The southwest Louisiana prairies were sparsely settled and a bit frightening until the railroad finally crossed them in the early 1880s and settlers began to establish towns and farms. Father P. J. Parisot, a priest based in Galveston, testified to that in a little book about his missionary work in the 1850s.
He crossed the Sabine in 1852 and wandered through what is now Calcasieu Parish for seve...