Alphabet File page 75

It is alleged that Archie Cameron who has been a resident for several years in the old Cuevas homestead, about midway on the island, will make an independent claim.

 

The beauties of this island for resort purposes, its timbered land, unexcelled cattle range, oyster, fish, and game abundance all tend to heighten the desire for possession.

 

Present case is to determine whether the title of Major Harrod or that of Marie Cuevas's heirs is good. (Gulfport Daily Record-Tribune, Friday, September 4, 1908 p 1, VF MJS VIII 00262)

 

1907

 

In visiting Cat Island which is always visible from

 

Gulfport, the travel is eight miles over the smooth waters of the Mississippi Sound, and if you would employ one of the many motor or sailboats always in readiness around the Gulfport Pier, the pleasure of the experience fully justifies the trip.

 

  "Mate" is an Italian who received an honorable discharge from the old bark FRANCE CHERIE at this port, and, like all Italian boys reared on ship, is a graduate in tarism (marinism?), from climbing a mast to making a delicious cup of coffee, and Mate officiated aboard the yacht OLYMPIA on this particular brief journey.  With a light breeze from the land, we touched the shore in little less than two hours, and by the favor of Aeolus a fair wind from the south returned us to Gulfport in one hour and a half.

 

  If Major Harrod or Capt. Jones, as rumor has it, has purchased Cat Island from the United States Government, he will not lose any money in the transaction, the sleek condition of the cattle and the lazy gait of the fat hogs is evidence that it is a feeding ground for animals.

 

The eight miles of island rises out of the sea in the shape of the letter "T", as seen by obtaining a correct view from the top of the Lighthouse on the extreme western point or sand spit on which the Government property stands.

 

  Inside the coves formed by Goose Point, Nigger Point, and Raccoon Point, nature has formed the finest bedding ground for oysters in the Southern country and the quality of the Cat Island bivalves is indisputable superior.

 

The timber is about evenly divided between loblolly pine and oak.

 

  In the center of the island facing the northern shore stands the old Cuevas homestead, a house erected by Juan Cuevas, familiar in history, in the year 1812.

 

The timbers and planks are all hewn of good pine, and the frame put together with large wooden pins.  The inside walls are all mud and lime plastered, with a brick chimney in one end and an old fashioned log fireplace extending nearly across the end of the house.

 

  Truly this rude abode is one of antiquity, and at present is the residence of Archie Cameron, acting watchman for the cattle owners, with his wife and three little children, the only family of the island proper, the Lightkeeper's house being surrounded by water and four miles distant.

 

Just in front of the door, settled into a comfortable position in the sand, sits an old iron salt pot (everything assumes a comfortable posture on Cat Island). The pot measures nearly 6 feet in diameter and was used by Cuevases in their salt making during the Civil War.

 

  It has always been understood by the present generation,  that after Juan Cuevas, the island was owned by his heirs, and they are numerous on the coast extending from Biloxi to Pass Christian.  Nicholas Christian Ladnier was among the most prominent, from whom Pass Christian took its name.

 

  Mrs. Frazina Taquino, the granddaughter of Juan Couevas, now residing at Long Beach, who is the oldest living heir, was born February 28, 1829.  Her mother, Bridgee Couevas, wife of John B. Ladnier, was born on Deer Island.  After her birth, Juan Couevas moved with his family to the Cat Island homestead.

 

  The other heirs are the Talberts, Krohlers, Smiths, Morans, Dubisons and Fayards, and Couevas of Biloxi.

 

The report that the island has been sold was received           with incredulity by Keeper Cameron.

 

"How could the Government sell it when it belongs to the Couevas'?"

 

  These are the first families of the coast and for a century past it has been a remarkable fact that they rarely disposed of their real estate possessions.  It has been evident also that the disposition to improve it is equally sluggish.

 

  The history of the title as given by Mr. Leonard K. Smith of Long Beach (one of the heirs) runs like this:

 

The island was granted to Nicholas Christian Ladnier in 1781 and sold by his widow, Mary Ann Pasquet, to the vendor, Juan Couevas, her son-in-law, and regrated by the United States Government to Juan Couevas after the War of 1812.

 

  In revolutionary times (MJS means war of 1812) when the English visited Juan Couevas on the island, recommended by parties in Pensacola to pilot them into New Orleans, his refusal cost him imprisonment from which he afterward escaped and made his way in a small boat to New Orleans, notifying General Jackson of the plans of the enemy. (MJS: apparently family tradition, unsupported by historical facts from records of British and American archives)

 

As a reward for this service, the Government granted the whole island, except the sandhill locality and points, to him.

 

  Four years ago (1903) the title of the island was confirmed by President (Theodore) Roosevelt to the heirs of Juan Couevas.

 

  There are ponds here and there all over the island which, in the winter season, are filled with many varieties of wild duck and wading birds of all kinds are numerous through the brackish waters of the marshes, living in a state of corpulence on the great number of fiddlers and minnows.  The entire island is a rendezvous of the raccoon, from which derived its name.

 

  The osprey, which is solitary in habit and a first cousin to the eagles, is more common here than on the mainland on account of the abundance of fish.

 

(New Orlean Daily Picayune, Sunday September 15, 1907, (VF

 

  MJS VIII 00259)

 

1908

 

  There is a project on foot to build a million dollar winter hotel on Horn or Cat Island off the Mississippi Coast.  It is an ideal region for a winter resort, and such an enterprise would no doubt pay handsome dividends.

 

It is believed that there has been no attempt to establish such a resort on the coast since the destruction of Last Island, Louisiana, (Aug. 10, 1856), half a century ago, in which historic catastrophe almost every prominent family in Louisiana and Western Mississippi lost relatives.   (Gulfport Daily Record­Tribune, September 30, 1908, MJS VIII 00276)

 

1909

 

  The wild game preserve which was the alleged object with which Cat Island was purchased by the Audubon Society giving rise to litigation still in progress with the Cuevas heirs has at last been auspiciously started with one "Teddy bear" and probably some wild Chinamen, the latter having been landed at that point by the Stratakos gang of smugglers and utterly lost sight of.

 

  The "Teddy " was purchased the other day by Lighthouse

 

Keeper Clarisse, being a Christmas left-over from Younghan's Store, who declared that the long-talked-of preserve should have the encouragement of the biggest Teddy Bear he could find, regardless of cost.  (Gulfport Record, Tuesday, January 19, 1909, VF MJS VIII 00287)

 

1929

 

  Goose Point Club

 

  Actual construction began this week on the club house which is being erected by the Goose Point Club on the western tip of Cat Island, about 8 miles from here.  It is expected to be completed by June 15, 1929.

 

  The club will be under the active direction of Lietenant Governor Bidwell Adam.

 

  The Building when completed will consist of three stories, the first floor being used for the dining room and lockers; the second to have fifteen bedrooms with adjoining baths; and the third to be used as an observation tower.