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INDIANS
LONG BEFORE THE ADVENT OF THE FRENCH EXPLORERS THE CITY OF BAY ST. LOUIS WAS AN INDIAN VILLAGE CALLED CHICAPOULA COR
•	CHO{J-C0U-POU-LOtl", MEANING "BAD GRASS"). HERE THE PRIMITIVE FOLK OF THE CHOCTAW-MtlSKHOGEAN FAMILY LIVED IN A VERITABLE HAPPY HUNTING GROUND, FOR THE GULF COAST WAS NOT ONLY BEAUTIFUL AND OF PLEASANT CL I'M ATE BUT ITS WATERS ABOUNDED IN FISH AND ITS FORESTS IN VENISON, BUFFALO, AND OTHER GAME PROVflDING PLENTIFUL FOOD.
DUfRING LATER YEARS, AFTER THE WHITE SETTLERS CAME, THE BEST-KNOWN INDIAN LEADER WAS CHIEF TOCALA, SOME OF WHOSE DESCENDANTS LIVE HERE TODAY. THE INDIANS AS RECALLED BY SOME OF THE OLDEST TOWNSPEOPLE OF RECENT YEARS LIVED fW A SECTION CALLED DEVIL'S SWAMP NEAR THE EDGE OF TOWN. THE MEN HUNTED, FISHED, AND TANNED SKINS,
AND THE WHOLE TRIBE WERE CONSTANTLY ON GUARD AGAINST THE DEPREDATIONS OF OCCASIONAL VWLVES. THE WOMEN CULTIVATED CROPS OF CORN, BEANS, AND RICE ™ CHIEFLY RICE. THE CHILDREN WERE TAUGHT TO WEAVE BASKETS AND THE BOYS TO MAKE BLOW GUNS* SHY AMONG STRANGERS, THE INDIANS WERE PLAYFUL AND GAY AMONG THEIR OWN, ENJOYING EVERY OPPORTUNITY FOR A FESTIVAL AND FOR DANCING TO TOM-TOMS AND SINGING. OFTEN WEDDING FEASTS AND DANCES LASTED FOR DAYS.
REMNANTS OF THE CHOCTAW TRIBE, USUALLY PEACEFUL fN THIS AREA, RETAINED HERE AS LATE AS THE NINETIES, AND A FEW INDIAN FAMILIES ARE STALL IN THE COUNTY TODAY. DURING THE LATE 1800*S THE HNDf f AWS SUPPORTED THEMSS.VES CHIEFLY BY WEAVING AND SELLING BASKETS OF GREAT BEAUTY.
AT THAT TIME THEY LIVED CHIEFLY AT DILLVILLE AND ALONG THE SHORES OF BAYOU LA CROIX, ABOUT EIGHT MILES FROM BAY ST. LOOTS. FINALLY, HOWEVER, THE MAJORITY OF THE TRIBE BECAME WARDS OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND WERE GRANTED LAND IN OKLAHOMA, WHERE A NUMBER STRUCK CPIL AND BECAME WEALTHY OVERNIGHT.
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