, public opinion soured against dueling, and laws against the practice were finally enforced.
To learn more about the beginnings of Bossier Parish, come visit us in the History Center, which is now within the new Bossier Parish Libraries Central Complex at 850 City Hall Drive, Bossier City, LA (across Beckett Street from the original History Center and “old” Central Library). 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
For other fast facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok, and check out our blog http://bpl-hc.blogspot.com/.
Images:
- General Pierre Bossier by John James Audubon, 1821.
- Plantation house of Cherokee Plantation — located 1½ miles northeast of Natchez, in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, the location of the duel between Pierre Evariste Bossier and F François Gaiennie. Built in 1839, the house is an example of French Creole architecture, and is now located within the NPS Cane River National Heritage Area. Photo from the Historic American Buildings Survey, a program of the National Park Service (NPS) established for the purpose of documenting historic places. Records consist of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written reports. Photo housed at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
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