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CONTENTS
5	Preface...................................................... i
2^	C ovrt-?.K>+.s
? Liot of?11 lustrations-....................................
3	Introduction................................................ vi
Prehistory of the Gulf Coast Area............	1
European Exploration and Discovery...........	13
French Exploration and Exploitation..........21
Indigenous Indian Tribes.....................	ilf-
V	French Colonial Period:	Settlement........	W
The English Colonial Period:.................S*f
The Spanish Colonial Period:	Continued
Spanish occupation:	Pirates	and	?utlaws..	&	&
Post-Colonial Transition:	the	West Florida
Commonwealth; Biloxi Parish in the Orleans Territory; f?HMnat4-or> oL-.
ipp4*' tew wl1 i t o..........	?ll
IX	The War of 1812: indian wars; the battle
of Pass Christian; Napoleon's brother;	the
postwar period...............................I?8
X tH?- iyI s ?	jt-is- n	^a>\T 4 -
XS Early Statehood:	incorporation o f 'HajLfit- . ^?>	<,
Jsattius; the Pearl river towns: expulsion of the Indians...................................
XU	The Late Antebellum Period:	Dawn of	the
Sawmill era; the Copeland Gang; religious orgainization; re-incorporation of Shieldsboro...................................
A?	Chapter	I
/6	Chapter	II
If	Chapter	III
Chapter		IV
Chapter		V
n	Chapter	VI
Chapter		VII
g/Z Chapter		VIII
	Chapter	IX
?i ,
Chapter
iTC Chapter
?J, i% ?u i
Chapter XIII The Civil War years jv
2^1 Chapter XUS- The Reconstruction Years /L?l Chapter XJV The Coastal Railroad and Resurgence........................
T'h*.	CO?*?	CoU^J-u _ X~fs
Chapter XV\. The Fissionable County. .....................?..............
?To -f'Kc HJom O ?^cru- o^JLpL.* J"*	gtc. 3 faSFfer**?1
Chapter XVH	in	the	1	80sj	-emd?*~9Da .T?-v
Chapter XVIII Pearlington and the World's Largest Sawmill
Tke. p.