Many of you know that Louisiana is unique among American states in calling its
primary civil divisions by the name "parish," our 64 parishes being functionally
equivalent to counties in most of our sister states.
There is a very hot boundary dispute in progress and in the courts between
Rapides and Grant Parishes in central Louisiana. It involves 12,000 acres, one
small town, and a booming tax-rich area of several subdivisions, two industries,
and a large car dealership.
The boundary was poorly delimited in the act passed by the carpetbagger
Legislature in 1869 to create Grant Parish, and has been haphazardly demarcated
since. The line segment in question was to begin at the mount of Bayou Darrow
into Red River and run diagonally (about 27 miles somewhat east-northeast) to
the mouth of Little River into Catahoula Lake. The Red River has done
considerable subsequent meandering in the vicinity of the mouth of Bayou Darrow,
making the 1869 location anybody's guess. The mouthing of Little River is a
gradual transition through a cypress swamp into Catahoula Lake; and the lake,
itself, is a backwater lake subject to seasonal fluctuation.
Since the diagonal boundary didn't match up with the land survey grid, most
residents of the last two or three generations have organized their lives around
the locations of parish line signs on the several highway crossings, taking them
as gospel. In reality, the signs were rough approximations at best. As you can
see from the 2001 news story pasted below, they were moved unofficially at least
twice during the 1950's.
For a discussion of early surveys and maps of this boundary, see
http://tinyurl.com/g1m1 . For more on the still-unresolved court case at
http://tinyurl.com/g1hg .
Lowell G. McManus
Leesville, Louisiana, USA
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HOW 2 DEAD COWS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD RESULTED IN A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR
BOUNDARY-LINE DISPUTE BETWEEN RAPIDES AND GRANT PARISHES 50 YEARS LATER
By Randy Reynolds
Acting on a tip, it was KEZP news that first reported a shift in the boundary
line between Grant and Rapides four years ago. What we reported was that the
parish line sign was taken down because of some highway construction on 165
north of Ball. Instead of putting the sign back in the same place, the DOTD
consulted a map and put the sign hundreds of feet further into Rapides Parish.
That meant that two generations of residents who thought they lived in Rapides
Parish, who had paid Rapides Parish taxes and sent their children to Rapides
Parish schools were suddenly in Grant Parish. Now that boundary line dispute
is in the courts-with tens of millions of dollars of tax money riding on the
outcome.
One question that hasn't been answered until now is how could the
parish boundary signs have been in the wrong location for the past couple of
generations?
James Flynn of Alexandria thinks he has uncovered the answer. Read it for
yourself and decide if this is just another "rural legend"-(also known as a
"tall tale")-or if, as Mr. Flynn insists, it's the absolute truth:
To my knowledge, the first time the line was moved on Highway 167 where Rapides
and Grant join was about 1950. Bill Roland, Sr. was driving home from Ruston to
Alexandria when he struck a cow.
Now, this was the days of the open range law in Grant Parish. Mr. Roland well
knew the consequences of hitting a cow where open range law prevailed. He would
be held liable for the cow and the cow would no doubt be the best (high-priced)
breeding stock the owner had.
Mr. Bill Roland was being followed by his brother, Mr. Jimmy Roland. The two
men noticed that the sign indicating the parish boundary.only a couple of
hundred feet away. So they knew for sure that the cow was in Grant.
The Rolands had a construction company, and solving problems was their forte'.
Thinking quickly and possessing the necessary equipment, they simply moved the
boundary markers the appropriate distance to make it appear that the cow was in
Rapides Parish. They did all this before a state trooper arrived to make a
report. Obviously, the plan worked. The trooper never noticed the evidence
that the sign had been relocated, and he filed the report as occurring in
Rapides Parish.
The second time the line was moved was some years later when a third Roland, Mr.
Nick Roland, was coming home from Monroe and he too struck and killed a Grant
Parish cow. Once again the incident happened near the parish line, this time on
Highway 165. Being in a company truck equipped with a radio, he called Mr.
Jimmy Roland to come assist.
Drawing on family experience and not arguing with success, the two quickly
employed their problem-solving and sign-moving skills. Once again the trooper
was slow getting to the scene and dang it, he forgot to bring his surveyor's
instruments. So once again a cow killed in Grant Parish was found by the state
police to be in Rapides Parish, according to the boundary line sign.
And that's how two unknown cow owners were out some cash while the parish of
Grant lost a taxable area that has since become a cash cow.
--James Flynn, 7-17-01